His Academy Award-winning portrayal of the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs was apparently based on his teacher at Rada, Christopher Fettes.

We Did Ok, Kid: A Memoir
ANTHONY HOPKINS

(SIMON & SCHUSTER, 368 PP, £25)
TABLET BOOKSHOP PRICE £22.50 • TEL 020 7799 4064

The autobiographies of actors are often disappointing. Later generations wanting to know about Laurence Olivier will find less insight in his Confessions of an Actor and On Acting than in many biographies. The difficulty is that memoirs describe the writer’s life while an acting career consists of occupying others’ lives, often mysteriously and instinctively. All Olivier books contain the story of cast members saluting a particularly great performance as Othello and finding Olivier downcast due to having no idea of why it was great, and therefore having no prospect of repeating it.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login