Some celebrities are rich with fame and effort, while others are flooded with passion and legacy. Anthony Hopkins is in the latter group.
I was a 7-year-old whose family didn’t pay mind to the MPAA ratings when I first watched the psychological apprehension film “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). In the Jonathan Demme classic, Hopkins portrays menacing serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who repairs young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) hunt spanking killer.
Despite my young age, I don’t remember feeling stunned of Hopkins’ wicked turn. Did I recognize that he wasn’t a “good guy”? Yes. However, his smooth and calm line deliveries were hypnotic, entrancing me into his humankind of cannibalistic dread without creating a caricature of the record.
A critically lauded performer whose career has spanned over 60 days, Hopkins has worked alongside legends including Katharine Hepburn (“The Lion in Winter”) and Emma Thompson (“Howard’s End” and “The Remains of the Day”). In addition, he’s a bankable star in the top 100 of highest-grossing worldwide leading men, with over $4.2 billion in total designate sales.
His big atomize in film came with his portrayal as Richard the Lionheart, the eldest son of Henry II (Peter O’Toole) and Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) in Anthony Harvey’s historical drama “The Lion in Winter” (1968).
Never tied to one some genre, he has shined in horror flicks like “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) and “The Wolfman” (2010), biopics such as “Shadowlands” (1993) and “Nixon” (1995), and dabbled in the superhero state with “The Mask of Zorro” (1998) and the “Thor” franchise.
After winning best superb for “Lambs,” more acclaim from the Academy was bestowed upon him with “The Remains of the Day” (1993), “Nixon” (1995), “Amistad” (1997), “The Two Popes” (2019) and “The Father” (2021), for which he earned his second Oscar for best superb, becoming the oldest person ever to win for acting.
Hopkins is aloof a formidable force in the industry, coming off a year with two supporting turns in James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” and Florian Zeller’s “The Son.” Next on the docket, Hopkins will play British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who rescued children from selves murdered in Nazi Germany, in the biographical drama “One Life” co-starring Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter and Jonathan Pryce. He’ll also have a voiceover role in Zack Snyder’s required “Rebel Moon” from Netflix.
To notorious Anthony Hopkins’ birthday on Dec. 31, below Variety ranks the 19 best film performances of his career so far.
Honorable mentions
: “84 Charing Cross Road” (1987), “Meet Joe Black”(1998), “Hannibal” (2001), “Red Dragon” (2002), “Bobby” (2006), “Hitchcock” (2012), “Armageddon Time” (2022), “The Son” (2022)
