As a child, the actor was lonely and dyslexic
“I was a very lonely child“I didn’t do well at school, I was very isolated, I was almost a hermit. So, when I was about 17, I decided to try my luck with acting. I wanted to be a musician, but it occurred to me that I could act. It’s strange, it seems like a dream,” said the actor, born on December 31, 1937, in Port Talbot, Wales. The only son of the couple made up of Muriel Anne, a strong, powerful and very possessive woman, and Richard Arthur, a bad-tempered, aggressive and nervous man.
“I decided to be an actor because I couldn’t think of anything else to do, and everything happened in such a way that I let myself be drawn towards this path. “I’ve been going along like this for 50 years, just going with the flow. I do what I know how to do, nothing more,” said the British star in 2022, after winning his second Oscar for best actor.
He elaborated on his school years in an interview with the Daily Mail. “I was pathetic at Port Talbot school, I don’t know if it was dyslexia or attention disorder, but I sat at the back of the classroom and didn’t know what any of the teachers standing at the front were talking about. I learned poorly, which left me open to ridicule and caused me to have a inferiority complex. “I grew up absolutely convinced that I was stupid. I was the worst in my class, and I was made to suffer for it.”
At 15 she met the actor Richard Burtonhis great influence. He had seen all of his films. When he heard that he was visiting the city, he went to ask for his autograph. Their great meeting started well and ended badly. So badly that he left without an autograph. At first they talked about the teenager’s acting vocation, but when the film star changed the subject and asked him if he would attend the international rugby match at Cardiff Arms Park, the good mood of the conversation changed. The boy had no idea and innocently asked him: who plays? – What do you mean, who plays?! You’re not a real Welshman if you don’t know who plays! – I say transfixed. That was the end of it.
Shortly afterwards, as he enjoyed activities related to the arts so much, he asked his parents to enroll him in the Cardiff College of Music and Drama. There he took piano lessons and learned to write music. He was encouraged to paint and joined a theatre group of the Young Men’s Christian Association after hours. “I tried it, I liked it and I continued,” he explained.
He continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he was spotted on stage by Sir Laurence Olivier, who completely changed his destiny. He was invited to join the cast of the Royal National Theatre. His first leading roles in plays were Coroliano and Macbeth.
Answer: The boy in the photo is Anthony Hopkins
