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American Morning
Interview With Anthony Hopkins
Aired October 01, 2002 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hannibal Lecter back on the big screen. "Red Dragon" is a prequel to the Oscar-winning "Silence of the Lambs," and its opens nationwide this weekend. Hannibal the Cannibal is portrayed by the legendary star of stage and screen Anthony Hopkins, and it's our pleasure to have him with us this morning.
Good morning. Welcome.
ANTHONY HOPKINS, ACTOR: Good morning. Good to be here.
ZAHN: You said you didn't want to do this one. What in the end convinced that it was time to reprieve Hannibal Lecter?
HOPKINS: Well, I wasn't that opposed to do it, but a bit of gentle persuasion, I thought, why do another one? But it's a good director, good script, and great cast, so I'm glad I did it again.
ZAHN: You had challenges to pull this one off, because you have to go back 12 years.
HOPKINS: Twelve years.
ZAHN: You look good. You haven't aged at all. What do they do to you on screen? I mean, you really had to go through a regimen, right, lose some weight?
HOPKINS: Yes, working out about an hour a day seven days a week, on the treadmill for a whole hour a day. That was tough. And weights and all that. Yes, it was good. I enjoyed it.
ZAHN: Now he's back, and an Internet poll calls Hannibal Lecter one of the most compelling villains of all time, comparing him -- even more popular than the shark in "Jaws" and Dracula.
What is it about Hannibal Lecter that draws people in? This is a sicko?
HOPKINS: I have no idea. Have to ask a psychiatrist that. I think people like the villain, I guess, or they like smart, clever people who are dangerous, I guess, is a psychological reason for it.
ZAHN: I don't want to play a psychiatrist here, but you were quoted once as saying that this is a release for your own psyche.
HOPKINS: Did I?
ZAHN: You did say that. HOPKINS: I can't remember what I said. I don't know. It sounds high falutin to say that. I don't know, it's just -- they're fun to play, and this time I wanted to play him differently, because I just wanted to show the audiences that he is a dangerous man. He is a killer. He is lethal. He's not a hero, and I play him much more angrily. It was good, and we had a great director, because he helped me get there. He's an astonishing director actually.
ZAHN: I know it's not magic to try to turn your own psyche into a very angry, demented person, but is there a ritual to get yourself in that sick...
HOPKINS: No.
ZAHN: Someone said you studied Charlie Manson tapes. Did you do any of that stuff?
HOPKINS: No, no. I'm an actor. That's what I do. I've been doing it a long time, so I get into it quickly. You just produce, you act out whatever you have to act out. It's easy. It's easy for me, because I've been doing it a long time, so I try not to make a big deal of it, a big feast of it.
ZAHN: It is the breakfast hour, after all.
HOPKINS: It is the breakfast hour.
It's not a big deal. It's what I do for a living and it's what I do as a job. I know that sounds very mundane, but that's the way it is.
ZAHN: Why was it important for you to play him more angrily this time in "Red Dragon?"
HOPKINS: Well, to do a remake of another movie and then the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) characters, I didn't want to go through the same jokes and all that camp stuff and all that stuff, because I've done it. There is no surprise in that anymore. And "Hannibal," the last movie, was kind of a little like that, outrageous.
ZAHN: Was it over the top?
HOPKINS: Yes, I think it was, but this one, I said if I'm going to do it again, let's play it much more lethally and actually show his real craziness, his real intent, the edge of multiple personalities, and all that, because he is a brilliant man, an extraordinary mind, but he's trapped in an extraordinarily dangerous mind, and I don't know, I don't understand the psychology of it.
ZAHN: This movie sets up the relationship with Clarise?
HOPKINS: It does. Right at the end. I don't want to give the surprise away. But if the audiences stay to the end, there's a big music swell at the end of the movie, almost the end when Ed Norton -- but there is one little epilogue where Tony Hugh (ph), Chotin (ph), Dr. Chotin (ph) comes in, and says, by the way, Hannibal, there's a lady from the FBI to see you. And, I won't give the end away. Well, I will. I say, "What's her name?" So it's good. It's a bookend.
ZAHN: It is a bookend. Of the three that make up this trilogy, which one do you think is the most scary?
HOPKINS: Well, I'm going to be diplomatic. They're all good movies, superb directors, all three, Jonathan Demme, Ridley Scott and Brad Dratha (ph), wonderful directors. They're different styles of movies. I think this is really scary, and "Silence of the Lambs" was a psychological thriller. This is really scary, incredible performance by Ray Fiennes as the Red Dragon. He is extraordinary and wonderful actor anyway. His episodes are really scary.
ZAHN: And I know you say it's pretty easy at this juncture to inhabit a character, but how easy is it to turn the switch off at the end of the day when you're playing this hideous, mean guy?
HOPKINS: Well, I bite a couple of earlobes and I'm OK. No, I just switch off. I come on and do it, and then I switch off. I go back to the hotel or wherever I am, and that's the way it is.
ZAHN: Just show you how he doesn't get the head out of the character. I remember interviewing you many, many years ago. My prize possession is photo we took of you taking a chunk out of my neck, and the description was, "Here's biting at you." What's next for you?
HOPKINS: I did "Human Stain" with Nicole Kidman. It's a Phillip Roth novel. It's a wonderful called "Human Stain," with Nicole Kidman, and I may be playing "Superman's" dad, superdad, in Brett Ratner's (ph) next movie, the remake of another version of "Superman."
ZAHN: That sounds like fun.
HOPKINS: Maybe playing the Marlon Brando part.
ZAHN: We look forward to seeing that.
HOPKINS: Thank you very much.
ZAHN: Marlon, he's talking to you.
HOPKINS: Good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 1, 2002 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hannibal Lecter back on the big screen. "Red Dragon" is a prequel to the Oscar-winning "Silence of the Lambs," and its opens nationwide this weekend. Hannibal the Cannibal is portrayed by the legendary star of stage and screen Anthony Hopkins, and it's our pleasure to have him with us this morning.
Good morning. Welcome.
ANTHONY HOPKINS, ACTOR: Good morning. Good to be here.
ZAHN: You said you didn't want to do this one. What in the end convinced that it was time to reprieve Hannibal Lecter?
HOPKINS: Well, I wasn't that opposed to do it, but a bit of gentle persuasion, I thought, why do another one? But it's a good director, good script, and great cast, so I'm glad I did it again.
ZAHN: You had challenges to pull this one off, because you have to go back 12 years.
HOPKINS: Twelve years.
ZAHN: You look good. You haven't aged at all. What do they do to you on screen? I mean, you really had to go through a regimen, right, lose some weight?
HOPKINS: Yes, working out about an hour a day seven days a week, on the treadmill for a whole hour a day. That was tough. And weights and all that. Yes, it was good. I enjoyed it.
ZAHN: Now he's back, and an Internet poll calls Hannibal Lecter one of the most compelling villains of all time, comparing him -- even more popular than the shark in "Jaws" and Dracula.
What is it about Hannibal Lecter that draws people in? This is a sicko?
HOPKINS: I have no idea. Have to ask a psychiatrist that. I think people like the villain, I guess, or they like smart, clever people who are dangerous, I guess, is a psychological reason for it.
ZAHN: I don't want to play a psychiatrist here, but you were quoted once as saying that this is a release for your own psyche.
HOPKINS: Did I?
ZAHN: You did say that. HOPKINS: I can't remember what I said. I don't know. It sounds high falutin to say that. I don't know, it's just -- they're fun to play, and this time I wanted to play him differently, because I just wanted to show the audiences that he is a dangerous man. He is a killer. He is lethal. He's not a hero, and I play him much more angrily. It was good, and we had a great director, because he helped me get there. He's an astonishing director actually.
ZAHN: I know it's not magic to try to turn your own psyche into a very angry, demented person, but is there a ritual to get yourself in that sick...
HOPKINS: No.
ZAHN: Someone said you studied Charlie Manson tapes. Did you do any of that stuff?
HOPKINS: No, no. I'm an actor. That's what I do. I've been doing it a long time, so I get into it quickly. You just produce, you act out whatever you have to act out. It's easy. It's easy for me, because I've been doing it a long time, so I try not to make a big deal of it, a big feast of it.
ZAHN: It is the breakfast hour, after all.
HOPKINS: It is the breakfast hour.
It's not a big deal. It's what I do for a living and it's what I do as a job. I know that sounds very mundane, but that's the way it is.
ZAHN: Why was it important for you to play him more angrily this time in "Red Dragon?"
HOPKINS: Well, to do a remake of another movie and then the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) characters, I didn't want to go through the same jokes and all that camp stuff and all that stuff, because I've done it. There is no surprise in that anymore. And "Hannibal," the last movie, was kind of a little like that, outrageous.
ZAHN: Was it over the top?
HOPKINS: Yes, I think it was, but this one, I said if I'm going to do it again, let's play it much more lethally and actually show his real craziness, his real intent, the edge of multiple personalities, and all that, because he is a brilliant man, an extraordinary mind, but he's trapped in an extraordinarily dangerous mind, and I don't know, I don't understand the psychology of it.
ZAHN: This movie sets up the relationship with Clarise?
HOPKINS: It does. Right at the end. I don't want to give the surprise away. But if the audiences stay to the end, there's a big music swell at the end of the movie, almost the end when Ed Norton -- but there is one little epilogue where Tony Hugh (ph), Chotin (ph), Dr. Chotin (ph) comes in, and says, by the way, Hannibal, there's a lady from the FBI to see you. And, I won't give the end away. Well, I will. I say, "What's her name?" So it's good. It's a bookend.
ZAHN: It is a bookend. Of the three that make up this trilogy, which one do you think is the most scary?
HOPKINS: Well, I'm going to be diplomatic. They're all good movies, superb directors, all three, Jonathan Demme, Ridley Scott and Brad Dratha (ph), wonderful directors. They're different styles of movies. I think this is really scary, and "Silence of the Lambs" was a psychological thriller. This is really scary, incredible performance by Ray Fiennes as the Red Dragon. He is extraordinary and wonderful actor anyway. His episodes are really scary.
ZAHN: And I know you say it's pretty easy at this juncture to inhabit a character, but how easy is it to turn the switch off at the end of the day when you're playing this hideous, mean guy?
HOPKINS: Well, I bite a couple of earlobes and I'm OK. No, I just switch off. I come on and do it, and then I switch off. I go back to the hotel or wherever I am, and that's the way it is.
ZAHN: Just show you how he doesn't get the head out of the character. I remember interviewing you many, many years ago. My prize possession is photo we took of you taking a chunk out of my neck, and the description was, "Here's biting at you." What's next for you?
HOPKINS: I did "Human Stain" with Nicole Kidman. It's a Phillip Roth novel. It's a wonderful called "Human Stain," with Nicole Kidman, and I may be playing "Superman's" dad, superdad, in Brett Ratner's (ph) next movie, the remake of another version of "Superman."
ZAHN: That sounds like fun.
HOPKINS: Maybe playing the Marlon Brando part.
ZAHN: We look forward to seeing that.
HOPKINS: Thank you very much.
ZAHN: Marlon, he's talking to you.
HOPKINS: Good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
