Anthony Hopkins cares less about his movies than you do.
August 21, 2001 7:43 PM Subscribe
Anthony Hopkins cares less about his movies than you do. Wow, I like his attitude toward acting and the industry. He's the polar opposite of the typical Hollywood pretentious types. What's wrong with some apathy in your life anyhow?
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble
...his apathy is anything short of a PR strategy...
lairdj, I can understand your skepticism based on the article. However, Hopkins does seem to stay quite low key compared to many other actors and appears to live as much a "withdrawn" life as can be expected of a actor of his caliber. I would venture to say that if his lifestyle mirrors his words (which seems to be the case), this would be a fairly elaborate PR strategy. Not that I haven't been suckered by elaborate PR before.
posted by aaronchristy at 9:04 PM on August 21, 2001
lairdj, I can understand your skepticism based on the article. However, Hopkins does seem to stay quite low key compared to many other actors and appears to live as much a "withdrawn" life as can be expected of a actor of his caliber. I would venture to say that if his lifestyle mirrors his words (which seems to be the case), this would be a fairly elaborate PR strategy. Not that I haven't been suckered by elaborate PR before.
posted by aaronchristy at 9:04 PM on August 21, 2001
This guy has filmed several movies here in my town, including parts of Hannibal. He has been nothing but gracious to the people around him. I don't know how many stories I have heard about him eating at a local restaurant and then taking time to pose for a picture. I heard one story where he got out of his limo (not a stretch limo) to pose for a shot at a downtown intersection.
This guy is not very "Hollywood" at all.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 9:06 PM on August 21, 2001
This guy is not very "Hollywood" at all.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 9:06 PM on August 21, 2001
The Hopkins interviews on the Titus DVD are wonderful. So down to earth, so cheerfully apathetic. It's great.
posted by solistrato at 9:23 PM on August 21, 2001
posted by solistrato at 9:23 PM on August 21, 2001
Hopkins has threatened to quit before, though with much more contempt for his fans and coworkers. He made a dozen terrible films immediately afterwards. I was really looking forward to his retirement.
I'm not saying he wants to see his own funeral, his contempt for his work is clearly genuine. I just can't imagine why he keeps making films.
posted by dan_of_brainlog at 9:42 PM on August 21, 2001
I'm not saying he wants to see his own funeral, his contempt for his work is clearly genuine. I just can't imagine why he keeps making films.
posted by dan_of_brainlog at 9:42 PM on August 21, 2001
(And for the record, I don't mind him much at all. I just wish he was getting better projects.)
posted by dan_of_brainlog at 9:43 PM on August 21, 2001
posted by dan_of_brainlog at 9:43 PM on August 21, 2001
Well, the first thing he should do is move out of Hollywood, where they make poo, and go somewhere else where they do not make poo.
Because I never saw Instinct, and I'm fine with that.
posted by solistrato at 9:50 PM on August 21, 2001
Because I never saw Instinct, and I'm fine with that.
posted by solistrato at 9:50 PM on August 21, 2001
Anthony Hopkins would despise how cool I think he is right now.
posted by Hildago at 10:39 PM on August 21, 2001
posted by Hildago at 10:39 PM on August 21, 2001
anthony hopkins will never, ever be interviewed on that actor's studio show that is shown on cable. he'd probably sock the interviewer and toss his little ikea desk out into the crowd of college students.
posted by moz at 10:59 PM on August 21, 2001
posted by moz at 10:59 PM on August 21, 2001
"I just can't imagine why he keeps making films."
Because they keep paying him. Why did Douglas Adams write the fourth and fifth installments of the Hitchhiker's Trilogy? Because someone with a lot of money waved a very heavy check under his schnozz. I imagine for Hopkins, it's very much the same thing.
I recall having similar thoughts about Harrison Ford some years ago. He's made it clear in his interviews over the years that he approaches acting as he approached his carpentry work before he got "discovered" in Star Wars. Ford was interested in acting, but before Star Wars it was carpentry that paid his bills. He could have always gone back to that in a heartbeat, so being famous just didn't matter to him. He never lost sight of reality or started believing his own press. It's rare to catch an interview of Harrison Ford, but when I see one it's so refreshing. His answers are soft-spoken, genuinely sincere, and it's apparent he doesn't see himself as a big star. He's thankful to a point, but generally apathetic towards the whole thing. He also seems to annoy interviewers because he doesn't give them much meat. He doesn't talk about his personal life much, and his answers are usually brief and simple, with a hint of strained patience in his demeanor.
I believe Anthony Hopkins' got a similar approach to his situation. We can argue that it may be a "gimmick," but personally I find it rare and refreshing to find stars who never forget the bottom line.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:21 AM on August 22, 2001
Because they keep paying him. Why did Douglas Adams write the fourth and fifth installments of the Hitchhiker's Trilogy? Because someone with a lot of money waved a very heavy check under his schnozz. I imagine for Hopkins, it's very much the same thing.
I recall having similar thoughts about Harrison Ford some years ago. He's made it clear in his interviews over the years that he approaches acting as he approached his carpentry work before he got "discovered" in Star Wars. Ford was interested in acting, but before Star Wars it was carpentry that paid his bills. He could have always gone back to that in a heartbeat, so being famous just didn't matter to him. He never lost sight of reality or started believing his own press. It's rare to catch an interview of Harrison Ford, but when I see one it's so refreshing. His answers are soft-spoken, genuinely sincere, and it's apparent he doesn't see himself as a big star. He's thankful to a point, but generally apathetic towards the whole thing. He also seems to annoy interviewers because he doesn't give them much meat. He doesn't talk about his personal life much, and his answers are usually brief and simple, with a hint of strained patience in his demeanor.
I believe Anthony Hopkins' got a similar approach to his situation. We can argue that it may be a "gimmick," but personally I find it rare and refreshing to find stars who never forget the bottom line.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:21 AM on August 22, 2001
interviewers have been wary ever since he ate the census taker who once tried to test him.
posted by bwg at 4:02 AM on August 22, 2001
posted by bwg at 4:02 AM on August 22, 2001
Although I admire Anthony Hopkin's talent a great deal (his performances in Remains of the Day and Shadowlands are extremely moving and powerful) I must say when I read this I was a bit saddened. Not that I disagree with his contempt for Hollywood (although if he really does have contempt for Hollywood, why did he make Meet Joe Black???), but his apathy toward anything to do with acting I find disappointing.
I guess because as an actor (stage, though, not film) I find acting exciting and certainly a lot more fun and stimulating than anything else I could do for a living, and I feel like if acting ever did become just a day job to me then I'd need to find something else that stimulated me.
Perhaps he plays up the apathy in interviews in order to counteract all the self-absorbed stars who talk about their "craft" and all that, but it just seems a little strange that his enthusiasm for what he does borders on comatose.
posted by witchstone at 7:11 AM on August 22, 2001
I guess because as an actor (stage, though, not film) I find acting exciting and certainly a lot more fun and stimulating than anything else I could do for a living, and I feel like if acting ever did become just a day job to me then I'd need to find something else that stimulated me.
Perhaps he plays up the apathy in interviews in order to counteract all the self-absorbed stars who talk about their "craft" and all that, but it just seems a little strange that his enthusiasm for what he does borders on comatose.
posted by witchstone at 7:11 AM on August 22, 2001
Maybe he just needs some Pez. I get all cranky and morose when the blood sugar drops, too.
posted by dong_resin at 7:22 AM on August 22, 2001
posted by dong_resin at 7:22 AM on August 22, 2001
he played nixon better then nixon plyed nixon.
I don't know, I'm not sure that Tricky Dick had that faint Welsh accent
posted by matteo at 4:30 PM on August 22, 2001
I don't know, I'm not sure that Tricky Dick had that faint Welsh accent
posted by matteo at 4:30 PM on August 22, 2001
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posted by lairdj at 8:33 PM on August 21, 2001