Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins

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0:00:17 > 0:00:21Anthony Hopkins was born in the Welsh town of Port Talbot,

0:00:21 > 0:00:26just like the man who inspired him to become an actor, Richard Burton.

0:00:26 > 0:00:27He struggled at school,

0:00:27 > 0:00:31but in his twenties was understudying Laurence Olivier

0:00:31 > 0:00:33at the National Theatre

0:00:33 > 0:00:36and in his thirties was a major television star,

0:00:36 > 0:00:39thanks to a BBC adaptation of War And Peace.

0:00:39 > 0:00:43Hopkins would be called the best stage actor of his generation,

0:00:43 > 0:00:45but fell increasingly in love with film

0:00:45 > 0:00:47and out of love with the theatre,

0:00:47 > 0:00:51famously walking out of a 1973 production of Macbeth

0:00:51 > 0:00:52midway through its run.

0:00:54 > 0:00:58You got big roles at the National, Coriolanus,

0:00:58 > 0:01:02and then the big walk-out from Macbeth.

0:01:02 > 0:01:03Oh, yes.

0:01:03 > 0:01:05My bad years.

0:01:06 > 0:01:07Why were they bad years?

0:01:10 > 0:01:14I was a bad boy. I was trouble, I was a rebel.

0:01:14 > 0:01:17I was discontented, I was angry and fed up.

0:01:17 > 0:01:21And hated being part of an establishment

0:01:21 > 0:01:23and hated doing Shakespeare.

0:01:23 > 0:01:26It was all my own making, I was the enemy within, you know.

0:01:26 > 0:01:28It was all my own making, nobody else's fault.

0:01:28 > 0:01:33Everyone did their best to, you know, cater to my needs.

0:01:34 > 0:01:36Were you drinking at that time?

0:01:36 > 0:01:39Oh, yes. But all actors drink.

0:01:39 > 0:01:42That was just an episode in my life that's over and done with,

0:01:42 > 0:01:45and that's a boring episode.

0:01:45 > 0:01:46I don't think it helped.

0:01:46 > 0:01:49But I was restless, I wanted to get out and I was frightened.

0:01:49 > 0:01:52I was afraid I was taking on this monumental part

0:01:52 > 0:01:54and I never pretended that I had the courage to do these

0:01:54 > 0:01:57great parts like Macbeth and King Lear.

0:01:57 > 0:01:59I never said I could do them.

0:01:59 > 0:02:01I never thought I'd have the courage to do them.

0:02:01 > 0:02:03It takes a lot of courage to do them, I didn't have that.

0:02:03 > 0:02:05I didn't have the sustaining power.

0:02:05 > 0:02:08I didn't have the discipline to learn verse

0:02:08 > 0:02:10and I just couldn't get it.

0:02:10 > 0:02:12And it got from bad to worse.

0:02:12 > 0:02:14I think I reached a crisis of nerves,

0:02:14 > 0:02:19I lost my nerve and I just one day walked out,

0:02:19 > 0:02:21because I couldn't...

0:02:22 > 0:02:24The screaming voice of John Dexter.

0:02:24 > 0:02:26One day, I thought, that's it, I'm off.

0:02:26 > 0:02:29And I got on the bus and left and I never looked back.

0:02:29 > 0:02:32I'm not proud of any of that, but I'm glad I did it.

0:02:32 > 0:02:34I made my amends, I wrote back to Olivier and said,

0:02:34 > 0:02:37"I'm sorry I did that, but I had to go".

0:02:37 > 0:02:41And no regrets, no shame about that, it's over and done with.

0:02:41 > 0:02:45But I had to do it, otherwise I would have gone mad.

0:02:45 > 0:02:50Anthony Hopkins didn't just leave Macbeth, he left Britain

0:02:50 > 0:02:53and spent years living in America,

0:02:53 > 0:02:55carving out a career as a movie star.

0:02:55 > 0:02:59How did you get into films rather than the theatre?

0:02:59 > 0:03:03- Your first film, of course, was The Lion In Winter, wasn't it?- Yes.

0:03:03 > 0:03:04How?

0:03:05 > 0:03:08Well, I make the starting admission...

0:03:08 > 0:03:11I came to a startling conclusion a few months back,

0:03:11 > 0:03:14that I really always wanted to do films and...

0:03:16 > 0:03:19I'd spent so much time doing what I thought other people

0:03:19 > 0:03:23expected me to do, and we tend to do that a lot of the time,

0:03:23 > 0:03:26and I made up my mind a few weeks ago, a few months ago,

0:03:26 > 0:03:29that I really enjoy films.

0:03:29 > 0:03:32I have a marvellous time, I love filming and I love television

0:03:32 > 0:03:35and I like the theatre, but...

0:03:35 > 0:03:39And I'm sure I will go back to the theatre, but... I don't know.

0:03:39 > 0:03:41I hate it when it goes wrong, and you just have to go on stage,

0:03:41 > 0:03:44night after night after night when it's wrong,

0:03:44 > 0:03:46when it's been badly conceived.

0:03:46 > 0:03:49And I've had a couple of negative experiences

0:03:49 > 0:03:50that way in recent years.

0:03:50 > 0:03:53I'm pretty firm, the way I work now,

0:03:53 > 0:03:57and I have a talk with the director before we start,

0:03:57 > 0:03:58asking him how he works.

0:03:58 > 0:04:03And I will tell him how I work, and I expect him

0:04:03 > 0:04:07to do his homework, as I'm expected to do mine.

0:04:07 > 0:04:10Before, I used to politely stand there and take it, take nonsense.

0:04:10 > 0:04:13And now I don't do it, because it's my job,

0:04:13 > 0:04:16and if I'm not satisfied, I walk away.

0:04:16 > 0:04:19And I will always walk away if I'm not satisfied, because I don't

0:04:19 > 0:04:22see why should put myself through the mill

0:04:22 > 0:04:24for the sake of incompetence.

0:04:24 > 0:04:27And I don't.

0:04:27 > 0:04:29It's probably very offensive to some people,

0:04:29 > 0:04:30and they probably don't like it.

0:04:30 > 0:04:33I had an experience recently, in the last two-and-a-half years,

0:04:33 > 0:04:36I won't mention names or the play, But it was a nightmare.

0:04:36 > 0:04:39A director who hadn't prepared a thing

0:04:39 > 0:04:43and it was a big, big play with two weeks' rehearsal.

0:04:43 > 0:04:46I don't want to go over old ground, but I made the mistake

0:04:46 > 0:04:51of being politely accepting of this man's incompetence

0:04:51 > 0:04:53until it was too late, and then I blew up.

0:04:53 > 0:04:55It was an enormous explosion.

0:04:55 > 0:04:58Now I've learned from that lesson, hopefully not to put up with it

0:04:58 > 0:05:01and to be honest, because it's only dishonesty that allows

0:05:01 > 0:05:05one to put up with nonsense and incompetence.

0:05:05 > 0:05:08So maybe I sound terribly pompous, but now I say,

0:05:08 > 0:05:12"No, I won't put up with it. I'm not going to do that".

0:05:12 > 0:05:15When you left Britain after your years in the National Theatre,

0:05:15 > 0:05:18did people accuse you of deserting British theatre,

0:05:18 > 0:05:22- of selling out to money and stardom? - Oh, yes.

0:05:22 > 0:05:25Yes. I suppose I have sold out.

0:05:25 > 0:05:27I did whatever it means. No...

0:05:30 > 0:05:34I suppose I'm going through a kind of period of change, myself.

0:05:34 > 0:05:35I don't know.

0:05:35 > 0:05:38I find it more important for me to enjoy my life,

0:05:38 > 0:05:41to get on with my life, my living...

0:05:43 > 0:05:45Aside from work,

0:05:45 > 0:05:49I found that nose-to-the-grindstone attitude in the theatre

0:05:49 > 0:05:53all the time, taking everything so seriously was making me, in a way...

0:05:55 > 0:05:57I don't know.

0:05:57 > 0:06:00I suppose uptight and neurotic and...

0:06:00 > 0:06:05And I left the theatre and went off to Israel

0:06:05 > 0:06:08and I did a film, QB VII, and then I went off to America

0:06:08 > 0:06:12and I feel more at ease, I feel more confident in myself,

0:06:12 > 0:06:14I just feel happier.

0:06:14 > 0:06:17Happier than I've ever been.

0:06:17 > 0:06:19Because there's no panic.

0:06:19 > 0:06:22If I do Othello, I hope I do it well, of course...

0:06:22 > 0:06:24But I haven't the great need to play Shakespeare,

0:06:24 > 0:06:26I haven't the great need to do the classics,

0:06:26 > 0:06:29I have no great need or urgency to do Ibsen or play Sophocles.

0:06:29 > 0:06:31You know, if I play it, I play it,

0:06:31 > 0:06:34and if I don't, I don't. It's a very good opportunity,

0:06:34 > 0:06:36for me to play Othello...

0:06:37 > 0:06:41I feel free. And I didn't in the theatre, I just didn't.

0:06:43 > 0:06:46So I suppose I've sold out. I just didn't feel free.

0:06:46 > 0:06:49I felt hemmed in and cooped up.

0:06:49 > 0:06:53Maybe I don't have the nature or the discipline.

0:06:53 > 0:06:55I got bored very quickly.

0:06:55 > 0:06:58To fight that propensity for boredom,

0:06:58 > 0:07:01Hopkins has taken on roles that are intense and challenging.

0:07:01 > 0:07:05One such example was a schizophrenic ventriloquist

0:07:05 > 0:07:08in Richard Attenborough's 1978 film, Magic.

0:07:10 > 0:07:12- DUMMY:- Why do you think I blew the whistle?

0:07:12 > 0:07:15Er, because I was leaving, because you were jealous.

0:07:15 > 0:07:19Wrong, Smucko! I did it because I could. See?

0:07:19 > 0:07:21Why didn't you stop me?

0:07:21 > 0:07:25Answer? You didn't because you couldn't!

0:07:25 > 0:07:27Look at him, he still doesn't understand!

0:07:27 > 0:07:30Better sit down, kid, while I hit you with an explanation!

0:07:30 > 0:07:31Yeah...

0:07:34 > 0:07:38Ever since we got together, I laid low. It was best for the act.

0:07:38 > 0:07:40I let you share the limelight.

0:07:40 > 0:07:42If there's one thing about me, I'm big!

0:07:42 > 0:07:45But then the day when I begged you, pleaded not to be left behind,

0:07:45 > 0:07:48well, that tore it.

0:07:50 > 0:07:54If I'm boring you, please walk around. I don't care.

0:07:54 > 0:07:58Don't start in on me, please! Don't!

0:07:58 > 0:08:00Listen, I took a failure, worked a charm,

0:08:00 > 0:08:03I took a dig at Nixon, I made us skyrocket!

0:08:03 > 0:08:06It's not going to be you and her, it's going to stay you and me,

0:08:06 > 0:08:09except from now on, even that's changed, it's ME and YOU!

0:08:09 > 0:08:11- You've got a weak stomach! - You look tired!

0:08:11 > 0:08:13- I'm not!- Then what are you yawning for?

0:08:13 > 0:08:16- I'm not yawning!- Gotta wake you up! Crawl around! That should help.

0:08:16 > 0:08:18Heh, yeah! Pick those up.

0:08:18 > 0:08:21- Say, "Thank you, Fats!" - Thank you, Fats!

0:08:21 > 0:08:23That's a very, very chilling film, as I said.

0:08:23 > 0:08:28In fact, what's remarkable about it is you did your own "vent" work

0:08:28 > 0:08:29- in that, didn't you?- Yes, yes.

0:08:29 > 0:08:31Who taught you?

0:08:31 > 0:08:34A man called Dennis Allwood, in America.

0:08:34 > 0:08:38And a man called Michael Bailey taught me the magic tricks.

0:08:38 > 0:08:41I only learned a few, but he taught me the basics.

0:08:41 > 0:08:43What about the "vent" though, first of all.

0:08:43 > 0:08:46How difficult is it to throw your voice like that,

0:08:46 > 0:08:48Without moving your lips, as they say?

0:08:48 > 0:08:53Well, I found it fairly easy, mainly because I'm an actor, you know,

0:08:53 > 0:08:57you have to keep your voice flexible, and I was willing to learn

0:08:57 > 0:09:02and I decided that the only way I could do it was to enjoy it.

0:09:02 > 0:09:04And I've been a mimic as well,

0:09:04 > 0:09:09so I found it fairly easy and had a good teacher.

0:09:09 > 0:09:14- Maybe I was a good student.- Can you still do it?- Um... Yes, I can.

0:09:14 > 0:09:17- IN VENTRILOQUIST'S VOICE: - Hi, Michael, how you doing? Good to see you.

0:09:17 > 0:09:20- Hi, gang. You OK? - LAUGHTER

0:09:20 > 0:09:22- Fantastic! - What are the words you can't say?

0:09:22 > 0:09:24Bottle of beer, that's the classic one.

0:09:24 > 0:09:27- "Gottle o' geer, gottle o' geer". - LAUGHTER

0:09:27 > 0:09:31- It's the "P", "F" and "B" sounds, all those plosive sounds.- Yes.

0:09:31 > 0:09:33You have to use the lips, so you translate them into...

0:09:33 > 0:09:36- "F" sound is... - HE LISPS

0:09:36 > 0:09:39- So instead of saying fantastic you say "Thantastic!"- Yeah.

0:09:39 > 0:09:44What about the tricks? The little magic tricks that you had to learn?

0:09:44 > 0:09:46Because the guy in fact did a magic act

0:09:46 > 0:09:48- as well as the vent act in the movie?- Yeah.

0:09:48 > 0:09:52Well, Michael Bailey taught me the bits of magic,

0:09:52 > 0:09:55because I couldn't handle cards, so he taught me one-hand shuffles

0:09:55 > 0:10:00and cuts and also the fanning and a coin trick,

0:10:00 > 0:10:02which is basically... This is a classic which is called

0:10:02 > 0:10:06The French Drop and it's... So you see.

0:10:08 > 0:10:10And there it is.

0:10:13 > 0:10:15LAUGHTER

0:10:15 > 0:10:19I enjoyed learning them. I play the piano so I'm able to...

0:10:19 > 0:10:21- Oh, I can still do it.- Yes.

0:10:21 > 0:10:23Now, you had to learn... APPLAUSE

0:10:26 > 0:10:28You mentioned that it was all made easier for you,

0:10:28 > 0:10:31- because you have this gift of mimicry?- Yes.

0:10:31 > 0:10:34- Now, have you always have this? - Ever since I was a little kid, yes.

0:10:34 > 0:10:36- You used to take off schoolteachers? - Schoolteachers.

0:10:36 > 0:10:38It was my only weapon, really,

0:10:38 > 0:10:42because I was not too sharp at school, I didn't like authority,

0:10:42 > 0:10:43especially schoolteachers,

0:10:43 > 0:10:45so I always had a go at them, through mimicry.

0:10:45 > 0:10:48And later, when I became an actor, I always had a go at directors,

0:10:48 > 0:10:51so I used to be a very good mimic, of some directors

0:10:51 > 0:10:54- I wasn't too happy with. - Did you use it as a weapon?

0:10:54 > 0:10:58- I used to. But I use it out of the affection now.- You do?- Yes.

0:10:58 > 0:10:59It has been said of you

0:10:59 > 0:11:02that you're one of the best mimics in the business.

0:11:02 > 0:11:05- You specialise in doing the act at nights, don't you?- Yes.- Yes.

0:11:05 > 0:11:08Are you going to... I love mimics.

0:11:08 > 0:11:13- Let's start with... Well, everybody does Gielgud, don't they?- Oh, yes.

0:11:13 > 0:11:15- AS GIELGUD:- To be, or not to be, that is the question.

0:11:15 > 0:11:18Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings

0:11:18 > 0:11:20and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms above a sea

0:11:20 > 0:11:23of troubles and by opposing, end them,

0:11:23 > 0:11:26to die, to sleep no more.

0:11:26 > 0:11:29- Olivier, doing the same one? AS OLIVIER:- To be, or not to be,

0:11:29 > 0:11:31that is the question.

0:11:31 > 0:11:34Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings

0:11:34 > 0:11:36and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms

0:11:36 > 0:11:40against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end them.

0:11:40 > 0:11:46To die, to sleep no more, and by a sleep to say we end the heartache

0:11:46 > 0:11:50and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.

0:11:50 > 0:11:51APPLAUSE

0:11:56 > 0:11:59Can you do one of my favourites, Sir Ralph.

0:11:59 > 0:12:01To be, or not to be,

0:12:01 > 0:12:02that is the question.

0:12:02 > 0:12:05Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows

0:12:05 > 0:12:09of outrageous fortune, or to take arms

0:12:09 > 0:12:12against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end them.

0:12:12 > 0:12:14LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE That's brilliant.

0:12:18 > 0:12:22One you proffered before we came on,

0:12:22 > 0:12:25that was one I'd not heard, James Mason.

0:12:25 > 0:12:27To be or not to be, that is the question...

0:12:27 > 0:12:29LAUGHTER

0:12:29 > 0:12:32Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows

0:12:32 > 0:12:36of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles...

0:12:36 > 0:12:38APPLAUSE

0:12:40 > 0:12:42I have a lot of fun doing that.

0:12:43 > 0:12:47- Can you pick up like a tape recorder, Tony?- Yes.

0:12:47 > 0:12:49You find you can play back most people?

0:12:49 > 0:12:53- Yeah... What, do you mean do I have do I have to listen or study?- Yes.

0:12:53 > 0:12:54No, they come by accident.

0:12:54 > 0:12:57Or sometimes listening to somebody else who may sound like them.

0:12:57 > 0:13:00I remember Michael York, who sounds a little bit like James Mason,

0:13:00 > 0:13:05I got it by listening to Michael and I got the James Mason through him,

0:13:05 > 0:13:08or the Alec Guinness... Actually, I was reading a preface in a book

0:13:08 > 0:13:11Alec Guinness had written, and suddenly, his voice came to me.

0:13:11 > 0:13:15And suddenly it all sounded rather... like that, you know,

0:13:15 > 0:13:18and "Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy".

0:13:18 > 0:13:21No, so I got the Alec Guinness as well.

0:13:21 > 0:13:23- Yes.- I didn't know how I got them.

0:13:23 > 0:13:26- I use them as fun, I use them out of affection.- Yes.

0:13:26 > 0:13:28You're over here now, you're making a film

0:13:28 > 0:13:30which we won't see for a year or so called The Elephant Man,

0:13:30 > 0:13:33which is a rather strange story.

0:13:33 > 0:13:35Would you tell us about it?

0:13:35 > 0:13:40Yes, so, a very touching story about a man called John Merrick who was

0:13:40 > 0:13:44so seriously deformed, I don't know the nature of his disease was,

0:13:44 > 0:13:49but he had a very large head and one side of his body, totally deformed.

0:13:49 > 0:13:53And he was a sideshow freak and he was cruelly beaten

0:13:53 > 0:13:55and treated very badly.

0:13:55 > 0:14:00He was born like this, and the part I play is Dr Frederic Treves.

0:14:00 > 0:14:03And Treves found him the circus, in the sideshow,

0:14:03 > 0:14:07and took him back to a London hospital and kept in there

0:14:07 > 0:14:09and he met tremendous opposition

0:14:09 > 0:14:11from the Board of Governors of the hospital.

0:14:11 > 0:14:15But John Merrick could speak and he could read and he could write

0:14:15 > 0:14:19and he became a centrepiece for society in London -

0:14:19 > 0:14:21this is about the 1880s -

0:14:21 > 0:14:24and Princess Alexandra visited him and Queen Victoria sent a telegram

0:14:24 > 0:14:29to Treves, congratulating him on his humanitarianism.

0:14:30 > 0:14:34And Merrick died, I think, in his twenties, he suffocated.

0:14:34 > 0:14:37He couldn't sleep on his back, because of the weight of the head,

0:14:37 > 0:14:39so he used to sleep sitting up.

0:14:39 > 0:14:41It really is a tremendous script, one of the best ones.

0:14:41 > 0:14:43It's a very touching story.

0:14:43 > 0:14:47One of Hopkins's biggest films after The Elephant Man involved

0:14:47 > 0:14:50another intense character.

0:14:50 > 0:14:53Captain Bligh in The Bounty,

0:14:53 > 0:14:57Hollywood's 1984 version of the famous naval mutiny story.

0:14:59 > 0:15:05- Put those bloody fires out!- I want my opinion in the log...- Mr Cole!

0:15:05 > 0:15:08Have that lashed down, I want all men on deck, now!

0:15:08 > 0:15:10- I want my opinion in the log! - Very well, Mr Fryer.

0:15:10 > 0:15:12If that's what you wish, you shall have it.

0:15:12 > 0:15:14The ship can't stand it!

0:15:14 > 0:15:16This script is a more accurate version,

0:15:16 > 0:15:19more historically accurate than the other two films.

0:15:19 > 0:15:21We're not trying to steal a march on the other two films,

0:15:21 > 0:15:23but it is more historically accurate.

0:15:23 > 0:15:26Bligh wasn't the sadistic monster

0:15:26 > 0:15:31that Charles Laughton brilliantly created.

0:15:31 > 0:15:33He was a great seaman, a great navigator.

0:15:33 > 0:15:38He was Cook's navigator on the Pacific voyages.

0:15:38 > 0:15:41Bad-tempered, no sense of humour.

0:15:41 > 0:15:45But a just man, not an unjust man at all.

0:15:45 > 0:15:47- KNOCKING ON DOOR - Enter!

0:15:50 > 0:15:51Can I have a word with you?

0:15:51 > 0:15:53I'm busy, is it important?

0:15:53 > 0:15:55I think, yes.

0:15:55 > 0:15:57Be brief.

0:16:01 > 0:16:03William, about your decision to go round the Horn.

0:16:03 > 0:16:04"William"?

0:16:04 > 0:16:06Not "Sir"? Not "Captain"?

0:16:06 > 0:16:09"William".

0:16:09 > 0:16:11I don't think the men will have it.

0:16:11 > 0:16:14Oh, the men won't have it? Are they in charge of The Bounty?

0:16:15 > 0:16:18- They might be, if you insist.- Again, would you repeat that, please?

0:16:18 > 0:16:23The men "might be in charge". What are you threatening me with?

0:16:23 > 0:16:24It's not a threat, it's a warning.

0:16:24 > 0:16:28- Oh, there are rumblings, are there?- No.

0:16:28 > 0:16:29There is fear.

0:16:30 > 0:16:32Around the Horn is the easiest way, the better way

0:16:32 > 0:16:35and that is how we will go. Anything more?

0:16:36 > 0:16:38Don't put Adams under the lash.

0:16:38 > 0:16:39He was insubordinate.

0:16:39 > 0:16:41Cowardly and insubordinate!

0:16:41 > 0:16:43He frightened the men.

0:16:43 > 0:16:45I do not put that fear there, he did.

0:16:45 > 0:16:47So he will be lashed and we will go round the Horn.

0:16:50 > 0:16:53Are you frightened to go round the Horn, Mr Christian?

0:16:53 > 0:16:56Are you a coward too, sir?

0:16:56 > 0:16:58Start the rain, we're getting them wet.

0:16:58 > 0:17:02We're shooting the storm scene, where The Bounty's attempting

0:17:02 > 0:17:04to go round the Horn.

0:17:04 > 0:17:07So we've got the boat on rockers, the interior's on rockers.

0:17:07 > 0:17:10We were all beginning to feel seasick, really,

0:17:10 > 0:17:14because they do rock and one of the actors was seasick last week.

0:17:14 > 0:17:16And we've got about 50 tonnes of water,

0:17:16 > 0:17:18I don't know if we're going to use the lot today.

0:17:18 > 0:17:22So we've all got wet suits on under our costumes.

0:17:23 > 0:17:27Captain Bligh may have been a monster in the eyes of some,

0:17:27 > 0:17:30but that was nothing compared to the character that, in 1991,

0:17:30 > 0:17:34would transform Anthony Hopkins's career for ever.

0:17:34 > 0:17:39That was of course, Dr Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs.

0:17:40 > 0:17:46The part turned Hopkins from a star into a superstar.

0:17:46 > 0:17:49His mesmerising performance won him that year's Oscar

0:17:49 > 0:17:51for the Best Leading Actor,

0:17:51 > 0:17:54and the very next day, he made this appearance on the Wogan show.

0:17:54 > 0:17:57Welcome, live from the St James's Club, LA,

0:17:57 > 0:17:59cuddly cannibal, Anthony Hopkins!

0:17:59 > 0:18:05APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

0:18:07 > 0:18:11Now, Anthony. Welcome and congratulations!

0:18:11 > 0:18:12Thank you, Terry.

0:18:12 > 0:18:15Now, I haven't seen the movie, but were you good?

0:18:15 > 0:18:18I was OK... What d'you mean you haven't seen it?

0:18:18 > 0:18:21- You haven't seen... - THEY LAUGH

0:18:21 > 0:18:25- I read the book! I read the book. Were you good in that?- You did?

0:18:25 > 0:18:27I was good in the book. Not so good in the film,

0:18:27 > 0:18:29in the book I was terrific.

0:18:29 > 0:18:31How do you feel this morning?

0:18:33 > 0:18:37Well, er, still baffled.

0:18:37 > 0:18:41Still... I'm coming down off cloud nine a bit, now.

0:18:41 > 0:18:45I'm just feeling... I still can't believe it, that I got this thing.

0:18:45 > 0:18:47It's a wonderful honour.

0:18:47 > 0:18:49I'm looking forward to coming home, back to England,

0:18:49 > 0:18:54I was so astounded at the Oscars ceremony when they called my name.

0:18:54 > 0:18:57I thought they were going to call Nick Nolte, you know.

0:19:00 > 0:19:03So it was a heady experience, it was like a dream.

0:19:03 > 0:19:05I knew I was going to wake up any minute,

0:19:05 > 0:19:08and I didn't know what to say to anyone.

0:19:08 > 0:19:11I didn't know who to thank, and it all went out of my head.

0:19:11 > 0:19:14Have you spoken to your mum yet?

0:19:14 > 0:19:15Yeah, I phoned her.

0:19:15 > 0:19:19I phoned her from the Academy, from the press room.

0:19:19 > 0:19:22And she was staying with some friends of ours,

0:19:22 > 0:19:27Eve and Jean Williams and Jill and Tony,

0:19:27 > 0:19:30and I phoned her and I think they were all sipping the champagne

0:19:30 > 0:19:33and getting really, truly plastered, I believe.

0:19:33 > 0:19:35I think they were all over the moon.

0:19:35 > 0:19:38I was just... I didn't know what I was doing.

0:19:38 > 0:19:42I was just out in left field, I didn't know what I was doing.

0:19:42 > 0:19:44I was just so stunned by it all.

0:19:44 > 0:19:46I really didn't expect it.

0:19:46 > 0:19:49Although during in the ceremony when Billy Crystal

0:19:49 > 0:19:50was making those kind of comments

0:19:50 > 0:19:53and coming on with a mask, dressed as Hannibal Lecter,

0:19:53 > 0:19:55I wondered if I had a better chance and I still said,

0:19:55 > 0:19:57"No, they'll give it to Nick Nolte",

0:19:57 > 0:20:02who is a wonderful actor, but I'm glad they gave it to me anyway.

0:20:02 > 0:20:05What's that you've got on the table in front of you?

0:20:05 > 0:20:08This is... What, the orange juice or the coffee? That's the Oscar.

0:20:08 > 0:20:10That's the Oscar.

0:20:10 > 0:20:13Be careful of it, because I understand they are cheaply made

0:20:13 > 0:20:15and it'll chip if you let it drop.

0:20:15 > 0:20:17Yes, it bends, you know.

0:20:17 > 0:20:20No, it's a great piece of work, actually.

0:20:20 > 0:20:22It's very heavy.

0:20:22 > 0:20:24It's...very heavy.

0:20:24 > 0:20:26It hasn't been a bad year for you.

0:20:26 > 0:20:28I mean, you got the BAFTA awards the other weekend

0:20:28 > 0:20:30and now you've got this.

0:20:30 > 0:20:32I didn't expect that, either.

0:20:33 > 0:20:36I think the reason you didn't expect it, presumably,

0:20:36 > 0:20:38was, in all modesty,

0:20:38 > 0:20:41is because you're the third Briton in succession

0:20:41 > 0:20:44to actually win the Oscar for Best Actor.

0:20:44 > 0:20:47Daniel Day Lewis and then, last year, Jeremy Irons and now you.

0:20:47 > 0:20:50I mean, that's the unexpected element, isn't it?

0:20:50 > 0:20:53Well, it just goes to show so much for...

0:20:53 > 0:20:57You know, the tremendous generosity of America.

0:20:57 > 0:20:59They are the most generous people one could imagine.

0:20:59 > 0:21:02You know, they don't seem to...hold their punches.

0:21:02 > 0:21:05When they want you to have something, they'll give it to you.

0:21:05 > 0:21:07I think...it's fantastic.

0:21:07 > 0:21:09They know no bounds with generosity.

0:21:09 > 0:21:12I was... Of course I expected it, maybe, just slightly political thing

0:21:12 > 0:21:15that they would give it to an American.

0:21:15 > 0:21:16But when they gave it to me, I was so...

0:21:17 > 0:21:19..shocked...

0:21:19 > 0:21:23and that shows how generous the Americans are.

0:21:23 > 0:21:25They're an amazing people.

0:21:25 > 0:21:27They were encouraging me right the way through saying,

0:21:27 > 0:21:30"You're going to get it, you're going to get it." I said, "Don't tell me that!"

0:21:30 > 0:21:33They said, "You're going to get it, we want you to get it."

0:21:33 > 0:21:34I mean, they are amazing people.

0:21:34 > 0:21:36It's a great privilege being here.

0:21:36 > 0:21:38It's all the more remarkable in view of the fact that

0:21:38 > 0:21:42the film was released in America before last year's Oscars ceremony,

0:21:42 > 0:21:44so one would have thought that no matter how good it was

0:21:44 > 0:21:47they would have forgotten about it.

0:21:47 > 0:21:50Yes, well, I guess that goes with the nature of the book -

0:21:50 > 0:21:53because it's a brilliantly written book -

0:21:53 > 0:21:55and Ted Tally's amazing screenplay.

0:21:55 > 0:21:58And then you get a combination like Jonathan Demme as a director

0:21:58 > 0:22:00and you put a couple of people like you know...

0:22:00 > 0:22:02The actors, sort of, showed up and did their bit, you know.

0:22:02 > 0:22:06But when you get a good script like Ted Tally's script, screenplay,

0:22:06 > 0:22:09based on a sensational book,

0:22:09 > 0:22:12you know that you have a good chance of it being a good success.

0:22:12 > 0:22:14It doesn't always work, but...

0:22:14 > 0:22:16I sensed that it was going to be a big box office hit

0:22:16 > 0:22:19because the book was such a top bestseller.

0:22:19 > 0:22:21And...

0:22:21 > 0:22:22So we had a good combination going in.

0:22:22 > 0:22:24But, you know, you can always make mistakes.

0:22:24 > 0:22:28But I'm glad it proved to be a very successful film.

0:22:28 > 0:22:32And I'm glad to be sitting here with...Mr Oscar.

0:22:32 > 0:22:35And I never imagined I'd have one of these.

0:22:35 > 0:22:38Can you explain how the character of Hannibal Lecter...

0:22:40 > 0:22:42..such a character manages to hold

0:22:42 > 0:22:44such a sway in the public's imagination?

0:22:44 > 0:22:48And even the Academy voter's imagination

0:22:48 > 0:22:50or memory over such a long period?

0:22:51 > 0:22:52Yeah... Well, I don't know,

0:22:52 > 0:22:55I don't have any psychological theories about it,

0:22:55 > 0:22:57but I think what it is

0:22:57 > 0:22:59is the old Beauty and the Beast syndrome

0:22:59 > 0:23:02or the old Beauty and the Beast theme.

0:23:02 > 0:23:04I mean, there is a man who has a potential for love,

0:23:04 > 0:23:07strangely enough, in his own dark way, in his own...

0:23:07 > 0:23:09strange way.

0:23:09 > 0:23:12And yet he's a man who's trapped in a monstrous brain,

0:23:12 > 0:23:15like Quasimodo was trapped in a deformed and tragic body.

0:23:15 > 0:23:18And I think that Hannibal Lecter's trapped in this

0:23:18 > 0:23:20distorted and extraordinary mind

0:23:20 > 0:23:22and will never be able to get out of it.

0:23:22 > 0:23:25But he has a human capacity for understanding,

0:23:25 > 0:23:28a tremendous capacity for understanding,

0:23:28 > 0:23:30and he understands Clarice Starling, Jodie Foster.

0:23:30 > 0:23:31And when she confronts him,

0:23:31 > 0:23:34I think he admires her, I think he loves her in a way

0:23:34 > 0:23:36and he would never harm her if he ever got out.

0:23:36 > 0:23:38But you can't let this man out

0:23:38 > 0:23:41because he's a lethal killing machine.

0:23:41 > 0:23:44I guess that's something that maybe an audience recognises

0:23:44 > 0:23:46or in the book that made him so popular

0:23:46 > 0:23:49because there is that potential there, hidden deep down.

0:23:49 > 0:23:53And, I guess, I suppose...audiences or readers respond

0:23:53 > 0:23:54deep in themselves in a way.

0:23:54 > 0:23:57I don't want to make it sound heavy going,

0:23:57 > 0:23:59but I think that's what it is. As you asked me, that's my theory.

0:23:59 > 0:24:03Well, one of the reasons that I'm interviewing you, so far away,

0:24:03 > 0:24:06is because, quite frankly, after that movie,

0:24:06 > 0:24:08I'm fairly apprehensive of you.

0:24:08 > 0:24:10And I imagine that most people

0:24:10 > 0:24:13wouldn't really want to sit beside your at dinner, would they?

0:24:15 > 0:24:16No... I...

0:24:16 > 0:24:17No, they all get up and leave

0:24:17 > 0:24:20when I go into a restaurant. People just get up and leave.

0:24:20 > 0:24:23No... People don't respond in any different way.

0:24:23 > 0:24:25I tell them I'm a vegetarian.

0:24:25 > 0:24:27TERRY CHUCKLES, AUDIENCE LAUGHS

0:24:27 > 0:24:30What about a sequel? Is there a sequel planned to this?

0:24:30 > 0:24:32Surely there must be.

0:24:32 > 0:24:35Well, Thomas Harris is writing the book now, I believe,

0:24:35 > 0:24:36or so they tell me

0:24:36 > 0:24:40and Jonathan Demme is waiting with bated breath for the screenplay

0:24:40 > 0:24:42and the book to come out.

0:24:42 > 0:24:45And Jodie Foster said to me, "We've got to do the second one."

0:24:45 > 0:24:47So...I hope we do.

0:24:47 > 0:24:48Um...

0:24:48 > 0:24:50I don't know where it's going to take place

0:24:50 > 0:24:51or what shape the story's going to be,

0:24:51 > 0:24:53but it would be interesting to do it again,

0:24:53 > 0:24:56I hope in the not too distant future. And then I think that's it.

0:24:56 > 0:24:59I don't want to go on playing men like this,

0:24:59 > 0:25:02but it was the highlight of my acting life, I suppose,

0:25:02 > 0:25:04to get a part like that.

0:25:04 > 0:25:08When I read it I thought, this is a sensational part of a lifetime.

0:25:08 > 0:25:11And I'd like to have one more crack at him, you know.

0:25:11 > 0:25:15Well, look, I'm sure it will be a few days more

0:25:15 > 0:25:18before the full realisation sets in.

0:25:18 > 0:25:21Do enjoy the enormous success.

0:25:21 > 0:25:24I'm sure every producer in Hollywood has beaten a path to your door.

0:25:24 > 0:25:26We wish you continued success

0:25:26 > 0:25:29and, of course, the congratulations of everybody here to Anthony Hopkins.

0:25:29 > 0:25:30Thank you, Terry.

0:25:30 > 0:25:33- CHEERING AND APPLAUSE - Thank you very much.

0:25:37 > 0:25:39That Oscar win did trigger an incredible run

0:25:39 > 0:25:44of award-winning films that further confirmed Hopkins' reputation

0:25:44 > 0:25:47as one of our greatest screen actors.

0:25:47 > 0:25:50Here he is discussing one such role with Jonathan Ross.

0:25:51 > 0:25:53But there were a few things you do in Howards End

0:25:53 > 0:25:56which struck me as being not only brilliant and very moving,

0:25:56 > 0:25:58but, also, I can't imagine they were in the script.

0:25:58 > 0:26:01- In particular, the character you play, Mr Wilcox...- Yes.

0:26:01 > 0:26:03There are two events in the movie

0:26:03 > 0:26:06when he is talking about something shameful in his past.

0:26:06 > 0:26:09And both times he does not wish to be looked upon,

0:26:09 > 0:26:12he doesn't want to make eye contact with his wife,

0:26:12 > 0:26:13he kind of hides his face away.

0:26:13 > 0:26:15- Do you remember those moments? - Oh, I did that.- Yeah.

0:26:16 > 0:26:18Henry.

0:26:21 > 0:26:23Henry,

0:26:23 > 0:26:24Look at me.

0:26:28 > 0:26:29So...

0:26:29 > 0:26:31You were that woman's lover?

0:26:32 > 0:26:36- Since you put it with your usual delicacy, yes, I was.- When?

0:26:37 > 0:26:38When, please.

0:26:38 > 0:26:39- BRUSQUELY:- Ten years ago.

0:26:41 > 0:26:42HE SIGHS

0:26:42 > 0:26:44I'm sorry, ten years ago.

0:26:44 > 0:26:46I don't know. Maybe I'd seen it in a movie somewhere.

0:26:46 > 0:26:49I think Charles Laughton did it in Hunchback Of Notre Dame,

0:26:49 > 0:26:51or something, hid his face.

0:26:51 > 0:26:53It may have been... I think it was that.

0:26:53 > 0:26:55Maybe I stole it. It was a good piece to steal!

0:26:57 > 0:26:59He says, "How ugly I am," and he puts his...

0:26:59 > 0:27:02- I think I stole that. - It's a wonderful moment

0:27:02 > 0:27:04and it really, kind of, breaks through, as well, because...

0:27:04 > 0:27:07Oh, and then he breaks down, doesn't he at the end?

0:27:07 > 0:27:10He couldn't bear to be seen crying, yes, showing of emotion.

0:27:10 > 0:27:13I think that's why I have a lot in common with these characters.

0:27:13 > 0:27:15I don't like bearing emotion much.

0:27:16 > 0:27:18Maybe it's a British thing, maybe it's a male thing,

0:27:18 > 0:27:22but I don't like it, I don't like displays of tears and...

0:27:22 > 0:27:23Urgh, you know.

0:27:23 > 0:27:26I can imagine you must feel quite uncomfortable on Oscar night, then.

0:27:26 > 0:27:30Oh, God, I... I can barely watch them. I can't watch them.

0:27:30 > 0:27:33Howards End and how he got into his part

0:27:33 > 0:27:38also came up in this Barry Norman interview from 1993,

0:27:38 > 0:27:42a year that saw the release of two of Hopkins' best-loved films -

0:27:42 > 0:27:46The Remains Of The Day and Shadowlands.

0:27:46 > 0:27:49Let's have a look at another film...

0:27:49 > 0:27:52one of your more recent ones, Howards End.

0:27:52 > 0:27:55How did you get a handle on the character you played in that?

0:27:55 > 0:27:57- It was the moustache did it.- Ah!

0:27:57 > 0:27:58Yeah.

0:27:58 > 0:28:00So I went to the make-up room

0:28:00 > 0:28:02and they said, "Would you wear a moustache?"

0:28:02 > 0:28:04I said, "Well, I haven't grown one, no."

0:28:04 > 0:28:05She said, "Well, I've got one for you."

0:28:05 > 0:28:07I said, "OK, well, let's put it on."

0:28:07 > 0:28:09I put it on and I said, "There's the man."

0:28:09 > 0:28:11And it made me feel like my grandfather,

0:28:11 > 0:28:14my father's father, who was a very strict Victorian.

0:28:14 > 0:28:16And I looked in the mirror and I thought, "That's him."

0:28:16 > 0:28:19And it did something my eyes, it did something to my face.

0:28:19 > 0:28:22It gave it a sort of edge and it made my eyes stand out.

0:28:22 > 0:28:25I thought, "This man is a ruthless man and he's a tough man,"

0:28:25 > 0:28:28and I could see him in the dark suit.

0:28:28 > 0:28:30So I didn't have to do much work on top of that.

0:28:30 > 0:28:32- Well, have a look and see if it works now.- Oh, yeah.

0:28:37 > 0:28:39Miss Schlegel...

0:28:40 > 0:28:41..Margaret.

0:28:42 > 0:28:44I don't think you quite understand.

0:28:44 > 0:28:46Oh, yes, indeed, yes.

0:28:46 > 0:28:47I'm asking you to be my wife.

0:28:47 > 0:28:49Yes, I know.

0:28:49 > 0:28:51I know.

0:28:51 > 0:28:53Are you offended?

0:28:53 > 0:28:54How could I be?

0:28:54 > 0:28:57- Well, perhaps I should have written first? I...- No, no.

0:28:57 > 0:28:59Rather you will receive a letter from me.

0:28:59 > 0:29:01- Thank you.- Not at all.

0:29:01 > 0:29:03And it's you I thank.

0:29:05 > 0:29:06Um...

0:29:08 > 0:29:10Should I order the motor round now?

0:29:13 > 0:29:14That would be most kind.

0:29:27 > 0:29:29- That's a nice scene, that, isn't it? - Nice scene, yes.

0:29:29 > 0:29:31I enjoyed that.

0:29:31 > 0:29:33Is it true that before you actually go on the set

0:29:33 > 0:29:34for the first day's filming,

0:29:34 > 0:29:38you will probably have read the script up to 150 times?

0:29:40 > 0:29:43- Yeah.- You must know everybody's part, then, not just yours?

0:29:43 > 0:29:46Ah, yes... More or less.

0:29:46 > 0:29:49What I do is I take the scenes and I go over them and over them.

0:29:49 > 0:29:52I sometimes go over them 200 times.

0:29:52 > 0:29:54Sounds obsessive, but it is a bit obsessive.

0:29:54 > 0:29:58And I go over...a scene, loud.

0:29:58 > 0:30:01Once I know it, it's like putting a cake in the oven

0:30:01 > 0:30:02and letting it bake.

0:30:02 > 0:30:05And I hope that in that process,

0:30:05 > 0:30:08that I'll be physically relaxed enough

0:30:08 > 0:30:09so that when they say, "Action," or

0:30:09 > 0:30:11"Let's go to rehearse," or whatever...

0:30:13 > 0:30:16..the part will flow through me in some way.

0:30:16 > 0:30:18What about this "understated sexuality" of yours

0:30:18 > 0:30:19that I keep reading about?

0:30:19 > 0:30:22- Do you notice it? Does your wife notice it?- Understated?- Sexuality.

0:30:22 > 0:30:24Every time I read a profile of you,

0:30:24 > 0:30:26it talks about Hopkins' "understated sexuality".

0:30:26 > 0:30:28- I'm deeply envious of it.- Are you!

0:30:28 > 0:30:32- Where does it come from?- I've never heard of it. I mean, I don't know.

0:30:32 > 0:30:34I get... I laugh

0:30:34 > 0:30:37because I think I'm a bandy-legged balding Welshman, you know.

0:30:37 > 0:30:39And...

0:30:39 > 0:30:42I don't feel at all sexy.

0:30:42 > 0:30:44I'm told that...some of the ladies like me.

0:30:44 > 0:30:47- I don't know what to say - I blush a bit.- You would do, wouldn't you?

0:30:47 > 0:30:50My wife says, "If they could only see you first thing in the morning!"

0:30:50 > 0:30:53But, no, I don't know, you know, I mustn't take myself too seriously.

0:30:53 > 0:30:55- It's very pleasant.- Yes, yes.

0:30:55 > 0:30:57But I... Is that what they say?

0:30:57 > 0:30:59- That's what they say, yes.- No! - Yeah, there you go.

0:30:59 > 0:31:02The new film, the one we're about to see soon,

0:31:02 > 0:31:04The Remains Of The Day, which I think is, in many ways,

0:31:04 > 0:31:07the best role you've had because you dominate that film,

0:31:07 > 0:31:09you're in practically every scene.

0:31:09 > 0:31:13I mean, it's really a film about wasted lives, in a way, isn't it?

0:31:13 > 0:31:15It is about all our lives, really, isn't it?

0:31:15 > 0:31:17About every human being, you know.

0:31:17 > 0:31:22How we hold ourselves back from the real abundance of life.

0:31:22 > 0:31:25We've got a clip of that too, we can refresh your memory.

0:31:25 > 0:31:28It's so recent, I'm sure it doesn't need refreshing but there we go.

0:31:28 > 0:31:31Oh, God! Stevens.

0:31:31 > 0:31:34I'm most sorry, sir.

0:31:34 > 0:31:37But I do have something to convey to you rather urgently, sir.

0:31:37 > 0:31:40If I may be permitted, I'll come straight to the point.

0:31:40 > 0:31:42Perhaps you will have noticed this morning, sir,

0:31:42 > 0:31:45the ducks and the geese by the pond?

0:31:45 > 0:31:47Ducks and geese? No, I don't think so, Stevens.

0:31:47 > 0:31:52Well, perhaps the birds and the flowers, then,

0:31:52 > 0:31:55or the, um, the shrubs and the bees.

0:31:55 > 0:31:57- No, I've not seen any bees.- Yes.

0:31:57 > 0:31:59Well, this is in fact not the best time of the year

0:31:59 > 0:32:03- to see them in their full glory, sir.- What, the bees?

0:32:03 > 0:32:06No, sir. What I'm trying to say, sir, with the arrival of spring

0:32:06 > 0:32:10we shall see a most remarkable and profound change

0:32:10 > 0:32:12in all these surroundings, sir.

0:32:12 > 0:32:16Yeah, I'm sure that's right. The grounds are not at their best now.

0:32:16 > 0:32:18- No, sir.- I have to say I wasn't really paying much attention

0:32:18 > 0:32:21to the old glories of nature because it's all rather worrying,

0:32:21 > 0:32:23you know, um, Dupont D'Ivry has arrived

0:32:23 > 0:32:24in the foulest mood imaginable,

0:32:24 > 0:32:26which is the last thing anyone wants.

0:32:26 > 0:32:28Monsieur Dupont D'Ivry has arrived, sir?

0:32:28 > 0:32:30Yeah, half an hour ago, in a really foul mood.

0:32:30 > 0:32:35In that case, please excuse me. I better go attend to him, sir.

0:32:35 > 0:32:37That's my favourite scene, actually, from the film

0:32:37 > 0:32:39because it's the scene where you, Stevens,

0:32:39 > 0:32:41have been instructed by your employer to teach the facts of life

0:32:41 > 0:32:43- to his godson who's about to be married.- Yeah.

0:32:43 > 0:32:46There's marvellous cross purposes, beautifully played.

0:32:46 > 0:32:48- Of course, Emma Thompson's in it again.- Yeah.

0:32:48 > 0:32:49Are you going to make a habit

0:32:49 > 0:32:51of playing romantic films with Emma Thompson?

0:32:51 > 0:32:54- You'll be like the Lunts... - Or Bogart and Bacall?

0:32:54 > 0:32:55Or Bogart and Bacall, yes.

0:32:55 > 0:33:00I have a feeling that you might reach another milestone

0:33:00 > 0:33:02with another Oscar nomination for The Remains Of The Day.

0:33:02 > 0:33:05- You think so?- Yeah.

0:33:05 > 0:33:07I'll have to divorce it out of my...

0:33:07 > 0:33:09- You really?- Yeah.- Oh.

0:33:10 > 0:33:12HE MUMBLES

0:33:12 > 0:33:14THEY CHUCKLE

0:33:14 > 0:33:16I don't know. It would be very nice. I dare not think about it.

0:33:16 > 0:33:17I dare not think about it.

0:33:17 > 0:33:20- You've also got Shadowlands coming up soon.- Shadowlands, yes.

0:33:20 > 0:33:23So they're keeping you very busy or you are keeping yourself busy.

0:33:23 > 0:33:24I'm keeping myself busy.

0:33:24 > 0:33:26It keeps me off the streets, keeps me out of trouble,

0:33:26 > 0:33:28keeps me out of the bars!

0:33:30 > 0:33:32Long may all this prevail.

0:33:32 > 0:33:36The Remains Of The Day did result in another Oscar nomination,

0:33:36 > 0:33:39which, as with all the plaudits he was receiving,

0:33:39 > 0:33:43Hopkins found hugely satisfying.

0:33:43 > 0:33:45Did you want to be a great success?

0:33:45 > 0:33:47- Yeah.- You are a great success.

0:33:47 > 0:33:50How has that changed you?

0:33:50 > 0:33:52It hasn't changed me at all.

0:33:52 > 0:33:54I've got more confidence in myself.

0:33:54 > 0:33:58Yeah, when I started out I just wanted to be famous,

0:33:58 > 0:34:00I didn't want to become a great actor.

0:34:00 > 0:34:02I didn't want to become a great Shakespearean actor.

0:34:02 > 0:34:04People say you're the next Olivier.

0:34:04 > 0:34:06I didn't want to become the next Laurence Olivier.

0:34:06 > 0:34:09and stand in wrinkled tights at The Old Vic for the rest of my life.

0:34:09 > 0:34:11I had ideas beyond that.

0:34:11 > 0:34:15Some people would call it arrogant and ambitious, I'm all those things.

0:34:15 > 0:34:18Um...I'm very ambitious, um...

0:34:20 > 0:34:23It hasn't changed me except I've faced up...

0:34:25 > 0:34:29..to the honesty and saying this is what I always wanted.

0:34:29 > 0:34:31I remembered once I was working with Emma Thompson

0:34:31 > 0:34:33and we did The Remains Of The Day, I think it was,

0:34:33 > 0:34:35or maybe Howards End.

0:34:35 > 0:34:37She read an interview and I'd said,

0:34:37 > 0:34:40"All I ever wanted to be was rich and famous."

0:34:40 > 0:34:44I think the interviewer that day, I was being rather, you know,

0:34:44 > 0:34:47bad boy and I said, "No, I didn't want to become a classical actor,

0:34:47 > 0:34:48"I wanted to become rich and famous."

0:34:48 > 0:34:52Emma said to me when she read this, she said, "Oh, that's not true."

0:34:52 > 0:34:55I said, "Darling, yes, it was absolutely true."

0:34:55 > 0:34:57She said, "But I can't believe that about you.

0:34:57 > 0:34:59"Aren't you interested in the art?"

0:34:59 > 0:35:02I said, "No, not at all.

0:35:02 > 0:35:04"I want to get on fast planes..."

0:35:04 > 0:35:05As Muggeridge once said,

0:35:05 > 0:35:07you go up and down the world like the devil and one day

0:35:07 > 0:35:10you have to come home. Maybe one day I will come home

0:35:10 > 0:35:13but, for the moment, I'm just enjoying the movement of my life.

0:35:13 > 0:35:17But though he was enjoying himself, Hopkins was also, as ever,

0:35:17 > 0:35:22looking to avoid complacency and find his next creative challenge.

0:35:22 > 0:35:25If you're talking about The Remains Of The Day,

0:35:25 > 0:35:28it was a simple, straightforward part for me to play because I...

0:35:28 > 0:35:29Um...

0:35:30 > 0:35:35I'm good at that containment now. I've mastered, I suppose.

0:35:35 > 0:35:38I'm very experienced at it, I've been doing it for a number of years

0:35:38 > 0:35:40and I've learnt a few tricks here and there.

0:35:40 > 0:35:43I know how to contain a performance and, er,

0:35:43 > 0:35:46like Shadowlands, or what, you know.

0:35:46 > 0:35:47What is it, um...

0:35:47 > 0:35:50Are those techniques that work better on film than on the stage?

0:35:50 > 0:35:53I think they work...I think they can work on stage.

0:35:53 > 0:35:56On film you have an ideal opportunity to, er...

0:35:56 > 0:35:58Um...

0:35:58 > 0:36:03..do less and create more in fact by doing less.

0:36:03 > 0:36:04Um...

0:36:04 > 0:36:06It's fairly straightforward.

0:36:06 > 0:36:08It is a very straightforward process. I really do...

0:36:08 > 0:36:10I say that I work very hard.

0:36:10 > 0:36:12I do love study, I do love research.

0:36:12 > 0:36:15I do a lot of reading and learning of the text,

0:36:15 > 0:36:17or the lines, or whatever you want to call it.

0:36:17 > 0:36:20But once I'm ready, I feel very relaxed

0:36:20 > 0:36:25and I enjoy it and I'm detached, in a way, especially on film

0:36:25 > 0:36:26because you have...

0:36:26 > 0:36:29And I'm in control and I enjoy the control.

0:36:29 > 0:36:32I enjoy being master of the technique,

0:36:32 > 0:36:35I enjoy being master of the performance.

0:36:35 > 0:36:37Um...but I keep it very light.

0:36:37 > 0:36:38Um...

0:36:38 > 0:36:42But now I'm reaching a stage where I want to give up that...

0:36:42 > 0:36:44..contained,

0:36:44 > 0:36:46a quiet, passionless person.

0:36:46 > 0:36:50I now want to break out and do something big

0:36:50 > 0:36:54and boisterous and dangerous again.

0:36:54 > 0:36:57Because I know that's all still in me,

0:36:57 > 0:37:00cooking around and it's time to move on.

0:37:00 > 0:37:02That's what I want to do.

0:37:02 > 0:37:05Hopkins found his big, boisterous character

0:37:05 > 0:37:08in the next Oscar-nominated performance

0:37:08 > 0:37:13in the title role in Oliver Stone's 1996 film Nixon.

0:37:15 > 0:37:18First, the most obvious question is why did Oliver Stone

0:37:18 > 0:37:21choose you to play Nixon?

0:37:21 > 0:37:25In a sense, it's a bit like getting Paul Newman to play Harold Macmillan.

0:37:25 > 0:37:28Maybe a good choice, but not an obvious one. Why?

0:37:28 > 0:37:31I've asked myself that question a lot since.

0:37:31 > 0:37:34He'd seen The Remains Of The Day

0:37:34 > 0:37:37and Shadowlands and some of my work.

0:37:37 > 0:37:39He'd read a few interviews...

0:37:39 > 0:37:42..er, of mine.

0:37:42 > 0:37:44Those rather boring interviews where

0:37:44 > 0:37:48they talk about my drinking years and my pain and all that.

0:37:48 > 0:37:51I think he thought I'd been through the mill a bit

0:37:51 > 0:37:57and he thought the work in The Remains Of The Day was, um,

0:37:57 > 0:38:02really good, playing repressed men which I've been associated with.

0:38:02 > 0:38:06For some reason, I don't know why he didn't think

0:38:06 > 0:38:09about the British accent and the lack of Americanism in me

0:38:09 > 0:38:11because I'm a British actor.

0:38:11 > 0:38:13He said something about being Welsh.

0:38:13 > 0:38:16I don't know how much Oliver knows about Welsh people,

0:38:16 > 0:38:19but he said there was something dark about me

0:38:19 > 0:38:21and being the outsider.

0:38:21 > 0:38:24Whatever the combination was, he wanted to cast me

0:38:24 > 0:38:28and I played... I didn't play hard to get

0:38:28 > 0:38:32but I did question him. I said, "You are aware I'm not an American

0:38:32 > 0:38:36"and it's no easy task to get into an American rhythm of speech."

0:38:36 > 0:38:39Nevertheless, he said, "Well I think you can do it

0:38:39 > 0:38:41"and I want you to do it.

0:38:41 > 0:38:45"It's up to you, but the part's yours if you want it."

0:38:45 > 0:38:49He said, "I'll give you some time to think about it."

0:38:49 > 0:38:52I thought, well, here's a chance to work with a really great,

0:38:52 > 0:38:57great director, a really great director of today's modern cinema.

0:38:57 > 0:38:59I'd be a fool to turn it down

0:38:59 > 0:39:02and I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't.

0:39:02 > 0:39:04I may fall flat on my face.

0:39:04 > 0:39:07I've done the film, I may still yet fall flat on my face,

0:39:07 > 0:39:10but I needed that challenge because I'd become a little complacent,

0:39:10 > 0:39:12very complacent, in fact.

0:39:12 > 0:39:14I was playing parts that were easy for me,

0:39:14 > 0:39:15like The Remains Of The Day, Shadowlands -

0:39:15 > 0:39:18they were dead easy parts.

0:39:18 > 0:39:22Is it true, as I've heard that the clincher was that Stone said to you

0:39:22 > 0:39:25if you don't play it, I'm going to offer it to Gary Oldman?

0:39:25 > 0:39:27- HE CHUCKLES - Yes, it was.

0:39:27 > 0:39:29Oliver's a sort of demon, really.

0:39:29 > 0:39:31He said, "You've got a choice.

0:39:31 > 0:39:35"You can go off and make those boring films that you usually make

0:39:35 > 0:39:39"which nobody goes to see," meaning some Czechoslovak film,

0:39:39 > 0:39:41which I've done one or two of those.

0:39:41 > 0:39:43And he said, "Yeah," because I was still undecided.

0:39:43 > 0:39:45He said, "Do you think Gary Oldman will be good?"

0:39:45 > 0:39:47I said, "I'll do it!"

0:39:57 > 0:39:59HE WEEPS

0:40:06 > 0:40:07How can a...

0:40:07 > 0:40:10How can a country, come apart like this?

0:40:12 > 0:40:13What have I done wrong?

0:40:15 > 0:40:18I opened China.

0:40:18 > 0:40:19I made peace with Russia.

0:40:21 > 0:40:22I ended a war.

0:40:26 > 0:40:28I did what I thought was right.

0:40:33 > 0:40:36God, why do they hate me so?

0:40:36 > 0:40:39It's unbelievable, it's insane...

0:40:41 > 0:40:45Please forgive me.

0:40:45 > 0:40:48WEEPS AND MUMBLES INCOHERENTLY

0:40:52 > 0:40:55You were quoted a couple of years ago saying that it wouldn't bother you

0:40:55 > 0:40:59if you never acted again. Did you actually say that?

0:40:59 > 0:41:01- I think I was going through one of my phases.- Ah.

0:41:01 > 0:41:04- I go through phases...- The lonely melancholy phases?- Yes.

0:41:04 > 0:41:07I think people say... I think actors say that to get a bit of sympathy.

0:41:07 > 0:41:10"Oh, you can't! Think what we're losing!"

0:41:10 > 0:41:13I think somebody might have said to me, "Well, why not? OK, fine."

0:41:13 > 0:41:14I wouldn't have liked that.

0:41:14 > 0:41:17I love the cinema because it's, er, I love it.

0:41:17 > 0:41:19I love the whole feeling of it, getting up in the morning,

0:41:19 > 0:41:22going to the dressing room, make-up on.

0:41:22 > 0:41:24I love the routine, I love the excitement of it.

0:41:24 > 0:41:26I love the circus atmosphere.

0:41:26 > 0:41:28Hitting the road. At the end of wrap party saying,

0:41:28 > 0:41:30"Bye, see you, adios amigos"

0:41:30 > 0:41:33and get in the car and back into the night and onto my next set.

0:41:33 > 0:41:35It's like life, it's like a life and a death

0:41:35 > 0:41:37and there's something very impersonal about it.

0:41:37 > 0:41:39I think there's something so exciting about that,

0:41:39 > 0:41:42there's something about life in that, life and death,

0:41:42 > 0:41:45you know, the long goodbyes and it's over and done with.

0:41:45 > 0:41:50Since 1993, Hopkins has been Sir Anthony, deservedly joining

0:41:50 > 0:41:55the ranks of the acting knights he'd been mimicking for so many years!

0:41:55 > 0:41:59And his passion for cinema continues to this day.

0:41:59 > 0:42:01Whether in crowd pleasing blockbusters,

0:42:01 > 0:42:03or intimate labours of love,

0:42:03 > 0:42:07Hopkins still has an appetite for a challenge that's as impressive

0:42:07 > 0:42:10as that of his most famous creation,

0:42:10 > 0:42:12Hannibal Lecter.