Anthony Hopkins Is Writing His Biography: ‘I Do Have Quite a Memory’ (Exclusive)

Anthony Hopkins puts it all on the page.

“I’m writing a biography,” says the 86-year-old actor in the new issue of PEOPLE. “It’s a strange process.”

Fortunately for him, he remembers the events easily.

“I realized how blessed I am with one thing. Maybe it’s my actor’s brain. I have a good memory,” continues the star The Silence of the Lambs. “I remember days and months in years.”

And while he spends time looking back on his own life, his 20-year-younger wife Stella (67) does the same. He is currently working on a documentary about the double Oscar winner.

Hopkins says that Stella has “carte blanche yes [cover] everything”, although she does not know how far her project has come.

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“I do not know. I don’t ask her. That’s quite a movie. I don’t know when it’s going to come out,” says Hopkins, who adds that Stella interviewed his The Silence of the Lambs actress Jodie Foster for the film.

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Anthony and Stella Hopkins. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Hopkins has quite a story to tell.

Born in south Wales to Richard and Muriel, who ran a bakery together, Hopkins says he was a “school dummy” and his father was in “despair” so directionless.

His father’s grief spurred him to action as a teenager. “I said, ‘One day I’ll show you both,'” he recalls.

Within 10 years, after studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Hopkins was working as a stand-in for Sir Laurence Olivier at London’s Royal National Theatre.

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But Hopkins’ own distinguished career as a stage actor was nearly derailed by alcoholism. “I drank myself to death,” he says nonchalantly. “One day I had a moment of pure fear. I got help. That was 48 years ago.”

At the time, he remembers a voice in his head telling him, “You can start living” — and he’s taken it to heart ever since.

He has appeared in dozens of acclaimed films, including The rest of the day, Nixon and Amistad. In 2021, at the age of 83, he became the oldest person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor when he took home the trophy for his performance in Father. He is currently acting in a film Freud’s last sessionplaying the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.

Patrick Redmond / Sony Pictures Classics / Courtesy of Everett

When he’s not working, Hopkins fills his days with what brings him joy: playing the piano, painting and spending time with his family, including Stella. The secret of his happy marriage? “Just say yes,” he jokes. All in all, he feels grateful for the good, the bad, and everything in between.

“I’m just happy,” Hopkins says. “I’ve been through ups and downs and depressions and despair and anger and all those things, but gradually over the last few years [I’ve been] thinking, ‘Well, I’m still here’. ”

Freud’s last session it’s in theaters now.

Find out more about Anthony Hopkins in the new issue of PEOPLE.

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Source: HIS Education