Sir Anthony Hopkins felt “deeply guilty and ashamed” of his own fame when he first had his big break.
Sir Anthony Hopkins
The 83-year-old actor started his career on stage before achieving recognition in film when he played Richard the Lionheart in the 1968 movie ‘The Lion in Winter’.
And Anthony has now said gaining popularity for his film roles is what initially pushed him into heavy drinking, because he didn’t feel “worthy” of his own success.
He said: “Booze is a wonderful way of checking out. It has an instant effect - that’s why we do it. In my case I had these peculiar conflicts - I didn’t feel I fitted into my own skin. I felt deeply guilty and ashamed and not worthy of the luck I’d had as an actor.”
Anthony quit drinking in 1975 and has been sober ever since, and has admitted he now has no “urge” to touch alcohol again.
He added: “[I haven’t drank since] nor have I felt the urge to. When I asked for help and I realised I wasn’t alone, that there were thousands of people like me, all my fears began to dissolve.
“The boozing is over and done with. I’m not a goody-goody. It’s a boring subject.”
The ‘Silence of the Lambs’ star also said he feels sympathetic to those who have turned to alcohol to “ease their discomfort” during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Speaking to the Sunday Times magazine, he said: “It’s a compulsion that eases the discomfort of living and there are so many millions of people at this moment in great discomfort. People are stuck in high-rise apartments with children, with nothing to do. The pressure is beyond belief, so of course they are going to seek relief. The hallmark of anyone who is hooked on cigarettes or booze or food, whatever the addiction is, is the stubbornness. You think, ‘I can do it.’ Well, you can’t really. Phone services. Do anything you can to get a connection with someone because it’s a form of suicide. Having given up, I found my life only improved.”
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