Some celebrities are rich in fame and fortune, while others are awash in passion and legacy. Anthony Hopkins is part of this latter group.
I was a 7-year-old whose family hadn’t paid attention to the MPAA ratings when I first watched the psychological horror film “Silence of the Lambs” (1991). In Jonathan Demme’s classic, Hopkins portrays menacing serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who helps young FBI intern Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) hunt down another killer.
Despite my young age, I don’t remember being afraid of Hopkins’ bad trick. Did I recognize that he was not a “good guy”? Yes. However, his smooth, calm deliveries were hypnotic, drawing me into his world of cannibalistic terror without creating a caricature of the character.
A critically acclaimed performer whose career spans more than 60 years, Hopkins has worked alongside legends such as Katharine Hepburn (“The Lion in Winter”) and Emma Thompson (“Howard’s End” and “The Remains of the Day”). Additionally, he is a bankable star in the top 100 highest-grossing men in the world, with over $4.2 billion in total ticket sales.
His big breakthrough in film came with his portrayal of 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 any particular genre, he shone in horror films like “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) and “The Wolfman” (2010), biopics such as “Shadowlands” (1993) and “Nixon” (1995), and dabbled in the superhero space with “The Mask of Zorro” (1998) and the “Thor” franchise.
After winning Best Actor for “Lambs,” the Academy brought him further accolades with “The Remains of the Day” (1993), “Nixon” (1995), “Amisstad” (1997), ” The Two Popes” (2019) and “The Father” (2021), for which he won his second Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the oldest person to ever win for his acting role.
Hopkins is still a formidable force in the industry, after a year with two supporting tours in James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” and Florian Zeller’s “The Son.” Next, Hopkins will play British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who saved children from murder in Nazi Germany, in the biographical drama “One Life” starring Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter and Jonathan Pryce. He will also have a voice-over role in Netflix’s Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon.”
To celebrate Anthony Hopkins’ birthday on December 31, below The 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), “ The Hour of Armageddon” (2022), “The Son” (2022)