Anthony Hopkins at 88: “Lifetime is running out” — but still creating

Anthony Hopkins at 88: “Lifetime is running out” — but the Welsh legend is still creating

Anthony Hopkins in Noah 2014

A legend reflecting on time

At 88, Sir Anthony Hopkins knows better than most that time is precious.

In a rare and remarkably candid interview with ITV, the Oscar-winning actor spoke about growing older, his beloved Wales and the feeling that his “lifetime's running out”.

Yet there was surprisingly little self-pity.

Instead, Hopkins came across as a man still fascinated by life — still creating, still remembering and still looking forward to whatever comes next.

Wales is never far away

Hopkins has lived in America for more than half a century and became a US citizen in 2000.

But Port Talbot has never really left him.

Asked whether he wished he still lived in Wales, he admitted that he would love to return to the streets where he grew up and simply walk around.

“I love going back there,” he said.

But he knows that at 88, life has changed.

“Lifetime is running out,” he admitted, before joking that he is getting a little too old for wandering around the streets all day.

His affection for his homeland, however, remains undiminished.

Asked how often Wales enters his thoughts, his answer was immediate:

“All the time. All the time.”

He revisits his childhood on Google Maps

There is something rather touching about how Hopkins now revisits his past.

He uses Google Maps Street View to travel virtually through the streets of Port Talbot and the places where he spent his childhood.

He can move along the roads, look at the buildings and revisit the neighbourhoods that shaped him.

For a man who has spent decades travelling the world and becoming one of the most famous actors on the planet, there is something wonderfully simple about an 88-year-old sitting down and virtually walking through the streets of his youth.

The memories, he says, remain extraordinarily powerful.

From Wales to Hollywood

Hopkins left his Welsh roots behind physically but turned his childhood experiences into one of the most remarkable acting careers of his generation.

From The Silence of the Lambs to The Father, Hitchcock and countless other films, he became one of the world's most respected actors.

He has won two Academy Awards and received numerous other major honours.

Yet there was another artistic ambition sitting quietly alongside his acting career all the time.

Music.

At 88, he gets his first record deal

Hopkins has composed music for decades, but he never imagined that he would sign his first record deal at 88.

His new album, Life Is A Dream, brings together compositions created over roughly six decades.

It is a remarkable achievement — and perhaps a perfect reflection of the man himself.

Hopkins describes the record contract as “beyond my belief”.

His philosophy seems to be to expect little and enjoy the surprises.

“Living the life of total non-expectation, that's when the surprises happen,” he says.

At 88, that sounds like pretty good advice.

The darker chapters

Hopkins has also been unusually open about some of the darker periods of his life.

He has spoken candidly about his battle with alcoholism and the moment he realised just how dangerous his drinking had become.

A drunk-driving incident forced him to confront the possibility that he could have killed innocent people.

For Hopkins, the choice became starkly simple: continue on the same path or change his life.

He chose life.

That decision ultimately allowed him to build the extraordinary career that followed.

Still surprising himself

There is something rather wonderful about Anthony Hopkins at 88.

He is conscious that time is running short, but he isn't sitting around waiting for the end.

He's making music.

He's working.

He's remembering Wales.

He's exploring his childhood streets on Google Maps.

And he's still being surprised by what life puts in front of him.

Perhaps that is the real message in his interview.

Anthony Hopkins may be 88, but the story clearly isn't finished yet.

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