
Darn, no BBC One for fans in the US. Hopefully it finds its way to BBC America. Here are some excerpts from sites on the net.
My Park Magazine, UK, November 9, 2007
British acting legend and Academy award-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins joins Jonathan Ross for a rare and exclusive chat show appearance in tonight's edition of Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on BBC One.
Sir Anthony treats the audience to his great range of comedic impressions including Tommy Cooper and Ray Winstone and says he drew on the demons of his past when creating his latest screen role in animation adventure drama Beowulf: "I played him as a drunken Welsh king, back to my old days."
He talks about his ambitions when young: "My father used to say God knows what's going to happen to him ... I went to Richard Burton's house for an autograph and I thought I want to be like that, I want to get away, be famous."
And about his discontent, he says: "I was never happy in the theatre, never comfortable, my attention span was too short – two days!"
About his first response to his Oscar-winning portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs: "I thought it was a children's story at first. I knew it was going to be a good one, I knew how to play the guy on the first reading."
He also talks about being made a knight: "Her Majesty said very intimately 'are you busy? Are you working?', it was a very informal ceremony."
And he talks about how acting has changed: "There are some wonderful actors around, I think it's all about celebrity now ... fashion, girls, youth ... it's much faster, a little bit overwhelming."
Hermit
And on how his life has changed: "I live a hermit's life, I don't know any actors. I don't ever feel like part of the acting business, which is liberating because I don't get caught up in it. Young actors ask me today how to succeed, I say I don't know, there's a lot of luck. "I'm getting more choosy now, I'm enjoying it more now than I've ever done. I think I'm still around, and they still want me, so that's ok. I live my life and don't think about acting at all, it doesn't preoccupy me any more."
He is looking forward to celebrating his 70th birthday later this year: "I'm going down to Wales for my birthday. My wife won't tell me what the party's going to be like, I'm going to meet all my little girlfriends from 65 years ago."
And he is about to make his directorial debut with Slipstream: " I set out to make people angry, an anti-movie, like a dream."
The Independent, Pandora, By Henry Deedes, November 13, 2007
I do hope that impending old age isn't beginning to zap away at Sir Anthony Hopkins's enthusiasm.
Making a rare chat show appearance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross last week, the 69-year-old Oscar-winner said: "I live my life and don't think about acting at all. It doesn't preoccupy me any more."
A case in point appears to be his latest film Beowulf. At the film's London premiere on Sunday, Hopkins happily told reporters that not only had he not read the book, but he had only bothered to look at the parts of the script featuring his character, Hrothgar. "No. I never read the book," he said. "The script is good but I have to admit I only read part of it – I only read my part."
When asked about the large chunks of his precious work that Hopkins opted to skim over, the film's scriptwriter Roger Avary replied diplomatically: " With Sir Anthony, I don't question his methods. He has earned his keep.
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