Anthony Hopkins had a lot to celebrate on New Year’s Eve. The 85-year-old Welsh actor took to Instagram to celebrate the New Year and discuss his experiences with alcoholism and sobriety.
“I just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year,” he said in a video posted to the platform. “I’m celebrating 47 years today of sobriety. But this message is not meant to be heavy, but I hope helpful.”
In the video, Hopkins addressed “people struggling” and emphasized the importance of self-love and compassion. “Be kind to yourself,” he said. “Be kind. Stay out of the circle of toxicity with people if they offend you. Live your life. Be proud of your life.”
The actor shared his own experiences with alcoholism. He stopped drinking in 1975. “Forty-seven years ago, I was in a desperate situation, in despair, and uh, probably not long to live,” he said in the video. “And I just had to realize there was something really wrong with me. But I didn’t realize it was a kind of condition – a mental, physical, emotional condition called alcoholism or addiction.”
He urged others experiencing addiction to seek help. “Talk to someone, talk to someone you respect, whether it’s a counselor or to go to a 12-step program,” he said.
“It doesn’t cost a thing. But it will give you a whole new life,” he said of 12-step programs. “I’m an old sinner like everyone, but all I can say is I have the best life I can even imagine, and I can’t even take credit for it. So wherever you are, get help, don’t be ashamed, be proud of yourself.”
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Hopkins also expressed support for young people experiencing bullying and mental health challenges like depression. “Be proud of yourself. Don’t listen to them,” he said. “Don’t let yourself be put down. Depression is part of being alive.”
Anthony’s addiction started “innocently.” He adopted a worldly mindset and drank because “that’s what you do in theater, you drink.” But as is the case too often, the social pastime soon took over his life. By 1975, Anthony’s drinking had spiraled out of control. “I was hell-bent on destruction,” the award-winning actor recalled. “It was like being possessed by a demon, an addiction, and I couldn’t stop. And there are millions of people around like that.”
Sir Anthony Hopkins realized he needed help. So, he turned to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Up until then, Anthony Hopkins had been an atheist. But during an AA meeting, a woman asked him a simple question. “Why don’t you just trust in God?”
It’s not something Anthony had ever tried. But as desperate as he was, he thought, “Well, why not?” Deciding to believe and trust in God was the moment everything changed for the desperate actor. Miraculously, Anthony says the craving to drink was taken from him, “never to return.” And he’s believed in God since, working daily, year after year, to grow in his faith.
When asked in a CNN interview with Piers Morgan if he believed in God, former-atheist Anthony Hopkins replied wholeheartedly, “Yes, I do. I do.”
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