Anthony Hopkins names his favourite actors: “The greatest of them all”
At this stage in his career, Anthony Hopkins may well be considered one of the greatest actors of all time. With two Academy Awards under his belt and decades of scene-stealing performances, he’s earned his reputation as a formidable master of his craft. Whether he’s thundering his way through a Marvel movie or terrorising Jodie Foster as a cannibalistic serial killer, he brings a level of authority to the screen that few co-stars can match.
Having learned the ins and outs of acting under the watchful tutelage of Sir Laurence Olivier, Hopkins was shaped in the most prestigious and traditional of modes, but that doesn’t mean he only respects other theatre actors. When discussing his favourite performers of all time, he had a long and varied list that extended far outside the stuffy walls of the British stage.
“I learned a great deal from American actors, particularly the older generation,” he told El País in 2023, singling out Spencer Tracy. “The British have as well,” he continued, “But they have a more theatrical tradition, because that was the beginning to all British actors.”
Tracy, who began his career in the 1920s, had an unusually naturalistic acting style compared to many other actors at the time, making him a touchstone for generations of Hollywood stars. But Hopkins’ praise didn’t stop there. He was, he explained, very proud of his theatre background as well. “I worked with some extraordinary people such as Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Albert Finney, Jonathan Pryce,” he said. “They’re stunning, great actors and it’s always been a great pleasure and privilege for me.”
Olivier clearly played an instrumental role in Hopkins’ career, while Gielgud was one of the most influential actors of his generation. Finney and Pryce are contemporaries of Hopkins, having gotten their starts on the stage at a similar time and going on to have successful careers in Hollywood.
However, for Hopkins, the greatest actor of all time wasn’t Tracy or one of his theatre co-stars. When listing his other favourite American actors, he said, “James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Fredric March. Dustin Hoffman, he’s a great actor. [Robert] De Niro, Al Pacino. Marlon Brando, of course, the greatest of them all.”
There is no controversy about picking Brando as the greatest actor of all time. He is probably the person most consistently given that title. Just as Citizen Kane has become synonymous with cinematic perfection and Stanley Kubrick has become synonymous with virtuosic direction, Brando’s name is shorthand for acting prowess. As one of the original and most eccentric method actors, he was, interestingly enough, in direct opposition to Olivier’s school of acting, which involved crafting a character based on the text and theatrical training rather than on personal, lived experience.
The dichotomy between Hopkins’ mentor and the actor he reveres the most is fitting since Hopkins is one of the performers who helped bridge the gap between British theatre and Hollywood. The pipeline of classically trained performers from the UK taking all the best roles in the American film industry is now a cliché, and Hopkins can be at least partially thanked (or blamed) for the phenomenon.
