The comedies Anthony Hopkins always wanted to star in: “A lot of people would say, ‘Oh, I’m not interested'”
In 1991, Anthony Hopkins’ performance as Hannibal Lecter in the Oscar-winning horror The Silence of the Lambs earned him significant praise. The Welsh actor began his career on stage back in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until his tenure in Hollywood during the 1980s and 1990s that he really became a star. As Hannibal, a terrifying killer, he unnerved many with his chilling yet sophisticated demeanour, crafting the perfect complex character.
Other roles, such as Frederick Treves in The Elephant Man and Van Helsing in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, further cemented Hopkins as not just an acclaimed British star of stage and screen but a Hollywood icon. With parts in movies like The Remains of the Day, Legends of the Fall, Nixon, Hannibal, and even How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Hopkins asserted himself as a household name.
Continuing his Hollywood career into the present day, Hopkins often appears in big-budget productions. Yet, in his early acting days, Hopkins worked firmly in the realm of British cinema and television, making his feature film debut with The Lion in Winter. He also starred in other productions like The Looking Glass War, Hamlet, and When Eight Bells Toll, but there was a British comedy franchise he regrets not starring in.
It might sound a far cry from the titles Hopkins is known for, but the actor wishes he had appeared in the Carry On franchise. The series was a mainstay in British cinema for quite some time, finding most popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, with titles including Carry On Camping, Carry On Matron, Carry On Abroad, and Carry On Girls. The movies featured an ensemble cast, typically starring actors like Barbara Windsor, Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Peter Butterworth, and Hattie Jacques.
It’s hard to avoid the Carry On movies if you live in the United Kingdom, especially at Christmas time when they’re played on a loop on ITV3. None of them are actually ‘good’ films – they rely on innuendos and quintessentially ‘70s British humour full of questionable and offensive jokes. The movies have been criticised for being racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally in poor taste, but still, they remain favourites for many viewers, even if instances such as the objectification of young female characters or the use of brown face are hard to ignore.
The series has had such a lasting impact on British cinema despite being awful, even lending Brits some unforgettable quotes like “Ooh matron!”. According to Patricia Franklin, who starred in several Carry On films, Hopkins once told her he was a fan of the franchise and would’ve happily starred in one of the films had he been given the chance.
She told The Guardian, “Someone might say, ‘Patricia is in a Carry On’ and a lot of people would say ‘Oh, I’m not interested in Carry Ons.’ But then others were absolutely mad about it.” This led her to reveal Hopkins’ love for the series. “I was in a play at the National with Anthony Hopkins and he said he loved the Carry Ons and had always wanted to be in one.”
