Anthony Hopkins surprised Brad Pitt during an interview. The Oscar-winning Welsh actor taught Pitt a lesson about politically active celebrities by blasting the “Hollywood crowd.”
Anthony Hopkins is one of the most renowned actors of our time, and when he talks, people listen. The Welsh man retained his British citizenship when he became a U.S. citizen in 2000. The “Silence of the Lambs” star revealed his thoughts about Hollywood celebrities who venture into the realm of politics.
Brad Pitt, an Oscar winner himself, spoke with the two-time Academy Award winner at length. Hopkins decided to steer Pitt’s interview to “present situations,” making sure he taught the younger actor a lesson about the politically active “Hollywood crowd.”
Brad Pitt & Anthony Hopkins in a scene from “Legends of the Fall” (Credit: Legends of the Fall/YouTube)“People ask me questions about present situations in life, and I say, ‘I don’t know, I’m just an actor. I don’t have any opinions,’” Hopkins declared.
“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.”
Brad Pitt seemed taken aback by Hopkins’ statement. “I feel the same. I don’t care,” Pitt said. “I’m glad things are always evolving and changing, and complaining about it won’t do any good. You work with what you have.”
However, that’s not the truth. Pitt has publicly engaged in politics several times, and there is no doubt Anthony Hopkins knows it.
In an interview in 2016, Pitt said that having grown up in rural Oklahoma, “which leans more toward a Trump voice,” he tries to understand the motivation driving supporters of the then-Republican presidential candidate.
“Meet Joe Black” scene with Anthony Hopkins & Brad Pitt (Credit: Meet Joe Black/YouTube)
Hopkins probably also knew that Pitt weighed in on British politics in that same interview. “Man, I never thought [Brexit] would happen,” Pitt said. “Same way I can’t bring myself to think that Trump will be in charge.
In the simplest terms, what brings us together is good, and what separates us is bad…A Trump supporter is fighting against just about everything. What does he even mean, take our country back? Would someone please explain that to me? Where’d it go?”
Hopkins stayed true to this word and refused to speak publicly about Brexit or President Donald Trump.
However, the “Hannibal” actor stated his father’s working-class values have always underscored his life: “Whenever I get a feeling that I may be special or different, I think of my father and I remember his hands – his hardened, broken hands.”
“Legends of the Fall” scene with Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Aidan Turner & Julia Ormond (Credit: Legends of the Fall)
Hopkins, who portrayed President Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone’s 1995 film of the same name, told Pitt about getting ready for that demanding role.
“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,’” Hopkins recalled, “So I watched a lot of Nixon films.
I went down to Yorba Linda, California, to see the house where he was born. Bill Clinton told me that when he became president, he would phone Nixon every week,” he continued.
“He’d ask him about China and Russia. Clinton said this of him: He was a brilliant politician, but there was something in him that was so insecure. And Oliver just tried to portray the man as he was—neither good or bad, but a man who makes mistakes, as we all do,” Hopkins explained.
“I found it very emotional to play him because I could feel what it must have been like, the disgrace of having to resign. And, then, the humiliation of having to say goodbye. You can see the pain in him, and you think, ‘Well, am I better than him? No. I’m not better than him. I’ve got my own immoral quirks.’”
