Celebrities Biography

Anthony Hopkins was born on 31 December 1937, in Margam, Wales. Influenced by Richard Burton, he decided to study at College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1957. In 1965, he moved to London and joined the National Theatre, invited by Laurence Olivier, who could see the talent in Hopkins. In 1967, he made his first film for television, A Flea in Her Ear (1967) (TV).

From this moment on, he enjoyed a successful career in cinema and television. In 1968, he worked on The Lion in Winter (1968) with Timothy Dalton. Many successes came later, and Hopkins' remarkable acting style reached the four corners of the world. In 1977, he appeared in two major films: A Bridge Too Far (1977) with James Caan, Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Elliott Gould and Laurence Olivier, and Maximilian Schell. In 1980, he worked on The Elephant Man (1980). Two good television literature adaptations followed: Othello (1981) (TV) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982) (TV). In 1987 he was awarded with the Commander of the order of the British Empire. This year was also important in his cinematic life, with 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), acclaimed by specialists. In 1993, he was knighted.

In the 1990s, Hopkins made movies like Desperate Hours (1990) and Howards End (1992), The Remains of the Day (1993) (nominee for the Oscar), Legends of the Fall (1994), Nixon (1995) (nominee for the Oscar), Surviving Picasso (1996), Amistad (1997) (nominee for the Oscar), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Meet Joe Black (1998) and Instinct (1999). His most remarkable film, however, was The Silence of the Lambs (1991), for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor. He also got a BAFTA for this role.

Hair greased back

Often plays very proper and restrained British characters, as in The Remains of the Day (1993) and Shadowlands (1993).

Often plays controversial, real life characters: William Bligh in The Bounty (1984), Adolf Hitler in The Bunker (1981) (TV), Richard Bruno Hauptman in The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976) (TV), and Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995)

Deep smooth voice

Often works with Richard Attenborough.

Best known for playing "Hannibal Lector" in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

Is proud of his improvisational touches as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) such as: the unnerving effect on Jodie Foster when he mocked her character's West Virginia accent; the distorion of the word "chianti" and the vile slurping sound he makes after he describes eating the "census-taker." Hopkins also notes that Hannibal never blinked his eyes when he spoke.

10/97: Ranked #57 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

Often compared with fellow Welshman Richard Burton.

1987: Awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

7/16/88: Received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Wales.

1993: Knighted in the New Year Honors List.

1975: Conquered his alcoholic addiction.

Piano virtuoso.

Father of Abigail Hopkins

Into the 1991 restoration of Spartacus (1960), scenes were reintroduced which had been cut from the picture's 1967 reissue. One such segment has Laurence Olivier, in the role of Marcus Crassus, attempting to seduce the slave Antoninus (played by Tony Curtis). But the original soundtrack for this segment had become lost. And so, Olivier having died in 1989, Anthony Hopkins imitated the voice of Olivier (whom Hopkins had understudied at the Old Vic) for the scene's re-created soundtrack. (The surviving Tony Curtis presumably supplied his own voice.)

Born at 9:15am-UT

One of his greatest pleasures in past years on his frequent visits to the USA was to get in a car and drive across the country, enjoying its immensity as well as his own anonymity.

9/99: Was selected by an Entertainment Weekly on-line movie poll as the Best Modern Actor and the Best Villain for his role as Hannibal Lecter.

4/12/00: Became a U.S. citizen, but is allowed to retain his British knighthood and the title of Sir.

Received his Academy Award for The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 11 years to the day of his father's death.

Volunteers at the Ruskins School of Acting in Santa Monica, California, where he teaches everything from Shakespeare to scenes, theory, and monologues.

Has the distinction of portraying two U.S. Presidents: Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995), and John Quincy Adams in Amistad (1997). He received Oscar nominations for both performances.

1/01: He ranked second in the Orange Film Survey of the greatest British films actors.

Had a brush with death while shooting The Edge (1997) in Alberta, Canada. He fell in a river, and was rushed to hospital to be treated for hypothermia.

Admitted that he felt very intimidated by the real Lt. Col. John Frost, who he played in the movie A Bridge Too Far (1977) when Frost visited the set one day to see how things were going.

Served in the British National Service as a Royal Artillery man and for a while was only known as "Gunner Hopkins".

9/24/03: Received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.

For his stage performance in "Pravda", he was awarded the 1985 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor, and the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1986 (1985 season) for Outstanding Achievement.

He chose to play Prof. Van Helsing in Dracula (1992) because he was still riding the success of his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and wanted to pick a role as far removed from Lecter as possible.

His Oscar-winning performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was ranked #1 on the American Film Institute's Villains list in its compilation of the 100 Years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains.

As a child, he was very close to his maternal grandfather, who for some reason called him "George", while his father called him "Charlie".

Is related to the poet William Butler Yeats on his mother's side of the family.

He included some unusual touches for Hannibal Lecter during his preparation for the role, among which were making Lecter's voice similar to the cutting warble of Katharine Hepburn and almost never blinking, a characteristic he picked up from watching tapes of convicted murderer Charles Manson.

Has played a (future) king of England (Richard Lionheart in The Lion in Winter (1968)) and two U.S. Presidents. Interestingly, President Richard Nixon and his brothers were all named after British kings, so it's likely that he played Nixon's namesake.

A Member of the RADA Council.

Has three roles in common with Brian Cox. Both of them have played Titus Andronicus. Hopkins appeared on stage as King Lear in 1986, the same year that Manhunter (1986), which starred Cox as Hannibal Lecter, was released. He was succeeded in the role of Lear by Cox in 1991, the same year that he succeeded Cox in the role of Hannibal Lecter.

Graduated from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, England.

Is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Stratford Upon Avon, England, where he spent three seasons after graduating from RADA.

Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2005 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was suggested in the Worst Supporting Actor category for his performance in the film Alexander (2004), however, he failed to receive a nomination. Had he gotten the nomination, it would have been his first in 24 years. He was previously nominated for Worst Actor in the film A Change of Seasons (1980) at the very first Razzie Awards.

Ranked #12 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]

Has the distinction of twice playing former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in Young Winston (1972) and "The Edwardians" (1972).

In Invercargill, New Zealand, there is a drama school named after him--The Anthony Hopkins School of Dramatic Arts. He was present for its opening, as he was in Invercargill filming scenes for the The World's Fastest Indian (2005) at the time.

Though dyslexic, he's always possessed a great memory for scripts.

9/20/05: On "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (1986), he said that he is most proud of The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Remains of the Day (1993) and Proof (2005).

Likes to be called "Tony."

Ate the same menu as Pablo Picasso during the filming of Surviving Picasso (1996), in which he played Picasso.

An accomplished painter, he has allowed some of his landscape paintings to be exhibited in San Antonio, Texas.

2006: His performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is ranked #70 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

His performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is ranked #15 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Turned down the role of Alfred Pennyworth in Batman Begins (2005).

Reads each script 250 times out loud before filming, and to exercise his memory, memorizes one new poem a week.

Was set to play Jor-El in Superman Returns (2006), but when director Brett Ratner left the project, so did Hopkins.

Has twice played a character who loses a hand by having it severed with a meat cleaver: in Titus (1999) and Hannibal (2001).

Attended Cowbridge boys grammar school as a youth.

Quit smoking cigarettes using the Allen Carr method.

The Anthony Hopkins Theatre at the Theatre Clwyd Cymru in Mold, North Wales, UK was named in his honour.

He is the patron on The Drama Association of Wales,UK which offers a wide and varied range of services to Community Drama. Among others, members include amateur and professional theatre practitioners, educationalists and playwrights.

Appears in Nixon (1995) with Dan Hedaya, and The Good Father (1985) with Jim Broadbent. Hedaya later played Nixon in Dick (1999), and Broadbent played Nixon in Dirty Tricks (2000) (TV).

Parents: Muriel Anne Yeats (b.1913) and Richard Arthur Hopkins (died in 1981).

Has played a King of England (Richard I, the Lionheart), a Prime Minister of England (David Lloyd George), and two U.S. Presidents (John Quincy Adams and Richard Nixon).

Won a Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play for "Equus" (1975).

Was considered for the role of Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin (1997) until director Joel Schumacher decided that Mr. Freeze must be "big and strong like he was chiseled out of a glacier". The role went to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He's the only child of a couple who ran a bakery.

Daughter, Abigail Hopkins, is a longtime friend of actress Jennifer Blanc.

Ex-son-in-law of Eric Barker and Pearl Hackney.

Was offered the part of Colonel Colin Caine in Lifeforce (1985).

Resides in Santa Monica, California.

Was considered for the role of Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents (2000).

He and Frank Langella both received Oscar-nominations for playing Richard Nixon.

After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he served two years in the British Army before beginning his acting career.

His favorite horror film is Rosemary's Baby (1968).

He and Frank Langella both received Best Actor nominations for playing Richard Nixon, in Nixon (1995) and Frost/Nixon (2008), respectively. Though not the first or only pair of actors to receive nominations for the same part, they are only the second male pair where neither of them won the Oscar. Hopkins lost to Nicolas Cage, while Langella lost to Sean Penn. Previously, Jason Robards and Leonardo DiCaprio have both been nominated for playing Howard Hughes. Robards lost his Oscar to Timothy Hutton, while DiCaprio lost his to Jamie Foxx. Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro had both won for their portrayals of "Vito Corleone". José Ferrer won an Oscar, and Gérard Depardieu received a nomination for playing "Cyrano". John Wayne won the Oscar and Jeff Bridges was nominated for playing "Rooster Cogburn".

During filming of Amistad (1997), he astounded the cast and crew by memorizing a seven page speech in one go. Steven Spielberg was so impressed that he insisted on calling him "Sir Anthony" throughout the shoot rather than Tony.

He has played Pablo Picasso, while his friend and frequent collaborator, Richard Attenborough, is an avid collector of Picasso's artwork.

[on Gary Oldman] He is just like I was at his age.

I was lousy in school. Real screwed-up. A moron. I was antisocial and didn't bother with the other kids. A really bad student. I didn't have any brains. I didn't know what I was doing there. That's why I became an actor.

[Interviewed on "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994)] I once asked a Jesuit priest what was the best short prayer he knew. He said, "Fuck it,' as in, "Fuck it; it's in God's hands."

The Welsh people have a talent for acting that one does not find in the English. The English lack heart.

[December 1998] To hell with this stupid show business, this ridiculous showbiz, this futile waste of life. I look back and see a desert wasteland. All those years spent in a fake environment. Everything was a fake.

[on becoming a U.S. citizen in 2000] America has been very generous to me, magnanimous really. I thought it would be good to give something back. It was a decision of the heart.

[on his days as an alcoholic, when he was drinking Mexican Spirit tequila] I was really sort of on a prolonged acid trip. I saw things and had peculiar quasi-religious experiences. I thought I was John The Baptist, and I would talk to the sea at Malibu and the sea would talk back to me. It was weird.

[on his most famous character, Dr. Hannibal Lecter] I think he might be a very interesting person to have lunch with, provided that YOU weren't the lunch.

One of the people I got to know years ago, which was a great privilege, was Laurence Olivier. He was like a laser - that was his power. And the only actor I've met since who had that same quality of laser-like determination is Russell Crowe. The first day I started working with him, I thought, "That guy's got it." The best way to describe Russell is, he's like a shark circling round. He was argumentative. He argued with the director all the time. I don't know Russell that well, but I admire him, and you know, whatever he's got to do really. I really like him because he's ballsy, he's got guts, he's macho and all the rest of it. He's going through his bad boy period, but he's basically a nice guy.

I am able to play monsters well. I understand monsters. I understand madmen.

Being a smoker is like being trapped in a complicated maze. It's as if Allen Carr has a plan of the maze. Instantly I was freed from my addiction.

Acting is still enjoyable, but there are no more challenges any more for me. No, none at all. I'm much more interested in painting and composing music these days. I've become what I always wanted to be, a jobbing actor. I'm just detached, I do my thing. I work hard at it, but I don't invest my life in it. As long as they pay me on time and I get a good script with a good director, I have fun. That's all.

[on former US President Bill Clinton] It seems to me that the country rather misses him. He has impressed me. He asked me if I wanted to accompany him on a trip to Brazil, and so off I went. I'd met the President before in Washington, a very nice guy. So we were at this dinner, talking after his gig, he gave this incredible speech and he said, "Would you like to come to Brazil with me next week?". Of course I said, "Yes". He's pretty exhausting to be with, because he's always wanting to play cards or golf.

Heroes, like Bogart (Humphrey Bogart). They deserve high definition.

I think the first British actor who really worked well in cinema was Albert Finney. He was a back-street Marlon Brando. He brought a great wittiness and power to the screen. The best actor we've had.

I've done some good films. The Remains of the Day (1993) was alright. The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Nixon (1995) I enjoyed. One of my favourites was working with Roger Donaldson on The World's Fastest Indian (2005). That was fun and seems to be quite popular. It is wonderful to have reached that point where I can do what grabs my attention, when I want to. I'm glad those days are gone where I was yearning for work. People think I've worked a lot, but I haven't. I've had a lot of time off. I've turned down a lot. When you're younger you want to get every part to stop other people getting it. Nowadays, I don't care - let them do it. I don't go through that terrible thing of thinking, "If I don't do it, then who's going to get to do it?" I just mosey my way through and see what happens.

On Oliver Stone: Oh, Oliver's crazy, but I like him. He's very rude to people. He insults people - he insults me - but you just have to give it back. He says to me, "Oh, you're getting old." So you shoot back with, "Yeah, so are you. You're getting bald, too. You've aged, you're getting balder. Actually, you look older than me, Oliver. It's no good dying your hair like that." But he's good. He's a very talented man. He can be a bit exhausting. I did about 18 hours on Alexander (2004). I never saw it. I understand it wasn't very good. I did 18 hours one night out in Borehamwood and thought, "No, that's it." Had a long rest after that.

On David Lynch: I wrote him a letter not so long ago because I'd seen The Elephant Man (1980) again. I wrote him a letter to apologise for my bad behaviour on that film. I was terribly behaved and very rebellious. He wanted to do too many takes and I couldn't do it. And he was a little remote and I could never understand what he was talking about which made me very irritable. I haven't seen him for years but he's a smart man, a very daring figure. I like David very much. Brilliant, I think.

My own father was a tough man. He was a pretty red hot guy but he was also cold. He was also slightly disappointed in me because I was not a good kid as a school boy, you know. But I learned from it, I liked that coldness, because it was harsh. And he taught me to be tough. So I know how to be tough. I know how to be strong. I know how to be ruthless. It's part of my nature. I wouldn't be an actor if I wasn't.

It's fun to get the Oscar, it was fun to get a knighthood. But you know, you wake up in the morning, the reality's still there. You're still mortal.

The movie industry is full of crazy people who think that they are God.

How do you play Hannibal Lecter? Well just don't move. Scare people by being still.

I'd been to the dentist, and I was seven years old, to have a tooth taken out. In those days they yanked it out. I was feeling nauseous and I hallucinated. I was in bed and I remember waking up with a knock at the door - a box was put in my bedroom. And it was full of encyclopedias, which my father had got me. I remember looking through those books and finding a knowledge. I learned everything I could.

For many, many years I felt like I didn't belong. I was a duffer at school - everything was incomprehensible to me.

I was an only child. My mother married into a family of in-laws. She felt like an outsider; which she was. She was a powerful force in my father's life. He was a baker - and she was ambitious for him. She didn't want him to be subservient to his father. She woke him up.

[on meeting his third wife, Stella Arroyave, a Colombian-born antiques dealer]: I married a remarkable woman who has changed a lot of my perception about myself and about life. She's very positive, very powerful. Every time I get a negative thought, she says, 'Cancel it'.

Once you accept the fact that there's nothing to fear, you drill into the primal oil well. I believe when we do things without fear, we can do anything. As long as you don't worry about the consequences.

[Twenty-three years after asking Burton for an autograph, Hopkins was on Broadway in Equus (1977). Burton was taking over the role from Hopkins, who asked to see him backstage: "He was about to go on stage and he said, 'Why haven't we worked together? You come from Taibach'. That's the only time I met him again.

It's nice to get a knighthood but in the end it's just the same old face in the mirror getting older and older - you have to shave every morning and you look at your face and think: this is it, this is the deal. And there's a wonderful harsh reality about that. Time is going by. I better get on with it. I better live.

I became an actor but I still don't feel that I'm a part of this profession. I never have - 50 years I've been doing it.

[on working with Woody Allen on You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010): "I wasn't sure how he would be - I'd heard stories that he was aloof. Woody says 'Okay, you come in through the door - let's rehearse it. Okay, that's good. Sure. Let's shoot it'. So we shoot it. 'Okay, very good. But improvise'."

[on British humour]: It's like Jewish humour. I love that.

We live in such a precious, pussyfooting society - everyone takes offence so quickly.

[He did try therapy, briefly, but didn't like it]: Well, you know you never actually fess up to everything - you try to cover your ground, cover your tracks - you want to sound interesting. Living here [in Los Angeles] - all men must cry. Well, I don't think we're wired that way. I think it's okay to express emotions and grief, but to make a habit of it, this endless psychobabble in our culture - everyone goes on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (1986) and "Dr. Phil" (2003) - it makes me want to throw up. I mean, come on!

When I break with a friend it is sudden. I will give no warning ahead of time, just change my address and telephone number. They may be confused - but they'll survive. Nobody dies.

I was told years ago that I suffer from 'terminal reasonableness'. From that point on I thought that was something to work on. Not to become a son of a bitch, but to say no. Now, after all these years, I can say: 'What part of the word 'no' do you not understand?'

I don't want to be anything else other than what I am. I can say that with passion. No regrets.

There's an epitaph on my mother's grave - I brought her over years ago and she's buried up in the Hollywood Hills - from a poem written in 1896 by Ernest Dowson: 'They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream / Our path emerges for a while, then closes / Within a dream.' Isn't that beautiful?

[At age 72]: I'm not getting the parts I was 20 years ago - but I'm still doing okay. The prospect of that blank wall where there's no more work - it doesn't fill me with dread.

I sometimes wake at night and I can hear the sea and I think: what the hell am I doing here? How did I get here?" And I make no excuses. I say 'tough titty.' Also 'TYFP' - 'That's your f****** problem. '

From the moment I made that decision [in 1975 to give up drinking] a very powerful thought shot into my brain - it's all over, now you can start living. It's extraordinary. That's what I'm aware of today. The powerful spirit in me. I'm not callous. It's expediency. I will not be taken for a fool any more.

I may sound to you like a really hard man - I am not ashamed of it at all. I'm not hard, I'm honest.

[on paintings he has done] I suppose I could call them primitive because again, as I have no academic training, I could no longer sit in an art class drawing apples or vases or nudes - I can't feel hemmed in.

[on acting} I'm not going to turn my back on it until they tell me it's over and we don't want you anymore. So if they say they want me I will go ahead and do it, learn my lines. You know, do what I do. So it's the best time of my life now.

Beware the tyranny of the weak. They just suck you dry. They're always complaining. I go, "How are you doing?" They say "Ahh..." and they moan and try to take from you. I know a number of people like that, but I can't waste my time on them.

Over the years I worked with a couple of younger actors who reminded me of myself. I like bad boys. I worked with Russell Crowe in Australia before he became a star. Russell is a bad boy. I think he is terrific. Richard Burton was a bad boy, but he shook the rafters of the world. I think it is good to be bad - I was bad all my life. I still am.

On Peter O'Toole: I had some bizarre nights with Peter when we made The Lion in Winter (1968), but to be honest I don't remember them. He enjoyed his drink - and I did, too. We weren't close friends or anything but we got drunk very quickly and there was always amusement and laughter. I love drunks; they are terrific - except when they throw up on you.

I hated the Sixties. It was one long wet Wednesday afternoon in the Waterloo Road. For most of it I was drinking myself into oblivion.

We like to look into the dark side of ourselves and I think that causes us great fascination and fear. That's why people like Hannibal Lecter. He was a man caught in a monstrous mind.

I've got no problem if people want to spend hours beforehand preparing before they come on-set, as long as they don't keep you waiting. And I've read Stanislavski and did the Method myself, and all that, but now I've simplified it: learn your lines, show up, and get on with it.

On Laurence Olivier: He was a pretty colorful personality. He had tremendous drive, and ambition, and was a real force. A very nice guy and a titanic talent. His sort of talent has, in the eyes of cynics, become rather unfashionable. There are people who knock Olivier quite often, but not a single one of them could ever touch him in terms of talent. I thought he was an extraordinary man.

[on playing Hannibal Lecter for the third time in Red Dragon (2002)] I really wanted to play him with much more ferocious energy, and avoid the jokes. I really wanted to show what a true monster he is. He's a killer. He's a dangerous man, not Mr. Cutesy. This isn't a franchise, like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). This is a dangerous man, who's better off in jail. So that's the premise we went with.

I'm not good at being cooped up with anyone for very long. Maybe that's why I wasn't designed for marriage. I'm not good at any kind of relationship with people, really. I mean, I've had a number of good ones, but I get restless and I take off.

On Richard Attenborough: Richard's a nice guy, very persuasive, a great salesman in the sense that he gets what he wants from you. He can charm a lot of people. He's a good man. I haven't seen him for a long time.

You know when some of these megaphones of Hollywood show up on these award shows, and just never shut the f**k up? I just want to say 'Accept your award. Say "thank you," and get off!' I'm just not interested in all that bulls**t. There are surgeons and nurses and teachers, people out there who really deserve awards.

On The Silence of the Lambs (1991): As soon as I saw that script I knew this was one of those special parts. I don't know why, it's just an instinct. I'd never heard of the book. I'd never heard of Thomas Harris. I read the script and they told me Jonathan Demme was doing it - I'd never heard of him, either. So I watched Married to the Mob (1988) and Something Wild (1986), which I thought was a terrific film. And we had the great cast: Jodie Foster. I knew it was something good. That was the only surefire one where I knew it was going to work. I remember my first meeting with Jodie in New York, for a reading of the whole script. Jodie had just won the Oscar for The Accused (1988) and I was kind of impressed at this wonderful young actor. I was a little intimidated, a little quiet, shy.....I didn't realise she felt the same!

On Hannibal (2001): They offered me the part and a very good salary, so I thought, "Why not?" First of all I didn't think I wanted to do it again, but then they said it was going off to Venice or wherever, so I watched The Silence of the Lambs (1991) briefly and thought, "Okay, let's have another go at this." I didn't care, really. If that's what they want, then okay. When Jodie [Foster] dropped out, Ridley [Scott] said to me, "What do you think of certain actors?" I said "I think Julianne Moore is very, very good." I'd worked with her on Surviving Picasso (1996). And she pulled it off beautifully. If the film succeeded or not, I don't mind. You move on.

I went to America years ago because I felt I didn't fit in here [UK]. I worked with some good people here, like Judi Dench and all that. But I never fitted into a group of actors here. I was on the outside; I was like a sore thumb. I didn't have any friends who were actors at all - I never did. I've always been on the outside, which is good. But it was difficult being on London in this very strange acting community. All that "theatre, dahling" - I just found it insufferable. It was just boring. So I did the thing I'd wanted to do all my life, which was to make movies. I've never felt a part of this profession, but I enjoy it. Working with Katharine Hepburn on The Lion in Winter (1968), she said to me, "Don't act. Read the lines. Just be." I said, "Okay." She said, "Watch Spencer Tracy. He didn't act. He just spoke the lines." I thought, "Well, that's pretty good advice." I think the actors from that generation were wonderful. They didn't act. They just came on and they did it, and the characters were wonderful. People say, "They didn't act. They were always themselves." Well, who else were they going to be? In England we have a tradition where everyone is acting. Too much acting.

We're living in a pretty strange time. I went into a shop to buy my wife some clothes. They had this big plasma screen on with these women on the catwalk. I thought, 'God Almighty, what have we become?' These girls - anorexic, walking like machines, no soul. You look at fashion magazines and you think, 'What are we living in?' You look at the red carpet, Paris Hilton, and you think, 'Is there anything going on up there?' It's a mass enslavement, it's kind of fascism. It's the androgyny of the human soul. I don't think people think any more. Maybe I'm just old.

(On Shirley MacLaine) The most obnoxious actress I've ever worked with.

[on how he prepares for the characters he plays] I learn the text!

Dia was built-in in December 9, 1981 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her dad's name was Frank Handrich, a German National, and an Interior Designer by profession, and her mom, Deepa, is Bengali-speaking. Deepa and Frank afar aback Dia was 6, and Frank anesthetized abroad three years later. Deepa again affiliated Ahmed Mirza. The ancestors lived in Khairatabad abreast Hyderabad and she completed her ancestry in Vidyaranya High School and in Nasr School. Her step-father anesthetized abroad during 2004.


She was alienated and black as a child, and it was her parents, abnormally her mom, who absolute aplomb and assisted her to breach chargeless from the barriers of low self-esteem.

At the age of 16, afterwards commutual her 10th standard, she got a job with Sriven Multi-Tech in Hyderabad. This job paved her way to clay assignments with Lipton, Emami amidst others. With this acknowledgment she was encouraged to participate in the 2000 Femina Miss India Beauty Pageant, which she did, came up the additional runner-up and won three titles namely Femina Miss India-Pacific, Sony Viewer's Choice Award, and Miss Admirable Smile. She went on to be crowned Miss Asia-Pacific on December 2, 2000 at Manila, authoritative her the additional Indian to win this accolade afterwards a gap of 29 years.


Dia capital to complete her graduation in Arts by correspondence, but absitively to adjourn it as it was acceptable difficult to alter amid the Miss Asia Pacific Competition, clay assignments, traveling and training. She was assisted by Sabira Merchant on delivery and etiquette; diet with Anjali Mukherjee; amphitheater and concrete fettle with Talwalkars; clothes from Ritu Kumar and Hemant Trivedi; bark affliction with Dr. Jamuna Pai; and composition and hair-care from Bharat and Doris Godambe.


Dia fabricated her admission on the applique awning with 'Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein' during 2001, and appropriately was able to barrage her career as an actress.

Trade Mark

Her admirable smile

Trivia

Won the Miss Asia-Pacific challenge in 2000 and is advised one of the best admirable actresses in Indian cinema.

Born to a German ancestor and a Bengali mother

Titles: Miss Admirable Smile, The Sony Viewers Choice Award.

Her interests added than acting are reading, writing, and music.

Indian Supermodel.

Personal Quotes

"I accept abstruse a lot in the blur industry. There was a time aback I told my mother let's go. I did not demand to abide to act. It was accepting frustrating. I accomplished that the minute your blur flops those producers who are agog to assurance you accomplish an alibi and aback out at the aftermost minute. You are alone from the film. Sometimes the blur is appear in a abundant way but does not booty off. I got annoyed of all this and anticipation of actively giving up my career already and for all. But again I accomplished that things were not so bad for me afterwards all. Filmmakers admired me! Few accept apparent 18-carat absorption to casting me in their films. And that is what has kept me going."

About amateur Salman Khan: "Once my mother fell unconscious. I alleged Salman back he stays abutting to my house. It was with his advice that I was able to blitz my mother to the hospital. The doctor afterwards told us that had we not to got my mother accepted aural those 15 minutes, she would accept had actual little adventitious of survival. I'm always beholden to Salman and will angle by him no amount what."

Will Smith was the additional of four accouchement of Caroline (school lath employee) and Willard C Smith Sr. (owner of a algidity company). Smith is of both African American and Native American heritage. He grew up in average chic breadth in West Philadelphia alleged Wynnefield. Will abounding the Overbrook High Academy amid in the Overbrook area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He got the appellation "Prince" because of the way he could agreeableness his way out of trouble. Bright apprentice Will additionally active up with the high-status Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration Academy in Philadelphia.

Pursuing music, he met Jeffrey A. Townes at a affair and they anon began assuming calm as "DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince". When the duo took off in popularity, Smith fabricated and spent a lot of money on a house, cars and jewelry; arch to his abreast defalcation in his aboriginal twenties.

Luckily, in 1989, he met Benny Medina, who had an abstraction for a ball based on his activity in Beverly Hills. Smith admired the abstraction as did NBC which put on the "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990). The artifice was simple - Will basically played himself; a adroit West Philly kid crude to Beverly Hills. The alternation lasted 6 years. During that time, he ventured into movies area the critics took agenda of him in Six Degrees of Separation (1993). With the success that came with the activity account Bad Boys (1995), Will's cine career was set. He had a huge Blockbuster hit with Independence Day (1996), area he plays the alien-battling Marine Corps Captain Steven Hiller.

Often plays a cop or an agent

Frequently includes his catch phrase, "Aw, hell no!" in his movies

Met wife Jada Pinkett Smith back she approved out for the role of his adherent on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990). The role eventually went to Nia Long.

Has three children. Son, Willard Smith III (Trey Smith) built-in in November 11, 1992, with Sheree Smith. Son, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (Jaden Smith) built-in July 8, 1998 and daughter, Willow Camille Reign Smith (Willow Smith) built-in October 31, 2000 with Jada Pinkett Smith.

Has said he based his appearance Captain Steven Hiller in Independence Day (1996) on his admired big awning hero, Harrison Ford, best conspicuously his performances of Han Abandoned in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and its sequels.

Also accepted as rap artisan "The Fresh Prince.".

Will's ancestors are: Pam Smith (born in 1964), and twins Ellen and Harry Smith (born in 1971).

Won a Grammy Award for the song "Summertime" during his rap career.

Received the aboriginal anytime Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance, for the song "Parents Just Don't Understand" in 1989 with his accomplice Jeffrey A. Townes (aka Jazzy Jeff).

Enjoys arena chess.

Chosen by People annual as one of the 50 Best Beautiful People in the World. [1998]

Smith's pilot analysis appearance for "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990) was directed by Debbie Allen.

Met aboriginal wife, Sheree Smith, at a taping of "A Different World" (1987) in 1991.

As a accessible role model, hosted the Presidential Inaugural Celebration for Youth, as allotment of the Gala for President Bill Clinton. [January 1993]

Graduate of Philly's allegorical Overbrook High School, whose alumni accommodate Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Lear, Wali 'Wonder' Jones, Walt Hazzard, The Dovells, The Orlons, DeeDee Sharp, etc. and, in accolade to his apprentice years there, his assembly aggregation is alleged Overbrook Entertainment.

Attended the celebrated Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia.

Turned bottomward the role of Neo in The Matrix (1999).

First hip-hop artisan to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Speaks chatty Spanish.

Ranked #2 on Star TV's Top Ten Box Office stars of the 1990s (2003).

Had a chart-hit calm with DJ Jazzy Jeff (aka Jeffrey A. Townes.

Dropped from Columbia Records as an artisan afterwards blah sales of his third abandoned album, which was self-titled, and greatest hits compilation. [Summer 2003]

Incorporates the band "Aw, hell no!" into all his movies as a active bolt byword like Arnold Schwarzenegger's "I'll be back!".

Ranked #15 in TV Guide's account of "TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols" (23 January 2005 issue).

Gained a abode in the Guinness World Records book for best accessible appearances in 12 hours, by accessory three red carpeting "premieres" for Hitch (2005/I) on 22nd February 2005. He absolved the red carpeting and alien the blur at Manchester, Birmingham, and assuredly for the premiere in London, England.

Once declared that in his accomplished career, he best abjure axis bottomward the allotment of Neo in The Matrix (1999) and the blur that he best abjure authoritative was Wild Wild West (1999).

He has been at his developed acme of 6' 2" back he was 13, although he is now about 60 pounds added than he aboriginal was back he accomplished this height.

Premiere Annual ranked him as #44 on a account of the Greatest Cine Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation affection (2005).

He sang a few curve "Wild Wild West" to his on awning accessory Carleton, a cine in which he starred 6 years later.Hosted the MTV Cine Awards in 1994.

Was advised for the role of "Mr. Smith" in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) afore Brad Pitt was cast.

Is allegedly a huge fan of the Swedish acclaimed (but almost accustomed in the U.S.) adapted abundant metal bandage Soilwork.

Raked #66 in VH1's 100 greatest Teen Stars.

Holds the almanac for best Kids Choice Awards with a whopping six wins.

Ranked #14 on Premiere's 2006 "Power 50" list. Had ranked #18 in 2005. He is the second-highest ranked actor, abaft alone Tom Cruise.

He and Jada Pinkett Smith were affected to leave their home in California because a backcountry blaze threatened to abort it and several added houses in the aforementioned area. [October 2005]

His 1995 annulment from ex-wife Sheree Smith led to a $900,000 agglomeration sum annulment adjustment for Zampino additional $24,000 per ages in keep and adolescent support; this equals $288,000 a year.

Lost his abode in the Guiness World Annal book for best accessible appearances in 12 hours to German actors Jürgen Vogel and Daniel Brühl, who abounding four red carpeting premieres of their cine Ein Freund von mir (2006), one added than Will (22 October 2006).

In the 1998 rap lyrics of "Gettin' Jiggy", Will Smith says that Muhammad Ali would alarm him "The Greatest." Two and a bisected years later, he played the appellation role in Ali (2001).

Along with aboriginal accomplice DJ Jazzy Jeff (aka Jeffrey A. Townes), was the aboriginal to alpha abrading annal and started the trend in the aboriginal '80s.

An activated burlesque of him appeared in "Men in Black: The Series" (1997) (the activated alternation adjustment of Men in Atramentous (1997)), alongside a burlesque of his MIB co-star Tommy Lee Jones, set adjoin a attempt that parodied one of the acclaimed low bend shots of a architecture actuality threatened by a aerial saucer, an in-joke advertence to Smith's 1996 hit "Men in Black: The Series" (1997), which preceded Men in Atramentous (1997).

His appearance from Men in Atramentous (1997), Agent Jay, was not originally accounting to accurately be a atramentous man. In fact, the role was offered to Caucasian actors Chris O'Donnell and David Schwimmer afore Smith accustomed the part.

Had to abide analysis on his accept in a New York hospital afterwards he suffered a strain. [March 2007]

Was amid the guests at Tom Cruise's and Katie Holmes's bells commemoration in Italy.

Ranked #30 on VH1's 50 Greatest Hip Hop Artists forth with DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

Ranked #29 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.

2007 - Ranked #5 on EW's The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.

December 2007 - According to Forbes, for anniversary dollar he got paid, Smith's movies averaged $10 of gross income.Was a millionaire afore the age of 20.

In 2004, his net account was estimated to be $188 million.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his balance for the year at $31 million.

Good accompany with Ken Foree.

Huge fan of Professional Wrestling.

Is generally alleged "Mr. July" by the media due to the actuality that best of his summer blockbusters accessible in July.

As of Hancock (2008), he holds the almanac for the amateur to brilliant in the best after $100 million-grossing movies (8).

He and his babe Willow Smith both had movies aperture 2 July, 2008. His was Hancock (2008), chastening was Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008).

Has appeared in two films starting with the chat "I", I, Robot (2004) and I Am Legend (2007).

Wrote and performed the song, "Just the Two of Us", about his aboriginal son, Trey Smith.

Was advised for the role of Detective James Carter in Rush Hour (1998).

Holds the almanac of actualization in the best after $100 million-grossing movies (8).

Was in application for the allotment of Curtis Taylor Jr in Dreamgirls (2006). However Jamie Foxx was casting instead.

Birth Card is the Queen of Hearts.

Brother-in-law of Caleeb Pinkett.

He has apparent Rubik's cubes in both The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and The Pursuit of Happiness. This is a absolute aptitude of his; he has apparent on alive TV that he can break a Rubik's Cube in beneath 55 seconds.

[on his aboriginal division of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990)] "I was aggravating so hard. I would acquire the absolute script, again I'd be lipping everybody's curve while they were talking. Back I watch those episodes, it's disgusting. My performances were horrible."

On the change in his anatomy that Ali's acute concrete training required: "I'm animal viagra. I'm Willagra. I'm a sex apparatus now. I'm acquisitive to go every additional of the day. My wife's admiring it."

My bigger affecting defeat and the greatest affecting affliction I've had as an amateur was back 'Wild Wild West' opened up to $52 million. The cine wasn't good. And it aching so bad to be the No. 1 movie, to accessible at $52 amateur and to apperceive the cine wasn't good.

I demand to stop at bristles - back asked by Jules Asner about accepting added children.

When I angry 28, aggregate clicked. I alike got way bigger in bed.

It's a accomplished altered affair actuality an actor. A rapper is about actuality absolutely accurate to yourself. Actuality an amateur is about alteration who you are. You accomplish yourself a altered person. You become a altered person.

You're so abundant stronger back your accomplice is strong. I candidly accept there is no woman for me but Jada. Of all the women I've met - and there've been a few - no one can handle me the way Jada does. Already you feel addition bound in on you, it's no contest. As accomplished as added women can be, as appetizing sexually, I'm not activity anywhere. This is it. I can't brainstorm what anyone abroad could offer.

I adulation actuality atramentous in America, and abnormally actuality atramentous in Hollywood.

I absolutely accept that a man and a woman together, adopting a family, is the purest anatomy of beatitude we can experience.

If you're not accommodating to assignment hard, let addition abroad do it. I'd rather be with addition who does a abhorrent job, but gives 110% than with addition who does a acceptable job and gives 60%.

People laugh, but if I set my apperception to it, aural the abutting 15 years I would be president.

My grandmother already told me, 'Don't let abortion go to your affection and don't let success go to your head.'

[on Star Wars] "I ability accept been eight or nine. That was the cine that put me into a amplitude area the science fiction aspect was about a airy affiliation for me. I thought, if addition could brainstorm that and again put it on a awning and accomplish me feel like that... and my absolute career I've been aggravating to accomplish bodies feel like Star Wars fabricated me feel."

Too abounding bodies absorb money they haven't becoming to buy things they don't demand to affect bodies they don't like.About Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: "I absolutely capital to assignment with her in Hitch (2005/I) but she was cutting Bride & Prejudice (2004) at the time and she couldn't do it. She has this able activity area she doesn't accept to say anything, do anything, she can aloof angle there. Annihilation she's making, I'll be there" (February 2006).

If I weren't a musician/actor, I'd be a computer engineer. I was consistently acceptable at math. I apparently would accept been the guy who invented the alien ascendancy if I'd been about then.

When I started in movies, I said, 'I demand to be the better cine brilliant in the world.' The better cine stars accomplish the better movies, so [my bearing accomplice James Lassiter and I] looked at the top 10 movies of all time. At that point, they were all special-effects movies. So Independence Day, no-brainer. Men in Black, no-brainer. I, Robot, no-brainer.

[on abnegation to kiss Anthony Michael Hall in Six Degrees of Separation (1993)] It was actual adolescent on my part. I was thinking, 'How are my accompany in Philly activity to anticipate about this?' I wasn't emotionally abiding abundant to artistically accomplish to that aspect of the film. In a cine with actors and a administrator and biographer of this caliber, for me to be the one bringing article abominable to it... This was a admired assignment for me. Either you do it or you don't.

Give me a problem, I'll accord you a solution. I aloof adulation living. That's a activity you can't fake. I'm animated every distinct day. I anticipate that alike the camera can feel that I'm a blessed man.

(1996) I was nine and my earlier sister charge accept been 15. Some guys pulled a knife on me and took my money back I was advancing home from school. I came in arrant and my sister asked me why. I told her and she appropriate abroad affective a baseball bat. We absolved about for four hours attractive for this guy. She had no affair for her own safety. Somebody had done article to her brother and she was activity to do aggregate in her ability to accomplish abiding they never did it again. We never begin the guys, but that blazon of adulation and charge is what I look for. My mother and my grandmother. That aforementioned affectionate of actual love. All women accept the organs. But that's not what excites me about actuality in a accord with women, that's not what makes me feel good. What I demand to apperceive is, 'Are you gonna grab a bat back addition steals my money?' Now, Miss Jada's so little, she ability charge two bats, but she's added than blessed to go grab 'em. Outside of our adulation relationship, she's my best friend, too.

(1996, Movieline Magazine) There's apparently alone four women in Los Angeles that accept affectionate ability of Will Smith. You know, I had my abrupt period, a abbreviate time in my life, but that got absolute old absolute quick. I demand to adulation somebody. I aloof consistently adopt one woman. The acquaintance is so abundant added agreeable back it's with addition you love. Because I apperceive I can ambrosial abundant accept sex with anyone I choose, it becomes beneath appealing. It's no challenge. A acknowledged accord is abundant harder than sleeping with as abounding women as you can beddy-bye with.(1996, on fame) There are associates of the columnist who accomplish their active anarchic on people's clandestine moments. You never apperceive area these bodies are activity to be. They break alfresco your abode and ascend the gates and airing about attractive in your windows. Now I've got a agglomeration of 140-pound Rottweilers. It's aloof a abashment to accept to alive like that, because I like bodies so much. Still, you don't apperceive what bodies will do. You can never feel absolutely safe. You've got to attending about all the time. I'm affectionate of acclimated to that, actuality black, watching out for white bodies advancing to get you. Now it's tenfold...I'm accepting agitation ambidextrous with the abstraction that you cede your appropriate to address by actuality a celebrity. Because I'm a celebrity, addition is accustomed to block my way from accepting into my car. If I'm in the average of a conversation, because I'm a celebrity, addition can appear up to me and go, 'Can you assurance this?' You're declared to do the nice affair and sign, because if you don't, it's like, 'He's such an asshole. He doesn't assurance autographs.' You're in mid-gulp at a restaurant and bodies ask you to put bottomward your fork, booty some bedraggled pen that you accept no abstraction of area it's been, assurance some begrimed allotment of cardboard ripped off a cardboard bag they begin outside, again go aback and put your easily in your food.

(1996, on fame) I'm appealing acceptable at diffusing abeyant situations, but I acquisition myself accepting to broadcast them a lot added generally than before. I heard Sylvester Stallone say already that afterwards he fabricated Rocky, everybody capital to action him. Well, every big guy wants to action me now. They go. 'Yo. I ain't no alien-hit me,' and I'm like, 'I don't demand to hit you. I aloof demand to get some cheese from the bazaar to accomplish broiled cheese sandwiches for my son.' Why do bodies demand to action me? What did I do? I anticipate of myself as a appealing calm, agreeable guy. It's absolutely weird. I was nonthreatening on 'The Fresh Prince,' so cipher capital to action me, but again I buffed up for Independence Day, came on a little cocky, and aback bodies demand to beating me down. Bodies who apperceive me from TV anticipate I've apparent them in their underwear bubbler on their couch, so the acknowledgment is added familiar, added friendly. Film gives you about God status, you know? It makes bodies crazy.

(1996, on fame) I was in Manhattan authoritative Men In Atramentous and this babe was active along, saw me and started face over and over, 'Oh, my God. Oh, my God,' again comatose into addition car." Smith all-overs his arch in amazement. "Now, she gets out of her car, but she doesn't say, "Oh. I comatose into the aback of a car!' She runs over to me and asks for my autograph. That's back I thought: This is absolute different. Then, I was at the Virgin Megastore in Manhattan and this babe came up to me, pulled her shirt up and asked me to assurance her breasts with a Sharpie. I mean, she's continuing there in the average of the abundance with her titties blind out and I'm like, 'Listen, those are absolutely nice breasts, but this is absolutely an inappropriate time and place.' In addition store, this toothless 80-year-old adult came up to me, affective my face and approved to kiss me appropriate on the lips. I said, 'Now, ma'am, if I absolved up to you, affective your face and approved to kiss you on the mouth, the cops would accord me a Rodney King and booty me appropriate to jail.' And she was like, 'Oh, dash actuality mean. Aloof accord me a kiss.'(1996) As for my activity appropriate now, the account I consistently see in my apperception is of that absurd bold Michael Jordan had area he had 63 points. He aloof angry to the TV cameras and shrugged, like, 'Hey, I'm aloof throwing 'em up there and they're activity in.' That's how I feel. I'd adulation to say that I'm brilliant, that I'm the additional coming. The absolute acknowledgment is that I'm blessed. I bandy 'em up from wherever I am and they aloof accumulate activity in. How air-conditioned is that?

(1996) I'm aloft boilerplate in talent, but area I anticipate I excel is certifiable drive. All I charge is for somebody to say I can't do article and this crazy about-face central me makes me advance whatever I'm doing. Certifiable drive is area I excel over bodies that are apparently added artlessly gifted.

(1996) In blur and TV, there's a natural, bit-by-bit abatement to your career. In the music business, it's actually one day. The day your almanac hits the radio, you backfire to cardinal one on the countdown. You're the man, you're large, you're accomplishing appearance afterwards show. Again you're over aloof that fast. I had the ups of bodies cogent me, 'You're the man, Will.' again the downs of affairs your abode because you can't allow all this being you bought because everybody told you were the man. The money disappeared. But, my God, I abstruse about myself because I had the ups and all the downs...I've been in actually animal situations, earnest situations, on the alley with my music. You know, you get out to Albany, Georgia and the apostle didn't accomplish his money, so he doesn't demand to pay you. I mean, during the aboriginal allotment of my music career, we active our aboriginal accord with a bandit who after approved to shoot us. He was a penny-ante gangster, but the bullets were for real. As we were active away, he attempt at the car bristles or six times. It was appealing scary, but you don't anticipate about that while it's happening, you're aloof aggravating to get away. He would accept dead us if he could actually shoot.

[on axis bottomward the advance role in The Matrix (1999)] You know, _The Matrix_ is a difficult abstraction to pitch. In the pitch, I aloof didn't see it. I watched Keanu's achievement - and actual rarely do I say this - but I would accept messed it up. I would accept actually messed up The Matrix (1999). At that point I wasn't acute abundant as an amateur to let the cine be. Whereas Keanu was acute abundant to aloof let it be. Let the cine and the administrator acquaint the story, and don't try and accomplish every moment.

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