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Anthony Hopkins’ olive branch to reconnect with his estranged daughter was denied more than 20 years ago.
The Academy Award-winning actor admitted he won’t waste his life living with resentment over the fact that his only child, Abigail Hopkins, chooses not to have a relationship with him.
When asked his thoughts on reconciliation between estranged parents and children, Hopkins told “The Interview” that he’s moved on from reconnecting with his daughter after she denied a request to meet.
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Anthony Hopkins’ olive branch to reconnect with his estranged daughter was denied more than 20 years ago. (Alan Crowhurst)
“My wife, Stella, sent an invitation to come and see us,” Hopkins said. “Not a word of response, so I think, ‘OK, fine. I wish her well,’ but I’m not going to waste blood over that.”
“If you want to waste your life being in resentment – 50 years later, 58 years later – fine, go ahead. That’s not in my camp.”
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The “Silence of the Lambs” actor continued, “See, I could carry resentment over the past this and the other, but that’s death. You’re not living. You have to acknowledge one thing, that we are imperfect – we’re not saints.”
Abigail Hopkins, the daughter of Anthony Hopkins and his first wife Petronella Barker, hasn’t been in contact with her father in 20 years. (Albert L. Ortega)
“We’re all sinners and saints or whatever we are. We do the best we can. Life is painful, sometimes people get hurt, sometimes we get hurt. But you can’t live like that. You have to say, ‘Get over it.’ If you can’t get over it – fine. Good luck to you. But I have no judgment. I did what I could, so that’s it.”
When asked if Hopkins hoped his daughter would read his book, the actor admitted he “didn’t care” and that he wanted to move on from the subject.
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“I don’t want to hurt her and I don’t want to make any … 20 years. The offer was made, but fine. Onwards.”
Hopkins allegedly walked out of the relationship with Abigail’s mother and his first wife, Petronella Barker, when Abigail was a child. The father and daughter reconnected in the ’90s when he arranged for Abigail to appear in his films “Shadowlands” and “The Remains of the Day.”
Hopkins and his daughter (who had cameo appearances in two of his films) haven’t spoken since his wife’s invitation to meet was declined 20 years ago. (Time Life Pictures via Getty)
They’ve since been estranged. Hopkins previously told Radio Times that he was unaware if he was a grandfather.
“I don’t have any idea,” he said in 2018. “People break up. Families split and, you know, ‘Get on with your life.’ People make choices. I don’t care one way or the other.”
When he was told that his response sounded “cold,” Hopkins replied, “Well, it is cold. Because life is cold.”
The Emmy Award-winning star also recalled to “The Interview” the moment he decided to get sober after struggling with alcohol dependency for years.
“I was drunk, driving my car here in California, in a blackout – no clue where I was going,” Hopkins said.
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“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.”
After finding a meeting for a 12-step program, Hopkins said 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.”
Anthony Hopkins also detailed what led to his decision to get sober nearly 50 years ago. (Patrick T. Fallon)
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.
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.”
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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, Hopkins will celebrate 50 years of sobriety.