Anthony Hopkins on Why He Avoids Talking About Politics: ‘Actors Are Pretty Stupid’

Actor Anthony Hopkins said he avoids talking publicly about politics because he believes “actors are pretty stupid.”

The Oscar-winning star of The Silence of the Lambs and the upcoming Netflix movie The Two Popes spoke in a conversation with fellow actor Brad Pitt for the latest issue of Interview magazine.

“People ask me questions about present situations in life, ” Hopkins said.

“I say, ‘I don’t know, I’m just an actor. I don’t have any opinions. Actors are pretty stupid. My opinion is not worth anything. There’s no controversy for me, so don’t engage me in it, because I’m not going to participate.'”

Unlike many of his Hollywood peers, Hopkins has studiously avoided talking publicly about politics and offering his opinion about President Donald Trump. The Welsh star is a long-time California resident who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000.

In the Interview conversation, Hopkins spoke about the preparation he did for playing President Richard Nixon in the 1995 biopic directed by Oliver Stone.

“Oliver Stone gave me the part of Nixon, and I remember thinking, ‘Why would he give me that part?’ And he said, ‘Because I’ve read interviews about you being a loner. That was Nixon,'” the actor recalled.

Hopkins said he watched a lot of Nixon films and visited Yorba Linda, Calif., to see the house where Nixon was born. He recalled that President Bill Clinton told him that he would phone Nixon every week to talk about China and Russia.

“You can see the pain in [Nixon], and you think, ‘Well, am I better than him? No. I’m not better than him. I’ve got my own immoral quirks,'” Hopkins said.

Both Hopkins and Pitt talked about giving up alcohol and the mistakes they made before they became sober.

Pitt said: “I think we’re living in a time where we’re extremely judgmental and quick to treat people as disposable. We’ve always placed great importance on the mistake. But the next move, what you do after the mistake, is what really defines a person.”

Hopkins added: “We’ve all screwed up.”

For Netflix’s The Two Popes, Hopkins plays Pope Benedict XVI as he prepares to step down from the papacy. The movie, which debuts on the streaming platform Dec. 20, co-stars Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis.

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