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CNN Live Today

Interview with Anthony Hopkins

Aired November 04, 2003 - 10:43   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well. that was a scene from the new movie called "The human Stain," a film that has been called elegant and thoughtful by some. It stars Oscar Award-winning actors Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins plays a university professor with a haunting secret. And he is with us now to talk about his role and the film.
A pleasure to have you with us, Sir Anthony Hopkins. Good morning.

ANTHONY HOPKINS, ACTOR: Good morning. How are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing great. We're pleased to have you here with us. I'm wondering of all the rolls that are offered to you, why this one intrigued you?

HOPKINS: Why did this appeal?

KAGAN: Yes.

HOPKINS: Well, it's a good script, that was the basic reason, good script, good director, fine, wonderful costar in Nicole Kidman, and the subject is about political correctness and a man's stand against political correctness, and what it costs him. This courage against that, and that's really it.

KAGAN: I was also reading something this morning that I found very hard to believe -- in looking at your incredible career, and your long standing career and your long-standing success, this is the first roll where you're playing the romantic lead. Is that possible?

HOPKINS: Oh, yes. Very possible. I'm what they call a heavy, I guess. I have had a wonderful career playing mixed-up and complicated men, but never played a romantic lead. At this time in my life, I had nothing to lose, so I thought, I would just do it, enjoy it, get on with it.

KAGAN: And so how was that?

HOPKINS: Well, it's fine. It was fine. You know, we're both, as they say, professional actors. You come and do the work and then go home. That's all amongst it. There is no mystique to it.

KAGAN: OK, well, we have another clip of the movie shows this character also does have some heavy scenes as well. So let's go ahead and take a look. You'll be able to hear it, and we'll talk about it afterwards. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Thing that restore you can also destroy you.

HOPKINS: I know that. And I'll tell you something, I don't give a damn.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: People are saying that you got her pregnant and she had an abortion and tried to kill herself.

HOPKINS: What else are they saying, Ned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you look at me like that, I'm your friend, remember.

HOPKINS: Then act like a friend! Stop judging me and stop judging her! Jesus Christ!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: I guess we can tell from that scene that you do get to play the guy who gets the girl in the movie, but also there are some heavy, heavy emotions that go with it, as well. Apparently not everybody in the character's life approves of this relationship.

HOPKINS: No, it's -- Coleman Soke (ph), the character I play, has a dark secret, literally a dark secret, and he's accused of racism, because of one word he uses. He's a university lecturer, and he knows very well that they are hounding him, and they are trying to get him because he's a maverick, and he's a strong man, and he walks out on that part of his life and decides that there's a world elsewhere. He hates political correctness, and that was the most attractive part for me to play. I was the -- my own stand against my own stand against political correctness, which I think is stifling our world, and in so many subtle ways with relationships and people who expect to you live their way, expect you to live by their standards, their sense of entitlement, and that's been part of my life until I woke up one day and said that's enough. And so I had to shed my own skins, and find my own world and find my own life, and that only happened pretty recently. So that's why the part was so attractive to me, vibrant for me.

KAGAN: Well, in the spirit of kind of calling it like it is and saying it like it is, let me ask you this, with all due respect, some of the reviews have said that your character, who is supposed to be a light-skinned black man, people respect you as an actor, but they don't buy Anthony Hopkins playing an African-American. What would you say to those critics?

HOPKINS: Fine. That's OK.

KAGAN: Just that's it?

HOPKINS: Yes, sure.

KAGAN: That they can have their opinion, but you're comfortable and you're proud of this performance?

HOPKINS: Oh, yes, sure.

KAGAN: Let's look forward from here. You're working on an adaptation of the Broadway show "Proof."

HOPKINS: Yes, yes.

KAGAN: What can you tell us about that project?

HOPKINS: Gwyneth Paltrow. I play -- again, I play a mathematician, I play a university lecturer again, I'm a mathematician who suffers a mental breakdown and a mathematical genius.

Anyway, that's a wonderful script. It's based on a play which is a Broadway play, which I didn't see. I think Gwyneth Paltrow did it here in London, as well. I have a wonderful director in that, John Madden who directed "Shakespeare in Love." And this is, I think, one of the most enjoyable ones. I have only done about four days I think. I've got some work to do next week.

KAGAN: Some more work on that.

HOPKINS: So it's a wonderful -- yes.

KAGAN: We look forward to that. You certainly -- I mean, your career among the best of all times in Hollywood. And you continue do great work and continue to work with some of the greatest actors, Nicole Kidman, and next we look forward to seeing you with Gwyneth Paltrow.

Anthony Hopkins, good luck with "The Human Stain," and thanks for stopping by via satellite in London. Appreciate your time today.

HOPKINS: Thank you.

KAGAN: Thank 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 November 4, 2003 - 10:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well. that was a scene from the new movie called "The human Stain," a film that has been called elegant and thoughtful by some. It stars Oscar Award-winning actors Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins plays a university professor with a haunting secret. And he is with us now to talk about his role and the film.
A pleasure to have you with us, Sir Anthony Hopkins. Good morning.

ANTHONY HOPKINS, ACTOR: Good morning. How are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing great. We're pleased to have you here with us. I'm wondering of all the rolls that are offered to you, why this one intrigued you?

HOPKINS: Why did this appeal?

KAGAN: Yes.

HOPKINS: Well, it's a good script, that was the basic reason, good script, good director, fine, wonderful costar in Nicole Kidman, and the subject is about political correctness and a man's stand against political correctness, and what it costs him. This courage against that, and that's really it.

KAGAN: I was also reading something this morning that I found very hard to believe -- in looking at your incredible career, and your long standing career and your long-standing success, this is the first roll where you're playing the romantic lead. Is that possible?

HOPKINS: Oh, yes. Very possible. I'm what they call a heavy, I guess. I have had a wonderful career playing mixed-up and complicated men, but never played a romantic lead. At this time in my life, I had nothing to lose, so I thought, I would just do it, enjoy it, get on with it.

KAGAN: And so how was that?

HOPKINS: Well, it's fine. It was fine. You know, we're both, as they say, professional actors. You come and do the work and then go home. That's all amongst it. There is no mystique to it.

KAGAN: OK, well, we have another clip of the movie shows this character also does have some heavy scenes as well. So let's go ahead and take a look. You'll be able to hear it, and we'll talk about it afterwards. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Thing that restore you can also destroy you.

HOPKINS: I know that. And I'll tell you something, I don't give a damn.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: People are saying that you got her pregnant and she had an abortion and tried to kill herself.

HOPKINS: What else are they saying, Ned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you look at me like that, I'm your friend, remember.

HOPKINS: Then act like a friend! Stop judging me and stop judging her! Jesus Christ!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: I guess we can tell from that scene that you do get to play the guy who gets the girl in the movie, but also there are some heavy, heavy emotions that go with it, as well. Apparently not everybody in the character's life approves of this relationship.

HOPKINS: No, it's -- Coleman Soke (ph), the character I play, has a dark secret, literally a dark secret, and he's accused of racism, because of one word he uses. He's a university lecturer, and he knows very well that they are hounding him, and they are trying to get him because he's a maverick, and he's a strong man, and he walks out on that part of his life and decides that there's a world elsewhere. He hates political correctness, and that was the most attractive part for me to play. I was the -- my own stand against my own stand against political correctness, which I think is stifling our world, and in so many subtle ways with relationships and people who expect to you live their way, expect you to live by their standards, their sense of entitlement, and that's been part of my life until I woke up one day and said that's enough. And so I had to shed my own skins, and find my own world and find my own life, and that only happened pretty recently. So that's why the part was so attractive to me, vibrant for me.

KAGAN: Well, in the spirit of kind of calling it like it is and saying it like it is, let me ask you this, with all due respect, some of the reviews have said that your character, who is supposed to be a light-skinned black man, people respect you as an actor, but they don't buy Anthony Hopkins playing an African-American. What would you say to those critics?

HOPKINS: Fine. That's OK.

KAGAN: Just that's it?

HOPKINS: Yes, sure.

KAGAN: That they can have their opinion, but you're comfortable and you're proud of this performance?

HOPKINS: Oh, yes, sure.

KAGAN: Let's look forward from here. You're working on an adaptation of the Broadway show "Proof."

HOPKINS: Yes, yes.

KAGAN: What can you tell us about that project?

HOPKINS: Gwyneth Paltrow. I play -- again, I play a mathematician, I play a university lecturer again, I'm a mathematician who suffers a mental breakdown and a mathematical genius.

Anyway, that's a wonderful script. It's based on a play which is a Broadway play, which I didn't see. I think Gwyneth Paltrow did it here in London, as well. I have a wonderful director in that, John Madden who directed "Shakespeare in Love." And this is, I think, one of the most enjoyable ones. I have only done about four days I think. I've got some work to do next week.

KAGAN: Some more work on that.

HOPKINS: So it's a wonderful -- yes.

KAGAN: We look forward to that. You certainly -- I mean, your career among the best of all times in Hollywood. And you continue do great work and continue to work with some of the greatest actors, Nicole Kidman, and next we look forward to seeing you with Gwyneth Paltrow.

Anthony Hopkins, good luck with "The Human Stain," and thanks for stopping by via satellite in London. Appreciate your time today.

HOPKINS: Thank you.

KAGAN: Thank 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