A Moment With Anthony Hopkins

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins is recognized as one of Hollywood’s greatest actors. Receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 for his outstanding accomplishments in the arts, Hopkins is also a double Emmy, triple BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Academy Award winner. His lengthy list of films include The Mask of Zorro, Hearts In Atlantis, Fracture, Nixon, All the King’s Men, Beowulf, The Human Stain and of course, who could forget the Hannibal Lecter saga. Playing a cannibalistic serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon, Hopkins haunted our dreams with such a frighteningly realistic performance of a madman. However, he is anything but mad. Hopkins is incredibly humble, down-to-earth and kind. While his latest film yet to be released is The Wolf Man, co-starring Benicio Del Toro, Acted By wanted to know about this outstanding actor’s journey down a director’s lane.

With his first directorial called Slipstream, which currently resides on your local Blockbuster’s shelves just waiting to keep getting rented, Hopkins talked to Acted By about putting on several different hats and bringing his first-born screenplay to life.

I’m really excited to talk to you. And nervous, too. Because, well… you know why… It’s you.

[Hopkins laughs].

Now, let me get this straight. Not only are you starring in it but you wrote it, composed the music and directed it, as well?

Yep. When I wrote it, I had no idea what it was. I just let go, trying to make sense of coherence or actions. Like all films, there is an order and I wanted to screw around with that.

Slipsteam’s premise is quite strange, if you don’t mind me saying so. It’s very unusual. How did you decide to write such a uniquely told story?

Yes, well, I’m interested in memory and the nature of time. And ahhh… life and death and all that stuff. So, that’s how I made the movie. I began writing it several years ago and I didn’t spend days writing. I would just write a scene and go away from it and then come back after a few days, fresh! I’d read what I had and think, ‘This is really interesting.’ Like I said, I didn’t have any basic idea of what it was meant to be.

And now?

Deep down inside of myself, I know it is really about life and death. I mean, the plot is about filmmakers making a movie, the movie is… I hate this old-school word, a ‘metaphor’ to represent life.

See, when I watch a movie on television or anywhere, I’m most fascinated by the whole team of people who make up the movie. The crew, electricians, craft services or whatever… There’s always another reality. What we are actually watching is just a glimpse into some kind of make believe world. So, I spoil my own entertainment. That’s why I can never really get involved in a film when I’m watching it. I’m very detached. That is how I came up with Slipstream… a movie within a movie. A dream within a dream. That’s my take on life.

In the beginning of the movie, my character, a screenwriter, gets killed and when he does, he flashes backwards and reinterprets the events in his life. Think about it… we see something and don’t even notice that we saw it. And then it’ll come up in a dream a few days later. We even dream of people we haven’t seen in years. I’m so interested in that… the unconscious mind.

I just want to take a sec and say that I admire you greatly for your achievements in the film industry. You are looked up to by so many of us.

Oh, come on. I don’t cure cancer.

[We laugh].

True, but still… I respect your work very much.

Thank you. I’m always wondering what the hell the purpose of acting is? I watch movies and see actors, acting up a storm, taking themselves very seriously. You hear of actors that are monsters and nobody’s allowed to look at them on set and all that ridiculousness. They take themselves so damn seriously. In my film, Christian Slater’s character [who plays an actor] dies from overacting. He’s just taking himself way too seriously.

Slipstream sort of pokes fun of the whole business of living and the business of making movies and the seriousness that people invest in what they do. It’s definitely not meant as a vicious attack. It’s just a slight poke in the eye. Come on, wake up! It’s not so serious.

You can’t be so serious about your life. We are all going to be dead one day. So, right now, in my life, I’m just living in the moment and enjoying it. That’s what I base my life on. I paint, write music, read… And acting… when I get a job as an actor it’s like the gravy on top. I don’t have any ambitions.

It’s so cool to hear you say these things, considering that you are one of the best artists in Hollywood.

Oh, please.

You are!

Can I tell you a little story?

Of course!

I was sitting in a taxi in London in a traffic jam and this taxi driver leaned back toward the window to talk to me. He said, ‘Look at all these people crossing the road here. Look at that one over there. He’s so full of himself. She’s so full of herself. It’s so funny because one day he will be replaced. She will be replaced. We will all be replaced.’

I’ve always remembered that. And you know, nothing is permanent. We take things so seriously expecting permanence but that’s completely insane. There is no such thing. Everything changes. Everything passes. That’s also what this film is about. Nothing is of huge importance.

Nobody’s important? So, there’s no power, no purpose, no control?

That’s right. Everything is based on chance, I think. There’s a good book out there called The Way of Solomon by Rami Shapiro. I recommend you read it. Basically, it’s about how little we know and how we cannot grasp reality. We can’t grasp a moment in time because everything flashes to the past. We can’t even think of the future. So, we have this eternal moment.

I understand. Even this moment, talking to you will soon be over and it will just be a memory. A memory that will be very hard to believe, I might add.

We just have to enjoy life as it comes. We can’t make sense of why we are here. And that’s what my movie is about. What the hell is it all about?

Do you believe in Karma?

Nonsense.

So… no?

What the hell does that mean, Karma? What does any of these man-made philosophies mean? Sometimes I wonder if it’s just a shield to stop the inevitable horror of mortality.

Honestly, the key to wisdom is to say I don’t know. I know nothing.

How long did it take you to shoot Slipstream?

Six weeks.

Did you enjoy making it?

Oh, yes. It was fun to make. I got the privilege of working with a great group of actors. We had a really good time.

Do you think you’ll write and direct another one?

I have no idea. I’ve only got this moment.