Anthony Hopkins

The Human Stain is the new work of today’s most reputable Welsh actor. In this adaptation of Philip Roth ‘s book of the same name , based on a true event, Hopkins plays Coleman Silk, a professor of classical literature accused of being a racist for comments made during a class. He loses his reputation, his wife dies from the trauma received, and his children take his word away from him, so he only has to seek refuge with a humble cleaning girl, whom he incidentally plays the increasingly amazing Nicole Kidman. Without a doubt, he is another of the characters that play Hopkins, a refined individual who maintains his composure, although he hides a completely different reality. In this way, Coleman Silk connects with Stevens, the seemingly insensitive but deep down in love butler in What Remains of the Day , or the writer fearful of the death of his wife in Shadowlands .

Born on December 31, 1937, Phillip Anthony Hopkins comes from a humble home in Port Talbot, a town in South Wales where his parents ran a bakery. He was a shy child, without friends, which presaged the reserved character that would define him as an adult. At the age of 17 he won a scholarship to study at the prestigious Cardiff School of Actors. He was determined to become an interpreter, dazzled by the talent of Richard Burton , also Welsh, and he took a giant step when he finished his studies and dazzled Sir Laurence Olivier , who hired him to act at the National Theatre, directed by him. His first major film job was as a contender for Richard II’s succession in The Lion in Winter ., and followed an upward trajectory, with notable performances in A Bridge Too Far and The Two Lives of Audrey Rose . From his early days, a real character stands out, Dr. Frederick Treves , who discovers a human being with terrible deformities but also many feelings, in The Elephant Man .

He declares that if he ever writes his memoirs, he will not hide his bad experiences: “I don’t think I’ll ever write them, because I’m lazy and I lose interest in things quickly, but if I do, I’ll tell everything, including my bad boy side and rebel”. He refers to the tragedy that befell him after divorcing Petronella Baker after 4 years of marriage, which led him to take refuge in alcohol. Luckily he managed to get clean, with the help of Jennifer Lynton, who would become his second wife until 2002.

He rose to stardom thanks to a fascinating individual, despite the fact that his madness leads him to kill to eat human flesh. Who has not been fascinated, and at the same time horrified, before Hannibal Lecter, better known as Hannibal the Cannibal? When his agent called him to star in The Silence of the Lambshe thought the role was “too good” for him, but he offered an interpretive recital that earned him the absolute unanimity of the public and critics, as well as the Oscar for best performance. “Hannibal is the symbol of the escape from the mediocrity to which this society has led us. It is always better to bring out what we have inside, and Hannibal brings it out without prejudice”, he declared trying to explain the real fever that accompanied not only the original film, but also to a certain extent the sequels.

Instead of riding his fame and living off the tale with minimal effort, Hopkins has since seemed obsessed with outdoing himself, and each of his roles is a “tougher still.” Although he highlights above all his composition of the writer CS Lewis , in Shadowlands , also linger in the memory Return to Howard’s End , What remains of the day , Surviving Picasso . He also gave life to two North American presidents, in Nixon , and in Amistad , where he was John Quincey Adams.

Although he is considered a monster of interpretation, he is not one of those actors who conscientiously prepares his roles. “When I was young I was fascinated by the Stanislavsky method, but now I simplify everything,” he explains. “Interpretation is mythologized and I reduce everything I can.” Named sir by the Queen of England, he provoked the suspicions of his compatriots when he became an American citizen shortly after. This is explained because he feels a certain fascination with the American way of life, and feels comfortable driving through the territory of this country, one of his favorite hobbies, without any company, since he continues to be a loner. “I feel identified with characters like Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, the Phantom of the Opera or Quasimodo, which are dark and extravagant”, he explains.