Cue Dr. Lecter

In an otherwise so-so article lashing out at the Hollywood prima donna culture, Sir Anthony Hopkins had this to say about doing stage work:

He said: "I won't return to theatre work. It's monotonous, too much like being in prison, standing on stage in tights.

"I admire actors who can do it, and I'm sure they have a great life, but I can't stay in any one place for too long, or settle into that grey, sombre atmosphere of the Waterloo Road on a wet Wednesday afternoon.

"There's something so depressing looming across the muddy Thames from that concrete breeze block, with the smell of stale coffee, and thinking, 'Oh, God I have to do another matinee', and the luvvies and the darlings.

I find this interesting because I once saw Hopkins on the stage, doing King Lear at the Olivier Theatre in London. And frankly, he was extremely disappointing - flat, jerky and even mis-reading lines. Of course, there could have been many reasons - the whole performance was badly directed, he might have been having an off night, etc. But I find these remarks very telling and wonder if even back then he wasn't secretly grumbling to himself this way.