Mark A. Nash

Brilliant memoir from Anthony Hopkins.

Apart from the fascinating peek into his life, feelings of isolation, solitude, and anger, he discusses in some detail his process and how he came about it. From early studies at RADA in Stanislavski, Chekhov, and Hagen, he built his own method of working.

Hopkins was diagnosed quite late in life with Autism Spectrum Disorder (formerly called Asperger's Syndrome). Much of his memoir discusses quite frankly and beautifully, what it’s like to live a life on the spectrum and being very aware that he was different and somewhat disconnected from others, but not really having a name for it until much later.

He was regarded as thick headed, useless, and slow as a child, but possessed a somewhat preternatural ability to memorize facts and passages of literature with precise detail. A nearly photographic memory. He did poorly in school at the majority of his studies, but excelled in reciting poetry and dialogue. He read and reread sets of encyclopedias as a child until he memorized much of the text. He did not make friends easily and largely prefers being alone to this day. He learned early that his natural tendency to stare calmly at people when they were having a go at him, was a superpower that often unnerved most. Stillness was something he practiced and weaponized. The same stillness he is well known for on camera. The same chilling stillness that he unleashed to great effect as Hannibal Lector.

That’s not to say that he is unemotional, because he covers that as well in great detail. Deep seated feelings of rage that he has spent a lifetime learning to mask and control. He spent many years as a blackout drunk trying to contain it, which often had the opposite effect, because he was quite combative, but he learned eventually to reason his way through those feelings. All of which has helped to create the kind of actor who always feels like there’s something explosive boiling just under that calm surface.

Hopkins is such an amazing example of using your own unique perspective to your advantage. Because of his learning style, he built a process specifically tailored to himself. He is well known for compulsively reading scripts over and over until they just become a part of him. The same way he used to read his encyclopedias as a child. Meticulously marking the pages up with little counters, until he has it down, then checking off the page. This total absorption of the material allows him to not have to think about the dialogue at all. Just relax, allow his impulses to take over, and react to what is given him.

He’s basically lived a life trying to make some logical sense of chaos and keeping a toe in each. Ultimately in his later years, he has found some measure of peace in art, poetry, and music and has learned to happily embrace the messiness of the human condition with the simple idea that what anyone thinks of him is not his business.

Jackie Burch was well known in the entertainment world. I actually submitted a couple auditions to her over the years. May she rest in peace-

Jackie Burch, Casting Director on ‘Sixteen Candles,’ Mask’ and ‘Dick Tracy,’ Dies at 74 The Emmy nominee and Artois Award winner also worked on two ‘Die Hard’ films, two ‘Predator’ movies and four ‘Hunger Games’ features.

Mark A. Nash | Actor, Producer, Director Known for: Samurai Priest Vampire Hunter, Scalene, The Clovehitch Killer