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Anthony Hopkins detailed the life-changing epiphany he experienced which changed the trajectory of his life forever.
Nearly 50 years sober now, Hopkins recalled the moment he quit drinking alcohol and started living for a purpose.
The Academy Award-winning actor admitted he was “drinking like it was going out of fashion” during the depths of his alcoholism.
ANTHONY HOPKINS FEELS ‘SO LUCKY’ TO BE WORKING AT 86: ‘I’M AWARE OF MY MORTALITY’
British actor Anthony Hopkins attends the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 94th Oscars at the The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California on March 27, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon)
During a sit-down with “The Interview,” Hopkins noted he was hesitant to tell the story out of fear of sounding “preachy or like a goody two shoes.”
“I was drunk, driving my car here in California, in a blackout – no clue where I was going,” Hopkins said.
“It was a moment when I realized that I could have killed somebody – or myself, which I didn’t care about, but I could have killed a family in a car. I realized I was an alcoholic. I came to my senses and I said to an ex-agent of mine at this party in Beverly Hills, I said, ‘I need help.’”
Anthony Hopkins recalled his journey with sobriety after 49 years of abstaining from alcohol. (Getty Images)
“I made the fatal phone call to an intergroup in LA, a 12-step program. They said, ‘We’ll send somebody over to meet you,’ and I said, ‘No, I’ll come to you.'”
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When Hopkins arrived at the meeting, he heard a “deep, powerful thought” that told him, “It’s all over. Now you can start living and it has all been for a purpose, so don’t forget one moment of it.”
Almost instantly, Hopkins said, his craving for drinking just left.
“I don’t know or have any theories except divinity, or that power that we all possess inside us that creates us from birth – life force – whatever it is. It’s a consciousness, I believe. That’s all I know. My whole life has been like that,” he said.
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Hopkins admitted he drank “to nullify that discomfort, or whatever it was in me, because it made me feel big. You know booze is terrific because it instantly feels in a different space and I enjoyed that.”
Before getting sober, he recalled thinking to himself, “This is going to kill me … I was drinking like it was going out of fashion.”
In December, the “Silence of the Lambs” star commemorated his decades of sobriety in a video shared on Instagram.
“So 49 years ago today, I stopped … and I was having so much fun, but then I realized I was in big, big trouble because I couldn’t remember anything,” he said. “I was driving a car drunk out of my skull. Then on that fatal day I realized I needed help. So I got it.”
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He added, “If you do have a problem – having fun is wonderful, having a drink is fine – but if you are having a problem with the booze, there is help. It’s not a terrible deal, it’s a condition. If you’re allergic to alcohol, get some help. There’s plenty of help around.”
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After celebrating his sobriety, Hopkins confessed, “I’ve had a wonderful life. They still employ me, they still give me jobs.”
He added, “I’m celebrating my long life, my unexpectedly long life.”