Anthony Hopkins Interview
It's been almost 20 years since he played high speed hero, Donald Campbell in Across The Lake... now Anthony Hopkins plays Kiwi record breaker Burt Munro in The World's Fastest Indian.
Here, Sir Tony talks about his new movie, as well as his career, playing psychopaths and the magical art of ventriloquism...
A: Yeah it was one of the most wonderful, most enjoyable movies I have made. It was such an outdoor, open air movie and he is a character with a sunny disposition and I liked his philosophy of life. It was fun being on a motorbike.
A: No, never... but I rode one when I was in the Army years ago when I did National Service. So when I got on to this one I had to do a little bit of riding... did the basics like how to get on it and how to start it. It was a very uncomfortable bike to ride. I wore some padding underneath my stomach because I was lying flat on it. But Burt Munro didn't have anything like that. He rode it with no protection at all and that must have been tough.
A: Yeah no-one knew much about him except in Invercargill and then Roger Donaldson, the director, got to know him years ago because Roger is a motorbike fiend and a car fanatic. He did a documentary film on him back in 1970 and then he made this movie. It is kind of an unlikely feature film to make but... in New Zealand it is the biggest hit that they have ever had, apparently.
A: It was easier to do Burt Munro's accent because I listened to the documentary film a lot. I got the patterns of his voice. The trick, I guess, is not to get too fanatical about getting the accent too accurate because then that becomes a mask.
A: No that was it. I'm not good at research. But I went with Roger Donaldson to the Los Angeles Motor Museum and we saw a replica of Burt's bike there and some of the great record breaking bikes and cars. It is a very interesting museum. Bonnie And Clyde's car is there as well.
A: Yeah... and it is a big family. The wife is about 90 I believe. There is a son, John Munro in his seventies and two daughters.
"I have had a good time playing weird guys like Hannibal Lecter and all the others. I enjoyed those but after a while you want to get away from that type."
I couldn't go to New Zealand for the premiere but Roger went and he said that about 50 of the family turned up. They were all crying and it was a great gala day because Invercargill has now been put on the map.
A: That was 1987. I had a great time on that. I really got very close to Donald because I watched a lot of documentary films on him and he was a really feisty, angry guy. I loved his attitude to the Press. On the last day before he was killed, I think it was Benson from the Times said: 'Have you had breakfast, Donald?' He said yes. So Benson asked: 'What are you having?' and he said '...Brandy and cornflakes.' He was a great character, like a kind of Battle Of Britain pilot.
A: Oh yes. He had tremendous courage. Also the thing about Campbell was when he was asked if he ever got scared he replied... 'Of course I am, bloody scared to death. But courage is overcoming your fear and driving through fear.' I think that Burt was scared but he just thought... to Hell with it, we are going to die one day so I might as well take my chances.
A: No, never. There is nothing to be scared of in movies. It's a bit scarier going on stage. But I had a great time when I did Pravda on stage. The only thing was that David Hare and I thought we might be lynched because he was such an outrageous character.
A: Yeah, I have not seen that yet. Then I did Beowulf with Ray Winstone, what a great guy he is. And I finished the movie about Bobby Kennedy about 10 days ago. I am John Casey in that, a real character. He was the doorman at the Ambassador. He retired quite wealthy because of the tips he got from people.
A: I hate the word career but I suppose a career changing film was The Silence Of The Lambs. When Lambs came along it put me in a new category I guess. From then on I have enjoyed more doing what I do. I loved The Remains Of The Day, Shadowlands and Nixon. They were all my favourites...
and The Bounty was one. You know that David Lean was originally going to direct that film? Years ago - I think it was 1977 - I was living out in California when I got a call, from Katharine Hepburn of all people, because I had worked with her on The Lion In Winter, and she asked if David could have my number. I said sure he can!Anyway, Lean phoned me and said he wanted me to play Bligh. So we had dinner and it was all going ahead. David Lean went out to Bora Bora with Robert Bolt and then Bolt had a stroke and Lean phoned me to say that he thought there was going to be a delay. Then that film vanished but later I was called up about The Bounty again and Dino De Laurentiis was going to produce it anyway for David Lean but they were supposed to have had a quarrel - I don't know what the truth is, it was all so long ago. I asked who was going to direct it and they replied that they didn't know and, of course, they got Roger Donaldson, and that's how we met.
A: We fought, we had arguments, but we have become the best of friends. We get on so well together and had such a good time making The World's Fastest Indian. We had a laugh.
A: Yeah that's right. I have had a good time playing weird guys like Hannibal Lecter and all the others. I enjoyed those but after a while you want to get away from that type.
A: That was with Richard Attenborough whom I saw when he was out here in California. For the role of the ventriloquist in Magic I got some training from a guy called Denis Allwood. He let me work with his dummy which I would practice with. I also met a bank manager who happened to be a great magician so I used to go into this guy's bank and he would teach me magic tricks.
A: Well yeah I do what's necessary. I watched a lot of documentary films on Nixon for example. I watched every speech he made for his physical mannerisms. When you watch mannerisms - without being a psycho analyst - you can get a pretty good idea of what's going on inside.
