Anthony Hopkins: Living the Life
by Gary Geyer
LetLifeIn.com: Sir Anthony, you say, you are living your life exactly as you want to. What kinds of things are you into? Do you have a passion?
Anthony Hopkins: ?I?m into relaxation now. Passion is a killer ? Oh God, yes ? and it implies intensity and pomposity. I don?t have intensity about anything really.
LetLifeIn: Sounds exciting.
A.H.: ?Actually, I get bored easily. I?ve got the attention span of a hummingbird. Probably that new fangled A.D.D. I have no consistency at all. I used to think it was a curse. I?d plan to do things. You know, ?Tomorrow I?ll spend 45 minutes in the gym.? But I?d look at the alarm clock and [he makes a snoring sound] go back to sleep.?
LetLifeIn: When you are not filming, how do you spend your free time?
A.H.: ?I do nothing at all. I go for a coffee or jump in the pool. It?s quite a blessing. The freedom to do what I want to do.? ?I don?t cook. I can?t boil an egg, make a cup of tea, so I go out and have breakfast with a couple of the guys. We meet at various coffee shops and eat pancakes or whatever.?
LetLifeIn: I don?t believe you. You must do something.
A.H.: ?I do read a little. I?m addicted to books. I read five at a time.?
LetLifeIn: What Kind of books do you read?
A.H.: ?Right now I?m reading August 1914, by Soljzenitzein. I?ve been fascinated by Russia since I was kid. I was a budding young Marxist as a boy. I used to read Trotsky?s Russian Revolution.?
LetLifeIn: Anything else?
A.H.: ?Seven Lessons from Chaos. It?s a long essay on the nature of life and chaos. Ahhh, not heavy stuff? [he says with a smile].
LetLifeIn: Yes, I can see that.
A.H.: ?I find by reading, it opens my mind up. Things flow in and out of it. I don?t have any passions. I enjoy astronomy, reading physics. I read a wonderful book called, The Hologram of the Universe. The whole universe is one big dream, a hologram. I?m interested in that, nothing spooky. Little bits of psychology, Jungian synchronicity.?
?I?m not into the paranormal or anything. I like the occasional biographies. I?m interested in the American presidents. I?ve read books about Eisenhower, Truman, Kennedy, Roosevelt, several on Nixon. It takes me a long time.?
LetLifein: We?ve read that you make about 20 million a movie. What do you do with it all?
A.H.: ?I don?t have expensive tastes. ?I drive a half-gas, half-electric car. A Prius, I think it?s called. I don?t even know what I?ve got,? [he laughs] ?It?s my microscopic whatever to the energy crisis. Or I?ll walk. I don?t have fast cars.?
?I?ve got a lovely piano [a Steinway] that cost a bit of cash. I don?t collect paintings. I?ve got some things that are OK, but they?re not masterpieces. They?re probably junk actually. One or two nice pieces of furniture but they?re probably worm eaten.?
LetlifeIn: Is there any place you?d rather be?
A.H.: ?I love California. It?s so sunny and free. I?m really a beach bum, you know.
LetLifein: I don?t want to sound pretentious, but how would you describe your philosophy of life?
A.H.: ?Life is chaos. Embrace the chaos, the disorder and have some fun with it. You have to live a long time to get to that place of being --that?s my philosophy.
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