Anthony Hopkins to star as Sigmund Freud in a new film

Welsh double Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins is to star as Sigmund Freud in a new project which is scheduled to be filmed late in 2022

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Hopkins will star as the eminent psychologist in Freud’s Last Session which is set on the eve of WWII and towards the end of his life, and sees Freud invite iconic author C.S. Lewis for a debate over the existence of God.

Exploring Freud’s unique relationship with his lesbian daughter Anna and Lewis’ unconventional romance with his best friend’s mother, the film interweaves past, present and fantasy, bursting from the confines of Freud’s study on a dynamic journey.

Hopkins won an Oscar in 1991 playing the forensic psychiatrist turned serial killer Hannibal Lecter, recalling later that when he first considered the role he said: “I’ll never escape from that guy. ”

When I started reading The Silence of the Lambs script, I told my agent, ‘This is the part of a lifetime.’ It changed everything for me. I became this other person. My career took off.”

Since then he won his second Oscar last year for his portrayal in The Father of a man suffering from dementia, although he failed to show up to the ceremony as he didn’t think he had any chance of winning.

Timely

Freud’s Last Session is being directed Matthew Brown (The Man Who Knew Infinity), working from a script by Mark St. Germain (The God Committee) and adapted from his play of the same title.

Outlining his motivations for the new Freud biopic, Director Matthew Brown said: “Beyond my own intellectual curiosity and inclination towards this piece, there is a deep recognition of how incredibly timely and important this film is.

“We live in an age that is so ideologically polarized, where everyone is stuck in their own tribes, with no real dialogue.

“I want to make a film for all audiences that is emotional, thought-provoking and creative.

“A film that asks the big questions, while investigating what is at the heart of the human condition: love, faith and mortality.”

Busy year

It’s looking to be a busy year for 84-year-old Sir Anthony who is also currently filming as the lead role in a new movie telling the story of Sir Nicholas Winton, nicknamed the ‘British Schindler’ for saving almost 700 children from the Nazis before the start of the Second World War.

Discussions around Hopkins’ involvement in the film One Life began two years ago but the pandemic stalled plans for filming which is now taking place in both Prague and the UK.

The leading role will be played Sir Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn, portraying Winton at different stages of his life, although in his role as the older Winton, Hopkins may not shoot many scenes in the Czech Republic.

Margam born Hopkins, 84, best known for his Oscar-winning portrayal of serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of The Lambs, became the oldest to win a Best Actor Oscar, when his role as a dementia sufferer in The Father was recognised in 2021.

Celebrated as “the British Schindler”, Winton was a 29-year-old stockbroker when he arrived in Prague in December 1938. He went on to rescue 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia on the eve of WWII by arranging their transport from Prague to Britain and helping to find them new homes.

Mural

Earlier this month a giant mural of Hopkins was unveiled in Port Talbot showing the actor in his most famous role as Dr Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs

The mural of the famous Port Talbot native, painted by Caerphilly-based street artist Walls by Paul is part of the town’s plans to bounce back from the loss of Banksy’s ‘Season’s Greeting’ artwork.

The mural, which is located on Somerset Street Lane is another stunning addition to the town’s ever growing collection of street art.