By Ray Bennett
LONDON – No one expects Anthony Hopkins, who turns 85 today, to be anything like Hannibal Lecter but he told me people do often assume he’s like other roles he’s played.
‘I get a lot of people saying, oh, you shouldn’t be doing that, you play butlers and things,’ he said. ‘They were wonderful parts, “Shadowlands”, ‘Remains of the Day”, I really enjoyed them but I’m not like those characters, you know. I’m not Arnold Schwarzenegger but I’m certainly not the butler in “Remains of the Day”. I’ve been a bad boy in my life. I wouldn’t say I was wild but I’ve lived life. I’ve had a good time.’ Continue reading
Bob Dowling gave me the best job in the world
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – I shall always be grateful to Robert J.Dowling, the former publisher and editor-in-chief of The Hollywood Reporter who has died aged 83, because it was thanks to him that for several years I had a job that even legendary Hollywood studio chief Sherry Lansing envied.
As THR’s European Arts Critic based in London, I reviewed the finest theatre in the West End, the top music concerts and the best of British television plus movies in England and at international film festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Edinburgh, Galway and once in Rio de Janeiro. Continue reading →