"I Couldn't Stop Drinking": Anthony Hopkins Opens Up On Battle With Alcoholism

Legendary actor Anthony Hopkins is celebrating 50 years of sobriety. The 87-year-old, known for iconic films like Locked, Hannibal, The Silence of the Lambs and The Mask of Zorro, has been vocal about his battle with alcoholism early in his career.

Now, in a conversation with The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, Anthony Hopkins opened up about those difficult days. He admitted to being so intoxicated that it could have cost him his life.

Anthony Hopkins On Realising He Needed Help To Deal With Alcoholism

"It can rip you apart, and that's what happened to me, and I was drinking, and I'd drink anything I couldn't chew, but I couldn't stop,” he told the host, recalling one particular incident that made him change his habit forever.

Anthony Hopkins said, “One day, I was here in Beverly Hills and was driving my car in a blackout, Dec. 27, 1975, and I lost my car, and my agent was there at the time, and he said, 'No, you didn't lose your car. We took it from you, took it back to your garage ... to keep you off the streets.' And I said, 'I'm an alcoholic and I need help.'"

Anthony Hopkins On Being Sober For 50 Years

The Academy Award winner revealed that a thought struck him at that time. “I looked up at the eucalyptus tree and said, 'Somebody up there likes me,' and made a phone call to an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), and it changed my life. Drastically. I look back and I can't believe 50 years,” he shared.

Elsewhere in the interaction, Anthony Hopkins confessed, “I've evidence right now. I'm 88 years of age, and I should've been dead years ago. Seriously dead. A lot of my contemporaries, they didn't stop; they died.”

Back during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the Hannibal star celebrated 45 years of being sober by posting a video message on X. A part of it read, “45 years ago today, I had a wake-up call. I was heading for disaster. I was drinking myself to death. I got a message, a little thought, that said, ‘Do you want to live or die?' I said I wanted to live. And suddenly the relief came, and my life has been amazing.”

With gratitude, I celebrate 45 years of sobriety. pic.twitter.com/fxzMRGlI4m

— Anthony Hopkins (@AnthonyHopkins) December 29, 2020

At present, Anthony Hopkins is awaiting the release of his memoir We Did OK, Kid.