Anthony Hopkins names the best movie of his career: “The part of a lifetime”
Few actors can boast of enjoying a career like Sir Anthony Hopkins. In his 60 years on stage and film, the Welsh legend has given the world countless incredible performances. He’s been a part of some of the greatest plays ever produced and some of the best movies ever made, picking up two Academy Awards, two Emmys, four Baftas, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a Knighthood along the way. Naturally, though, with a career as diverse and lengthy as his, not all projects are created equal. Indeed, Hopkins once revealed his favourite films that he has been a part of, and the list has some personal picks among the more obvious choices.
When thinking about Hopkins’ best films, one choice immediately comes to mind; fittingly, it is one of his favourites. In the late 1980s, Hopkins was in a backstage dressing room in London while starring in a production of M Butterfly when he received the script that would change everything for him. His agent told him to read The Silence of the Lambs, and amusingly, Hopkins mistakenly thought it sounded like a children’s film.
As soon as Hopkins began reading the screenplay, though, it became clear this was no kid’s movie. However, it was also obvious that what he was reading was very, very special. Hopkins told People, “I read through the first scene of Lecter,” and it prompted him to immediately call his agent to confirm if he was really being offered the role or if they wanted him to audition. His agent wasn’t sure, so Hopkins told him he wasn’t going to read any more until that was clarified. You see, he knew, “This is one of the best parts I’ve ever read,” and he didn’t want to get more attached to it if he wasn’t actually being offered the part.
Obviously, Hopkins was offered the role of cannibal psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, and he gleefully accepted it. It became his defining role, and he once told AARP that he implicitly understood Lecter despite his status as a ruthless serial killer. He shrugged, “I have an instinct for those kinds of people. They’re narcissists. I don’t know if that’s in me. I just understand them.”
Even before the movie came out, Hopkins claims he knew it was going to be huge. He joked, “I’ll never escape from that guy.” However, being forever attached to a role is fine as long as it’s “The part of a lifetime.” As he told IndieLondon, “I hate the word career, but I suppose a career-changing film was The Silence Of The Lambs. When The Silence Of The Lambs came along, it put me in a new category, I guess. From then on, I have enjoyed doing what I do more.”
Hopkins’ increased status in Hollywood after winning an Oscar for Lecter enabled him to make three more of his favourites: The Remains Of The Day, Shadowlands and Nixon, all released between 1993 and 1995.
However, Hopkins’ other favourite movie was actually released seven years before Lecter came into his life. The Bounty, which told the story of the famous mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty in the South Pacific in 1789, co-starred Mel Gibson and was directed by Australian filmmaker Roger Donaldson. He loved his experience working with Donaldson so much that they reunited on 2005’s The World’s Fastest Indian.
However, intriguingly, The Bounty was initially supposed to be directed by someone else: iconic Lawrence of Arabia director David Lean. Hopkins revealed, “At that time, the script was going to be four or five hours long and was going to be divided into two films. But I don’t think that would have stood up. I think it would have been too big.” In the end, the project was reshaped by Donaldson into something more manageable – and it took pride of place on the list of Hopkins’ favourite films.
