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A while back, Jill Serjeant did an interview with Anthony Hopkins called: “It’s Just A Job.” It was a stinger of an interview
with a man I consider the best working actor in the world, English-speaking or otherwise. What did he say, this knight of the British acting realm and now an American citizen?
He said this:
”I heard an actor the other day saying with all honesty 'I'm just a story teller' and I thought, give me a break. Come on be
honest, it's because you like being famous, you like the work, the money. I don't swallow all that craft stuff.”
(Serjeant comments: “Hopkins gave up Method acting─the dig deep into your soul approach─years ago, saying it got him ‘all
tangled up’ and instead concentrates his energies on learning his lines, reading the script over and over again 'to make doubly sure that I know my part
perfectly'.”)
And he said this:
“… acting is hardly brain surgery'' (he has no time for actors who wax lyrical about their craft.) “I show up in the
morning, go to the dressing room, sometimes they dab a bit of makeup on my face for god knows what reason, comb my hair, what's left of it, go on set, and they say action,
that's it and I go home. I always have a coffee and we have a laugh and a talk, but I don't take it at all seriously. I don't want to ever be seen taking it
seriously.”
And most pointedly, he said this:
“I don't have one single friend who is an actor.”
Hopkins unwired!
There’s more… in this interview and in other recently reluctant conversations that breathe depth into his appraisal of ‘what
is an actor’. Yes, right, you can dismiss his comments with a roll of the eyes glaring at this made man who can now afford the nonchalant luxury of fingering his technique with ease as he tools around the loving California coast in his expensive convertible. He’s done it, he’s filled his cup, no angst, no sweat. But unlike other “stars” who’ve become fat and old and transparent, Hopkins still sweats─he remains disciplined, detailed and remarkably surprising in his acting.
A case in point: In the new tv series Westworld, beautifully designed, well-directed, beautifully scored, and not as well-written as it
could be (the best writing comes from Jonathan Nolan who created the series). The acting is uniformly excellent, especially the work of Jeffrey Wright. But it is the performance of
Anthony Hopkins... his portrayal of a lead character offers a perception of a Master Actor at work regardless of the circumstances. Where there is no dialogue, there are his eyes
and his mouth. Where there is no direction, there is his movement and his timing.
It is beautiful to watch.
So there must be something else that has become increasingly clear to him as he journeys through theatre and film, something few other
accomplished actors have only too quietly noted.
The great untrained, unschooled actor, Paul Muni, once said: “On stage I’m in another place and another time. I don’t know
how I do what I do, and I don’t want to know.”
The not great, highly trained, highly schooled actor, Stella Adler, opened up an acting school, made a fortune, and promoted the myth
that the gift could be found in the classroom rather than the gene pool. The duumvirate of Sandy Meisner and Lee Strasberg opened up acting schools, made fortunes, and promoted the
myth that there was an egalitarian truth of craft that surpassed the elitist truth of talent. One died a bitter old man, the other died bored to death on the screen.
And there is the delightful talent, Johnny Depp, who is half Hopkins’ age with a third of his experience. He said: “…acting
is a love affair with the most beautiful part of yourself.” Nicely put, nicely believed.
In the glow of this array are thousands upon thousands who act and want to be actors. Few will ever have a career, less will ever make a
living. Talent is the bell and the reality of the marketplace is Quasimodo. In film and television, there is no bell! Some do what they do for the joy of it and the enhancement of
their personal lives. That’s a good thing. But the majority parade in front of a soaped mirror, endlessly chatting with each other, desperately believing in faith and the
triumph of will. The Hunchback keeps ringing!
What Hopkins points to in this brief interview, as he has expanded in others, is that one gets the instrument training one needs: voice, body,
theatrical sensibility. The rest is work, on stage, in front of a camera, rehearsal work, performance work, life’s work. Acting studios are for the flock, the working stage
and screen are for actors.
Among some of the best writing in Westworld, Hopkins has these words:
"An old friend once told me something that gave me great comfort. He said that Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin never died. They simply
became music."
And so it is with Anthony Hopkins.
He simply became.
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Writings
