Anthony Hopkins was nowhere to be found on Oscar night when he won a surprise best actor award for his performance as an elderly man battling dementia in The Father.
It turns out the 83-year-old actor was fast asleep in Wales during Sunday’s ceremony.
In an acceptance speech posted to Instagram the morning after, Anthony Hopkins expressed his shock at winning the Oscar — his second after The Silence of the Lambs three decades ago. “At 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this award. I really didn’t,” he said amid a scenic backdrop of the Welsh countryside.
Hopkins acknowledged his fellow nominee Chadwick Boseman, who died last year at 43 and who was widely predicted to win a posthumous Oscar. “I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman who was taken from us far too early… I really did not expect this. So I feel very privileged and honored.”
Watch below:
Hopkins’ agent, Jeremy Barber of UTA, told People magazine the actor was in Wales and asleep at 4 a.m. when he got news of his win.
“After a year in quarantine, and being double-vaccinated, he was finally able to return to Wales, and age 83, it was a great relief after such a difficult year,” Barber told People. “But he loved the role in The Father — it’s his proudest performance — and to be the oldest living actor to win in the category means so much to him.”
The Father, released by Sony Pictures Classics, also won an Oscar for adapted screenplay. The movie was adapted from the French play of the same name, with playwright Florian Zeller working with Christopher Hampton to write the screenplay.
Hopkins is one of a few Hollywood stars who has declined to discuss politics with the press. As Breitbart News reported, Hopkins said he avoids talking publicly about politics because he believes “actors are pretty stupid.”
“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,'” he said in Interview magazine.
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