The director Anthony Hopkins compared to Adolf Hitler: “They’re monsters, they’re ogres”
One thing that never seems to die in Hollywood is the legacy of abusive practices and behaviour that has tainted the industry for decades. Over the years, many film productions have been ruined by dictatorial displays of power, aggressive working practices, and egotistical maniacs, with many actors speaking about their uncomfortable and sometimes career-ruining experiences on set.
From Natalie Woods to Blake Lively and Amy Adams, there are too many examples to think of in which a collaborative partnership has been ruined by an abuse of power, with directors like David O Russell, Charlie Chaplin and William Friedkin going down in history for the wrong reasons after obscene outbursts and sometimes violent behaviour. It’s a tale as old as time and something that Anthony Hopkins reflected on when sharing his experiences of working with one notoriously difficult director.
Hopkins is one of the definitive legends of British cinema, with expert performances in The Elephant Man, Silence of the Lambs and The Two Popes. He is widely considered one of the most influential actors to come from this side of the pond, with endless critical acclaim and praise for his refined and intelligent character work, finding nuance through specificity and troublingly fleshed-out details.
However, the actor has been in the business for many years, starting out in the late 1960s at a time when the industry was famously less inclusive or welcoming, with directors ruling the world and thinking of themselves as unstoppable forces who could get away with anything they wanted. Through all his years on screen, the actor shared some insights into the creative habits of one infamous director, someone who has renowned for his brutal reputation.
Otto Preminger is the director behind beloved films such as Anatomy of a Murder, Laura, and Bunny Lake is Missing. He remained a key figure as Hollywood began to shift towards a new equilibrium. However, he was not nearly as well-liked as his films were, and he had a feared reputation for his nasty presence on set.
When describing the director, Hopkins said, “Preminger is a fake. Well, you see, Preminger actually killed an actress who was an alcoholic. She was in Bunny Lake is Missing with Laurence Olivier. It was Martita Hunt. She played the old woman living in the attic. She was an alcoholic, and three months after that film was completed, she died of alcoholic poisoning because she had nothing else to do but drink herself to death. He called her an old bag and an old whore, and a has-been. It simply destroyed her.”
Adding: “Preminger was a bully. It was Olivier who finally went to him and said, ‘If you don’t stop this, this instant, Noel Coward and I are walking straight off the film. You are a manic!’ I don’t like maligning people, but I’m naming these people in order to protect other actors from them. They’re monsters, they’re ogres. He’s a delightful man to talk to socially. But you get him on the set, and he becomes Adolf Hitler.”
Many actors would be afraid of the potential damage that could be done to their reputation by speaking out about such insidious practices, but Hopkins thankfully used his power and voice to warn others about the torture of working with such a tyrant. If only we had the same attitude when women in the industry were speaking about similar cases in relation to sexual harassment, perhaps Hollywood would finally be a pleasant place to work.
