Anthony Hopkins reveals sad moment he realised he was an alcoholic
Anthony Hopkins has candidly opened up about the sad moment he realised he was an alcoholic.
Last week (25 October), the 87-year-old Silence of the Lambs star sat down with The New York Times' podcast, The Interview, to discuss his upcoming memoir titled We Did OK, Kid.
In December of last year, Hopkins celebrated a significant milestone of being 49 years sober with the 50th anniversary set to commence in just a few months.
Over the years, the Academy Award winner has been very frank when discussing his relationship with alcohol and in his latest admission, Hopkins recalled what exactly went down before he decided to give up the stuff for good.
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"I was drunk and driving my car here in California in a blackout, no clue where I was going, when I realised that I could have killed somebody - or myself, which I didn’t care about," he told the outlet.
"I realised I was an alcoholic. I came to my senses and said to an ex-agent of mine at this party in Beverly Hills, 'I need help.' "
The Hannibal A-lister continued: "It was 11 o’clock precisely - I looked at my watch - and this is the spooky part: Some deep, powerful thought or voice spoke to me from inside and said, 'It’s all over. Now you can start living. And it has all been for a purpose, so don’t forget one moment of it.' "
Hopkins. went on to recall that the voice - which he described as 'vocal, male, reasonable, like a radio voice' - completely removed his desire to drink.
"The craving to drink was taken from me, or left. Now I don’t have any theories except divinity or that power that we all possess inside us that creates us from birth, life force, whatever it is," he remembered.
"It’s a consciousness, I believe. That’s all I know."
The cinema legend then took the time to reflect on his struggles with alcohol, sharing that after enduring a 'lonely' childhood and surviving 'those bullies', he drank to 'nullify that discomfort or whatever it was in me, because it made me feel big'.
"You know, booze is terrific because it makes you instantly feel in a different space," he explained. "Actors in those days - Peter O’Toole, Richard Burton, all of them - I remember those drinking sessions, thinking, 'This is the life. We’re rebels, we’re outsiders, we can celebrate.'
"And at the back of the mind is, 'And It’ll kill you as well.' Those guys I worked with have all gone."
Hopkins resolved that he feels grateful that he's 'still here'.
"There are monstrous difficulties in life, and you take notice of them. But finally, approaching 88 years of age, I wake up in the morning, going, 'I’m still here. How?' " he ruminated, before concluding: "I don’t know. But whatever’s keeping me here, thank you very much! Much obliged!"
Please drink responsibly. If you want to discuss any issues relating to alcohol in confidence, contact Drinkline on 0300 123 1110, 9am–8pm weekdays and 11am–4pm weekends for advice and support.
Topics: Celebrity, Mental Health
Rhiannon Ingle