Anthony Hopkins on Sobriety, Success and Hollywood Grit

There’s a catalyzing moment near the beginning of Sir Anthony Hopkins’ memoir, We Did OK, Kid (Summit Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster; Nov. 4), when he decides to make something of himself. A mediocre high school student and self-described loner, he’s standing listlessly in his family home in Wales while his mother and father—supportive but disappointed—read yet another dismal school report. Hopkins has a novel flash of resolve: “One day I’ll show you,” he tells them. “I’ll show both of you.” And show them he did. Within a few short years, he’d hit the big time, performing in leading roles in London’s National Theatre, then quickly becoming a bona fide movie star.

Many celebrity memoirs are written by ghostwriters, but Hopkins penned this book himself. The result is an unflinching chronicle of a spectacular career and not-so-spectacular personal life, told in a crisp cadence that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the Academy Award winner in The Lion in Winter, Silence of the Lambs or The Father.