What the new generation might have missed about Anthony Hopkins is that before he charmed all the audiences as the MCU’s Odin, he was already stealing the show with his incredible performances, even scoring a couple of Oscars. But here’s the twist, while he’s over the moon about snagging those shiny Academy Awards, what really gets under his skin is what happens next. It’s not that he’s got beef with the award itself. It’s the whole glitz and glamor and the ceremony itself that just rubs him the wrong way.
Why Anthony Hopkins Dislikes the Oscars So Much Despite Winning Twice
Anthony Hopkins in his impressive career has clinched the Academy Award on two separate occasions, once for his role in The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 and more recently in the last decade for his performance in The Father (2020). It was a few years before his second win that he openly expressed disdain toward the awards ceremony.
During an interview with the HuffPost in 2012, the actor launched into a critique of everything he found flawed with the award season and the accompanying ceremonies. Interestingly, his sentiments resonated strongly with audiences. He started his rant by saying,
“You know, I’ve been around — I’ve got the Oscar myself for “Silence of the Lambs” — and having to be nice to people and to be charming and flirting with them … oh, come on! People go out of their way to flatter the nominating body, and I think it’s kind of disgusting. That’s always been against my nature.”
He has described the environment of such events, including Oscars, as unpleasant. He finds the networking and attempts by actors to secure opportunities through flattering authorities and producers to be insincere and distasteful.
He believes these interactions take away from the true celebration of artistic accomplishments, so much so that it makes him feel physically unwell. As he continued saying,
“You know, kissing the backside of the authorities that can make or break it; I can’t stand all that. I find it nauseating to watch and I think it’s disgusting to behold. People groveling around and kissing the backsides of famous producers and all that. It makes me want to throw up, it really does. It’s sick-making. I’ve seen it so many times. I saw it fairly recently last year. Some great producer-mogul and everyone kisses this guy’s backside. I think, “What are they doing? Don’t they have any self respect?” I wanted to say, “F–k off.””
Although Hopkins stated his sentiments in a pretty straightforward manner, to say the least, he wasn’t alone in expressing discontent with the awards season. Several other actors including Joaquin Phoenix to Bradley Copper have come forward in recent years to dismantle the romanticized perception of these events, shedding light on the less glamorous realities that may not be apparent to the people looking in from the outside.
Anthony Hopkins Called Acting in the MCU Pointless!
Well, the Oscars and its fellow award ceremonies weren’t just the only targets of the actor’s criticisms, the MCU also got a piece of that pie. Despite his enjoyable cameo appearances as Odin in various MCU films, Hopkins didn’t shy away from expressing his unfiltered opinions when asked about his experiences. In an issue for The New Yorker, he candidly revealed,
“They put me in armor; they shoved a beard on me,–Sit on the throne, shout a bit. If you’re sitting in front of a green screen, it’s pointless acting it.”
For someone as accomplished and talented as Anthony Hopkins, acting in front of a green screen might not initially seem like a challenge to his skills.
However, he acknowledges that the character of Odin played a crucial role in his life. Despite decades of delivering impressive work, there was a period when Hopkins contemplated quitting the industry.
It was during this time that Odin entered his life and changed everything. He admitted in The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (via CBR ),
“Branagh gave me back the chops to work,–I was gonna give it up, really. But you see, [Branagh] won’t let you do that. Working with Ken was quite an injection of new energy into my life.”
And when you consider it, sitting on a throne and belting out lines for a hefty paycheck doesn’t sound too shabby either.
