Anthony Hopkins, 82 years old, is not one of those celebrities who have recently joined the trend of opening up the channel to share the miseries that haunt them after the apparent life of successes visible to most, and especially to their admirers. The actor of The silence of the lambs, Legends of passion O The two popes He has already shared on many occasions that he had problems with alcohol and there was a time when he had to face them.
However, this Tuesday, when he turned 45 years of that commitment to himself that led him to stop drinking and stay sober, he decided to share with his followers a video through Twitter in which he talks about the decision he made, celebrating the decades that he has been able to stay sober and, above all, sends a message of hope to all who are now in the same process that he had to undertake years ago.
“Do not give up, hold on”, that is basically the mantra that the actor directs to all those who fight against addictions during the covid-19 pandemic. “Be brave and powerful forces will come to help you,” he continues. In the video Hopkins begins by acknowledging that “it has been a difficult year, full of pain and sadness for many, many, many people.” Then the actor, who will turn 83 this Thursday, addresses directly those who are in the same situation that he lived in for so long: “Today 45 years ago I had a wake-up call. I was heading to disaster. He was drinking himself to death. ” After these harsh words, he specified that light that made him change his attitude: “I received a message, a little thought that said: ‘Do you want to live or die?’ I said I wanted to live. And suddenly relief came and my life has been incredible. “
Anthony Hopkins acknowledges in the publication on his social network that he still has a few days in which doubts appear, but he emphasizes the need to stay strong. “Today is the tomorrow that worried you so much yesterday,” he says addressing his followers. “You young people, stay there. Don’t give up, just keep fighting ”.
Hopkins began his career as a stage actor in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and got his big break at an international level in the late 1960s, in 1968, when he played The lion in winter with Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn. His youth, as has happened with so many others, was spent on some occasions on the edge of the border and he has admitted that at the beginning of his career he was “drunk and hungover” too many times. It was when he was about to turn 38 when he decided to change this course that he saw could end many of the things he had achieved until then, including his own life.
In 1992 he won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The silence of the lambs and over the years he has been nominated for this award four other times: in 1993 for What remains of the day and in 1995 by Nixon, in the same category; and in 1997 and 2019 as Best Supporting Actor for Friendship and The two popes, respectively. In his long professional career, there are many other titles that have enshrined him as one of the biggest stars in theater and screen. In recent months, his last performance in the film is also praised The father, a performance that some predict as a candidate for the next Oscars.
A year ago the American magazine Interview organized a meeting between Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt, who shared the poster in the film ¿Conoces a Joe Black? and that they have maintained a friendly relationship ever since. Both interpreters spoke openly about their problems with alcohol and about details of their lives after giving up this addiction. They chatted about life and how they think they both decided to face it with passion and be carried away by it and Brad Pitt shared with Hopkins that he is still “struggling with guilt.” “I am realizing as an act of forgiveness towards myself that I value the missteps that I have taken, the choices that I have made that I am not proud of, because they gave me some wisdom. You can’t have one without the other, ”said Angelina Jolie’s ex-husband. At that moment Hopkins tells him that he has read that he has had problems with alcohol and Pitt responds: “I saw it as an escape.”
Hopkins was also honest and told him that he hid the same problem a long time ago. “I did bad things, but it was all, in a way, for a reason,” reflected the British actor. “It’s weird looking back and thinking, ‘God, I did all those things,’ but it’s like there’s an inner voice saying, ‘It’s over. Done. Keep going”. At the same meeting, Anthony Hopkins wonders about the meaning of making certain choices in life: “I don’t know why I drank,” he says. “Now I look back and think, ‘It wasn’t bad, but I don’t want to do it again.’ So I caused harm and I apologize to people for doing what I did. It is part of being alive. You have to forget and just keep moving forward ”.
