I had noticed that Anthony Hopkins had lost a great deal of weight in the past few years, but I always assumed that he was sick and that we would find out at some point what terrible illness he was fighting, and until then, we should just respect his privacy. As it turns out, however, Sir Anthony was actually on a diet. He wasn’t sick. At least that’s what he claims. He’s promoting his supporting part in the Woody Allen ensemble, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, and he did an interview with NYP’s Cindy Adams. He tells Adams that his wife put on a diet and made him go to the gym six days a week (Jesus), and that he lost 75 pounds in two years the old fashioned way – through hard work. Just so you know, I find this whole interview charming, and I would hit it:

Sir Anthony Hopkins. In Woody Allen’s delicious new film “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” — about how after you get older, des perate, divorced, Viagra and so sexy you marry a hooker, it all goes lousy. Said Hannibal Lecter:

“Comedy is not my usual role. I’m not Dick Van Dyke, but this was a good part, and I enjoy offbeat New York Jewish humor. I can play any situation. My character is ‘afraid of being alone.’ I know one divorced Hollywood guy in his 60s who got into hookers. He died, alone, in six months. They can have it. I’m in my 70s, and I know.”

“For seven years I’m with my third wife, who’s 18 years younger and a nurturer. I’m a loner. Very few friends. None actors. She has her Spanish lady friends around, and I love that. We have a ball. I’m not looking for women, but I do love the ladies.”

Said newly slim Tony Hopkins: “I lost too much, 75 pounds in two years. But I gained a little back in Europe. I was addicted to bread, cookies, whatnot. I love all the bad stuff. My wife’s no dictator, but she said I must stick to a regimen. So I’m in the gym six days a week, I power walk, live on 800 calories a day. No pasta. No seconds. A sandwich occasionally. Now I’m a health nut. I can’t get back into my wardrobe. I gave it all away to some mission. I tried tailoring the pants but they look ridiculous.”

“I can’t do anything but act. I stumbled into the profession 55 years ago. I’m careless. I go astray. Misplace things. As an impractical kid I was hopeless. I’d do odd jobs. If I weren’t an actor I’d be a burglar or seafarer.”

[From The NY Post]

“She has her Spanish lady friends around, and I love that. We have a ball. I’m not looking for women, but I do love the ladies.” How much would you love that? To be one of his wife’s girlfriends and get to go over to his house and flirt with him? But it does strike me that he probably is more comfortable being around women – he seems like that kind of man, doesn’t he? I love those men. As far as his dieting and exercise – he’s 73 years old! I understand that his wife wants him to be healthy, but let him have a cookie, for the love of God.

Header: Hopkins at TIFF on Sept. 10, 2010. Credit: WENN.

This has been the winter of The Beard Club. It seems like every dude out there has been rocking a beard at some point over the past few months. Everyone from Jon Hamm, to Brad Pitt, George Clooney, James McAvoy, Robert Pattinson and Eli Roth has been doing it, and now it’s time for some of the older foxes to get in the bear game. Thus, I give you Anthony Hopkins, Sir Ian McKellen and Antonio Banderas. We’ve already seen Sir Anthony’s beard when he was belittling Paris Hilton, but I just decided to enjoy it once again. In Banderas’ case, I think his beard is for a movie. And it looks great.

I have no idea why Sir Ian is rocking his mangy beard, though, but his is kind of fabulous in its sheer deranged look. This is how I’ve always imagined Socrates would look like:

And Sir Anthony, just because:

Ian McKellen on March 2, 2010 in London. Anthony Hopkins in New York on February 9, 2010. Antonio Banderas on February 24, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Anthony didn’t really say that, I just that the headline was funny! What Anthony actually said was so brilliant I didn’t even want to attempt to paraphrase it concisely, but I will give you the tail-end of his beautiful, simple rant, just because I love the way he worded it: “It’s a mass enslavement and it’s kind of fascism. And it’s the androgyny of it; the androgyny of the human soul. I don’t think people think any more.” Sigh…much like my love for Tim Gunn, I love Anthony Hopkins for his genius, his dry, sardonic wit, his passion and his ability to take down a poseur with charming deftness. When Tim took down the Kardashians (an “absence of taste”), it was like my soul being French kissed by a fluffy teddy bear. And now Anthony Hopkins is taking down Paris Hilton! I’m seriously going to send Sir Anthony a muffin basket for this.

Anthony Hopkins has taken aim at Paris Hilton and the current crop of celebrity socialites, comparing them to “soulless machines”. The Silence of the Lambs actor is fed up with skinny models and stars on the red carpet who lack substance – and he’s singled out the heiress for appearing to have nothing “going on up there.”

He rants, “We’re living in a pretty strange time. I went into a shop to buy my wife some clothes and I wanted them gift-wrapped. And they had this big plasma screen on with these women on the catwalk. I thought, ‘God almighty, what have we become?’ These girls – anorexic, walking like machines, no soul.”

“You look at fashion magazines and you think, ‘What are we living in?’ You look at the red carpet, Paris Hilton, you know, these people and you think, ‘Is there anything going on up there?’ It’s a mass enslavement and it’s kind of fascism. And it’s the androgyny of it; the androgyny of the human soul. I don’t think people think any more. But maybe I’m just old.”

[From Starpulse]

Don’t you love him even more? Sir Anthony should teach a master class in being righteous. First class: “Paris Hilton is fascism.” I wonder what Day 2 would be? Something about Lindsay Lohan, probably. “The Lohans as omens of Judgment Day.”

Honestly, I hope this is the new trend in Hollywood: really cool, talented, amazing people taking the piss out of jackass celebrities. Here’s hoping!

Anthony Hopkins at the ‘Wolfman’ premiere on February 9, 2010. Credit: Revolutionpix/Fame Pictures.

Last night, Wolfman premiered in Los Angeles and all of the major cast members showed up for the red carpet. These aren’t our usual suspects (get it?) for gossip, but I liked the photos from the premiere, so let’s talk about it! Emily Blunt brought her fiancée John Krasinski, who looked just like my mom imagines what her son-in-law will look like. Anthony Hopkins (above) might be the winner of Hollywood’s Grand Beard Experiment, and he’s killing me with that cravat. Oh, and I would still nail Benicio del Toro to the wall. Yum.

Here’s Emily Blunt’s simple, lovely dress. I don’t really have a feel for Emily’s style yet. From what I’ve seen, she can be very hit-or-miss on the red carpet, and she usually gets at least one thing wrong (between hair, makeup and dress). But I really like this overall look:

John Krasinski is such a cutie. Is it just me or are his ears getting bigger? The ears give him this air of goofiness that I just love. He’s like a young Jimmy Stewart.

Benicio del Toro. I know, I know, I questioned whether he still had the hotness. When he smiles, you can still see it. Jesus, this man does it for me. I get that many of you think I have weird taste in men and everything, but seriously, how could you not want to do dirty things with this man?

Lastly, here’s Hugo Weaving, better known as that dude from The Matrix. At first I thought it was Sting. The beard works for him and I’ve never really noticed that he’s a pretty good-looking dude. Well done, Hugo.

Photos from ‘Wolfman’ premiere in LA on February 9, 2010. Credit: Fame Pictures and WENN.

Anthony Hopkins would like to play American Idol’s Simon Cowell. Seriously? That’s what Sir Anthony told MTV on the Oscar red carpet. Apparently, Cowell is Sir Anthony’s favorite judge on American Idol. He watches American Idol? I guess so. Maybe I should start watching, huh? If it’s good enough for a knight, it might be good enough for me.

Even though this information seems shockingly random, on second look, it would be amazing casting. Hopkins would bring a gravitas that Simon lacks, but you know Sir Anthony would chew up the scenery too. He would be a hoot! Radar Online has more:

Anthony Hopkins could very well play American Idol judge in a movie. MTV reports that Hopkins is such a huge fan of the singing competition, and Simon Cowell in particular, that he’d like to star in a movie about him.

“Simon is my favorite because he’s so brutally honest,” Hopkins told MTV on this year’s Oscars’ red carpet. “There’s no political correctness with him. He says it how it is. How very contrary.”

Now Cowell’s rep, Max Clifford, has told the Western Mail: “Knowing what an incredible actor Tony Hopkins is, I’m sure he’d do a great job, particularly in bringing out the much softer side to Simon that many of us don’t get to see.”

There has been no comment from RadarOnline.com’s request for comment and reaction from either Cowell’s rep or American Idol producers.

From Radar Online

Of course, someone would have to want to make a movie about American Idol or Simon Cowell for Sir Anthony to play him. And will that happen? Probably not.

Just a sidenote: I totally didn’t want to say it during the Oscar coverage, but I’m worried about Anthony Hopkins. He’s lost a lot of weight, and he looked very drawn and tired during the Best Actor Oscar presentation. I’m not trying to start a rumor, because I adore the man and truly hope he’s doing well, but I’m worried. Our prayers are with you, Sir Anthony!

photo credit: WENN

You know we’re scratching for stories when we cover a premiere without a lot of big names, but Jason Statham could run around for two hours doing not much of anything and I would watch it, all wide-eyed and rapt. He adds a layer of swoon-inducing kick-ass testosterone to any film, and it looks like his new film, The Bank Job, doesn’t even need help in that department.

The Bank Job is based on the true story of a multi-million pound London bank heist in 1971, in which safety deposit boxes were stolen from a vault. The robbery was only covered by the press for a just a few days before the government issued a gag order and the story faded away. It is thought that the gang uncovered reams of information about a massive corruption scandal involving top government officials along with the royal family. (It has no relation to The Italian Job or the upcoming sequel The Brazilian Job (snicker) except for the fact that it also stars Statham and has “Job” in the title.)

Here’s the description from IMDB:

In September 1971, thieves tunneled into the vault of a bank in London’s Baker Street and looted safe deposit boxes of cash and jewelry worth over three million pounds. None of it was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then disappeared – the result of a ‘D’ Notice, gagging the press. This film reveals what was hidden for the first time. The story involves murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family – a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved.

And here’s the trailer. It looks pretty awesome.

The thing that I found amusing about these premiere pictures is that Guy Ritchie showed up looking sheepish in a cap and suit – but he’s not the director and had no hand in the movie that I can tell. He hasn’t had a critically acclaimed or successful film since 2000′s Snatch.

Anthony Hopkins was looking elderly in a plaid jacket and scarf and full white beard. He also has nothing to do with this movie.

The Bank Job is out in the UK on February 25, and comes out in US theaters on March 7. Thanks to PRPhotos for these pictures. There are also some stills from the film, thanks to AllMoviePhoto.

Actor Anthony Hopkins is going to pursue his dream of becoming a music star. He will embark on a world tour in which he plans to play the piano accompanied by an orchestra. Hopkins will tell narrative stories about his life and acting career to accompany the music.

In a series of shows to be performed in cities across the world, Hopkins will be taking centre stage on the piano, playing music that he has composed himself. The actor will be accompanied by an orchestra, and will narrate stories over the music.

Hopkins, whose film roles include Adolf Hitler, Pablo Picasso and Quasimodo, will also tell anecdotes from his film career.

Despite having performed in more than 70 films, this is not the first time he has found time to immerse himself in music; in 1986 he released a single called “Distant Star”. The song was not well-received in the UK, only reaching number 75 in the charts.

His music tour, which is expected to start next year, will begin in Melbourne before heading round the world. The project is being planned with the musician and film-score mixer, Malcolm Luker, who met the actor when he was working on the score for Hopkins’ latest film, Slipstream. This experimental screenplay had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and was widely panned by critics for its self-indulgence.

Luker thinks Hopkins’ foray into music will be better received. “I think people will be surprised by Tony’s talents”, he said. “He’s a great pianist and an incredibly pleasant and softly spoken man.”

“It’s going to happen either next year or early 2009 but at the moment we’re doing the preliminaries of checking timing, availability and venues,” Luker said yesterday.

He said the proposed venture would not be as simple as Hopkins sitting at the piano. “[It] will feature Sir Anthony playing music, narrating stories over a live orchestra and telling anecdotes about his movie career, such as his famed role in The Silence of The Lambs.”

[The Independent via Huffington Post]

Hopkins released a single in 1986 called “Distant Star” with the b-side “Ordinary Man.” The songs are available below. It’s not as bad as William Shatner’s musical efforts, but it’s definitely reminiscent of Shatner’s mock-worthy work. Both tracks feature Hopkins talking over a new-age sound scape with comically cheesy lyrics. Maybe his storytelling and music ability have improved in the 11 years since he created these awful songs. If his new music will be drastically different he should probably put out a new single to erase the public’s memory of his previous efforts.

Hopkins’ talents aren’t limited to acting and singing. He is also an artist, and had an exhibition of his paintings last year called “Dreamscapes.” His art sells for thousands.

Here are Hopkins’ initial musical efforts, thanks to Hopinksville.de. There have to be old ladies around the world that will pay good money to watch him perform, hanging on his every breathy word.

Distant Star:

Ordinary Man:

Hopkins is shown in the header image on 11/11/07 at the Beowolf London premiere, thanks to PRPhotos.

I consider messing with Anthony Hopkins about as advisable as messing with O.J. Sure Hopkins is a gentleman and a knight, but I’m pretty sure he’s about 2 clicks away from actually being Hannibal Lecter. You know how they talk about roles an actor was born to play? Well when you’re born to play an erudite cannibal, I’m going to assume that says something about you. Merchant Ivory films, however, doesn’t appear to have taken my advisory seriously: they’ve shortchanged Hopkins by $750,000 for work on his latest project for them, a movie called “The City of Your Final Destination.” If they find a bottle of chianti on their doorstep, I think they should run. That’s Hopkins’ equivalent of filling your shoes with cement.

Anthony Hopkins has filed legal papers seeking to take art-house fave Merchant Ivory Productions to arbitration for refusing to pay $750,000 he claims he’s owed for their most recent movie together, The City of Your Final Destination.

The film, directed by James Ivory and penned by longtime collaborator Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, finished shooting late last year and is currently in post-production.

In a complaint filed on his behalf by his trust, Samson Inc., and first reported by TMZ, the Oscar-winning thesp alleges Merchant Ivory “materially breached” a performance agreement by failing to deliver the agreed-upon sum in two parts. Hopkins says he the initial $375,000 was payable in weekly installments beginning Dec. 29, 2006 and continuing through Jan. 10, while the second $375,000 was due no later than Sept. 30.

Hopkins says he “suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial, but in no event less than $750,000″ for services rendered. He’s also seeking accrued interest, payment of attorneys’ fees and any associated costs of the arbitration.

[From E! News]

I know Merchant Ivory isn’t one of those companies that’s flush with cash… I mean they’re paying Anthony Hopkins $750,000, which I’m guessing is far below his normal fee. But you’d think they’d manage not to stiff the guy on that meager (for Hollywood) amount. I’m trying really hard not to make more trite, over-used “Silence of the Lambs” jokes here, but it’s really hard. I could make a “Hannibal” joke, that’s a little less common… something about Hopkins dumping their bodies into a pen filled with angry boars… no, not that funny. Just pay the guy his cash, so the rest of us don’t have to make cannibalism jokes, alright? Merchant Ivory, your movies are arty and pretentious (not that there’s anything wrong with that); they’re not exactly blockbusters. If you want to keep making them, you should probably pay the actors who are kind enough to dress up as repressed butlers in dreary English villages over and over and over again.