Fortune's Favoured

For a man as accomplished as he is, Anthony Hopkins’ approach to his life and career is uncharacteristically simple

- CEZAR GREIF

WHEN INTERVIEWING AN OLDER ACTOR, there is often an odd feeling of trepidation mingled with the awe. You wonder if he’s still himself, with the person matching the persona, or if time has irrevocably changed him and made him different from how you remember him in his most iconic moments. There was no such issue with 82-year-old Anthony Hopkins. The Oscar-winning actor is still at it the old-fashioned way, memorising his lines and bringing his piercing gaze and trademark intensity to his roles, seemingly unaffected by age. Has any octogenarian actor delivered such earthshattering performances as he did in 2018’s King Lear? (Alas, Richard Harris perished at 72, and Ian Mckellen is only 79.) Probably not, but don’t count on Tony, as he insists on being called, to explain how he does it. He doesn’t know and is as surprised as anyone that his career is still going this strong.

You grew up in Wales. What do you remember of your childhood?

Wales is just a small country in the British Isles. The place where I was born was a bit cut off from the world, and I had a different accent then. I wasn’t very quick or sharp, and I didn’t shine academically. My wife once interviewed a schoolteacher of mine, who said that I wouldn’t have any chances of survival because I was so quiet. By a series of connections and accidents, I became an actor – I didn’t know what else to do – and suddenly, within a few years, I took off. It’s quite extraordinary.

Do you think success comes down to luck?