With his latest drama film, The Father, Anthony Hopkins has opened the gates for yet another consideration at Oscars, having already won 5 nominations. He had won the award on one occasion in 1992 for his role as Hannibal Lecter in the film The Silence of the Lambs.
His latest performance is a sensation, but the veteran actor brushed off all praise with the one-liner- “I don’t know what I am doing half the time.”
There was a time when Anthony Hopkins wanted to quit acting after doing a challenging role in Julie Taymor’s directorial debut Titus in which she adapted William Shakespeare’s brutal revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus. In his latest interview with IndieWire, which he did via a phone call from the comfort of his home in Santa Monica, the revered actor expressed his satisfaction with his career so far and drew out the comparisons with the psychology he had in his younger years and the immense maturity that he has cultivated now through hardship, skill, and learning. He said that during his young years he was a man of immense pride, dreams, and insecurity, which slowly faded away as he grew old.
Now, at the age of 82, a good performance is not a big deal for him. It is when he said- “What’s the big deal? Come on! Thank you very much. I don’t know what I am doing half the time.”
Well, it shouldn’t be a big deal for him; Oscar nominations have been like library books for him. In the last year itself, he won a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role of Pope Benedict in the film “The Two Popes,” in which he co-starred alongside Jonathan Pryce, who was the lead actor in the role of Pope Francis.
Hopkins revealed that he had a great time with Jonathan, whom he didn’t know, but he was relieved that he shared the same beliefs, sense of humor, and taking a not-so-serious attitude. “Keep it simple, laugh, and do it,” he said
The film had already introduced itself to the world on January the 27th, 2020, at Sundance Film Festival.
“The Father” now will be unveiled under the banner of Sony Pictures Classics at Toronto International Festival on September the 15th. Sony Pictures will then release the film in the US on December the 18th. It will be released in the United Kingdom much later (January the 8th, 2020) by Lionsgate.
Hopkins will star in the film as an old man Anthony. The supporting cast includes the names of Olivia Colman as Anne (Anthony’s daughter), Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, and Olivia Williams.
“The Father” marks the first directorial venture of the French playwright Florian Zeller. The story deals with an old man named Anthony, who struggles with his old age and starts to question every fabric of his life. The plot of the film has been based on a play written by Florian Zeller; the screenplay was also written by him alongside Oscar-nominated Christopher Hampton.
The film is getting rave reviews from the critics with the likes of Rotten Tomatoes, Variety, The Guardian, IndieWire, and The Hollywood Reporter hailing Hopkins and Colman’s performance as nothing short of an ingenious spectacle.
Comments