Patrick Stoner welcomes
your questions about movies and the men
and women who make them. Send your questions to
pstoner@whyy.org.
Patrick Stoner welcomes
your questions about movies and the men
and women who make them. Send your questions to
pstoner@whyy.org.
Here's the current question and answer...
You can imagine what a thrill it was to interview him the first time. Our meeting followed the release of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, his most commercial role -- and his most celebrated, ultimately winning him the Oscar. I immediately got a "taste" of his humor. When I entered the room, he told me it was nice to meet me and commenced his infamous lip-smacking bit. I'd already gotten part-way out the door when several strong men grabbed me and returned me to the room.
Ironically, Anthony Hopkins first grabbed my attention because he developed a unique technique of demonstrating his intensity with his mouth. Back in those days when he was a star in England and unknown in America, when his characters were deeply moved by something, there would be a sharp intake of air and an open-mouth pause. This would serve as a visual signal that what followed was important to the character.
This technique is not one that Hopkins probably remembers with the fondness that I do, since it has disappeared from his performances, but it made me notice the young actor. Later in his career, he could appear focused without resorting to any tricks (as he did in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS).
Then he began a process of minimization that I first noticed in HOWARDS END and was taken to its limit in REMAINS OF THE DAY. This is the technique of removing all externals from the character, so that the audience doesn't get ANY surface clues to what's going on inside the character.
When I interviewed John Sayles (the director, writer, and actor) last week, he cited the ability to communicate a scene's subtext without telegraphing it as the actor's ultimate challenge. He used Anthony Hopkins as an example, and noted something that I also discovered in my interviews: Hopkins doesn't approach his craft as consciously as you would expect. When Sayles asked Hopkins how he reached that wonderful level of intensity, he answered, "I usually just stare into the light until my eyes water a bit and then think as the character would think." Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?
It's interesting that my favorite film actor of the past, Spencer Tracy, and my favorite one of today, Anthony Hopkins, both approached their craft in such an unconscious way. Both would go off by themselves and learn the script by heart--their parts and others, going over their lines in a variety of ways until they FELT right. Then, they would show up on the set and execute. Their fellow actors could never see the effort, but they could feel the reality of the moment when working with them.
One result of this technique is unfortunate for interviewers: Hopkins can't explain HOW he gets into his characters and even fears exploring it too thoroughly lest he jinx the process. Nonetheless, he remains my favorite actor, for this day and the next.