Anthony Hopkins celebrates fourth BAFTA win – while back in Wales

Anthony Hopkins, who recently revealed he’s back in Wales, has clinched a BAFTA for his portrayal of a man living with Alzheimer’s in The Father.

The 83-year-old Welshman from Port Talbot, who has shared a photograph today of himself taken near a derelict former abbey, pulled off a surprise victory in the category of Leading Actor in a Film.

Trees, brooks, and books… Back home in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿♥️ pic.twitter.com/IE3BOBRixP

— Anthony Hopkins (@AnthonyHopkins) April 11, 2021

He came ahead of Chadwick Boseman, who was thought to be the frontrunner and was posthumously nominated for his work in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

The other nominees in the category were: Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger), Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round) and Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian).

This is the third for Best Actor in a Film award of Hopkins’ career and his fourth acting BAFTA in total.

Hopkins has previously won for for the iconic performance of he cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

He has also won for his performance in The Remains of the Day, as well as for his work in the 1972 BBC adaptation of War & Peace. In 2008, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship, which is the the organisation’s highest honour.

In The Father, he plays Anthony, a retired engineer who is struggling with the loss of his independence due to the onset of dementia.

The film uses trickery involving its set and editing to thrust the audience into the character’s disorientation and his increasing lack of trust in what his own mind is telling him.

Writers Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, which was recognition of their innovative take on an illness that affects so many people.

Zeller collected the Best Actor prize on Hopkins’ behalf via a video link, and read out a message from him.

In announcement BAFTA tweeted: “Anthony Hopkins wins the Leading Actor award for his incredible performance as a man with dementia in The Father. The fourth BAFTA win of his brilliant career. #EEBAFTAs.”