Rarely does anyone can say they've enjoyed a personal piano performance performed by Hopkins.
However, that's specifically what transpired when a group met with the twice Academy Award-winning performer in LA.
We stood in the identical space as the person who frightened viewers as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, depicted a broken servant in the period drama, and personified a dad suffering memory loss in the dramatic production.
Career Commencement
He received his initial opportunity in movies when fellow performer O'Toole recommended he try out for the 1968 movie The Lion in Winter, in which O'Toole portrayed Henry II.
At that time, Sir Anthony had been part of Laurence Olivier's theatrical ensemble for multiple years. However, he remembers: "I didn't adapt to the UK theatrical approach, I just felt alienated."
Additionally "wished to avoid standing on stage holding a spear for the duration of my career, in creased hosiery, I just hoped to enjoy a modest existence."
Pivotal Character
He was cast as Richard Lionheart and was astonished that a bakery worker's child from the Welsh town was performing alongside Katharine Hepburn.
"Just speak the lines... Don't act, just do it."
the legendary performer, acting as his parent Queen Eleanor, gave him "the best advice I've had" as they practiced their initial sequence together. She advised him to "only say the words... Avoid performing, just do it." She further stated he was "real good."
Memorable Lecter Character
His performances are remarkable because he's an artist with extensive psychological insight. Think of him as Dr Treves, the ally and defender of Hurt's character in The Elephant Man.
Or playing the cannibal, to this day for me the most terrifying of personas after thirty-plus years. The murderous character is a fiend but Sir Anthony understood that restraint succeeds, on screen.
Rather than portraying Lecter as transparently villainous, "you go the opposite way, you restrain yourself," he clarifies. He understood right after reviewing a few pages of the dialogue that the part was "a career-transformer."
Individual Difficulties
What is astonishing about the personal account is the disconnect between how society perceived the young actor and what remained unrecognized about him. He was bullied at educational institution for what other kids saw as his substantial head size.
He was slapped around by instructors who deemed him a complete dunce. Even his parents largely dismissed him.
He believes it was what formed him. It "gave me a foundation of resentment, bitterness and retaliation," he declares.
Defeating Substance Abuse
During one night in Los Angeles in the winter of 1975, almost 50 years ago, he was driving while in "total alcoholic amnesia." When he regained consciousness, he understood that he was "unmanageable" and could have killed someone. He telephoned to ask for help.
"Abruptly, an inner realization occurred 'it's all over, now life can begin'... the desire vanished and it's never come back."
Philosophical Reflections
At 87, he is looking back, aware he has lived significantly additional years than he has left to live. "Most of my friends have died, they're no longer here, God bless them," he states. "I wish to be present for more time. But even that, I'm thinking, 'oh well, I had a good time'."
We end the discussion on a philosophical note - as he repeats "They are brief, the moments of enjoyment" from an Ernest Dowson poem and reflects upon the fleeting nature of life.
"What are we doing here, what are we?" he inquires. "We can't explain any aspect of our being. We could hold sophisticated notions, spiritual beliefs, philosophical ideas, scientific ideas... what's that all about? We're nothing finally, but we encompass all."
