15 Fun Facts About Oscar-Winning Actor Anthony Hopkins
He wanted to become a concert pianist.
Two-time Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins—knighted in 1993 by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to the arts—plays the grandfather in the period drama Armageddon Time (in theaters Oct. 28), about a family’s generational pursuit of the American dream, set in the 1980s. Here are some fun facts about the acclaimed actor, now 84, who won Oscars for The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and The Father (2020).
He wanted to become a concert pianist, but when he was 15, he met Richard Burton, who encouraged him to study acting.
Hopkins did his mandatory service in the British Army's Royal Artillery regiment, where he was known as “Gunner Hopkins.”
For his performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, he almost never blinked when he spoke, a characteristic he picked up from watching tapes of convicted murderer Charles Manson.
He has played two U.S. presidents: Richard Nixon in Nixon and John Quincy Adams in Amistad.
Though dyslexic, he's always possessed a great memory; he reads each script 250 times out loud before filming.
In the 1991 restoration of 1960’s Spartacus, Hopkins dubbed added scenes for the character played by Laurence Olivier, for whom he had understudied at a storied London theater.
He became the oldest person—at 83—to receive an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role when he won for The Father.
Chilly! He had to be treated for hypothermia after falling into a river while filming The Edge with Alec Baldwin in Alberta, Canada, in 1997.
Hopkins is an accomplished painter.
Hopkins was asked to play Alfred in Batman Begins but turned down the role.
His performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs was ranked No. 1 on the American Film Institute's Villains list of 100 Years of the Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains.
Hopkins is related to the poet William Butler Yeats on his mother's side of the family.
One of his great pleasures on trips to the USA was to get in a car and drive across the country.
In 2000, Hopkins became a U.S. citizen, but was allowed to retain his British knighthood and the title sir, which he was awarded in 1993.
During the past 20 years, Hopkins has worked as a volunteer at the Ruskin School of Acting in Santa Monica, California.
Related: Anthony Hopkins and The Father Paint a Powerful, Moving Portrait of Memory Slipping Away
