Sir Anthony Hopkins says music is his first love as he prepares to release his debut album, "Life Is a Dream," a collection of 12 compositions he wrote over six decades. The 88-year-old actor said, "My first love, or vocation really, is music," adding that he was raised with a lot of music in the postwar years, that it influenced him, and that he started playing the piano when he was quite young.
He picked up the instrument at 4 and began composing years later, writing his first piece, a waltz, 66 years ago in 1960 when he was 22. The album was conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra and recorded at London's Alexandra Palace in April. Decca Records will release it on Aug. 21, just 9 days from today.
Creative Freedom Beyond the Screen
Hopkins said he sometimes doubts himself while composing. "There's a part of me which says, 'you didn't write that,'" he said. "What's it called? Impostor syndrome." He said he finds more freedom with music than with acting, which he described as "a discipline, you have to know your stuff. But music for me is a freewheeling kind of art form."
Before "Life Is a Dream," Hopkins had composed scores for several films. He said, "The opening of 'Shadowlands' is my first adventure in composing music," referring to the 1993 film in which he starred as "The Chronicles of Narnia" author C.S. Lewis, released 33 years ago. He later became the principal composer on other movies he also starred in and directed, including 1996's "August," released 30 years ago, and 2007's "Slipstream," released 19 years ago. The article also mentions 2020's "Elyse."
Memory and Melancholy
Hopkins said the album reflects his childhood and life in Wales. "It's about my childhood," he said. "It's basically the memories of my childhood and growing up in Wales, and my developments in life, my adolescent years," and so on. He said there is "a great sadness in it all because — don't get me wrong, I've had a wonderful life — but underneath it all, there is the knowledge that life is one long goodbye. From the moment we're born, we begin to die," before laughing and adding, "Sounds so cheerful!"
The first single, "1947: Suite for Solo Piano and Orchestra: ll. Bracken Road," is the middle composition in a three-part suite about a particular summer in South Wales. Hopkins said it contains "melancholy and sadness," and described it as "the welcomed sound of nostalgia, of the strange, whimsical pain of life." He said, "All music is actually based in pain. Sounds pretty preposterous, but it is. It's about the yearning." He said the song "Stella Aria," named after his wife, director and actor Stella Hopkins, deals with "the loneliness in all of us," but is part of a path to "sheer happiness."
Gratitude Without Fear
Hopkins said he has been reflecting on his life in his memoir, "We Did OK, Kid," released last fall, and on the album. "I look at my own life now, and especially this year; I'm going to be 89 at the end of the year. And I look back and I'm thinking, 'good God, I couldn't have planned any of this.' From the moment I decided to become an actor, 70 years ago, I thought … 'Why did I do that?' I didn't know, because I was pretty useless in school? I didn't know what else to do. So I tried for a scholarship, became an actor instead of a musician. And suddenly I'm given a huge plate of success by some force of nature." He added, "I'm without fear of mortality. I'm just so grateful I've lived this long."
Bradley Cooper helped connect Hopkins with Dudamel after seeing Hopkins' composition a few years earlier with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Seal. Hopkins said Dudamel was on board. At the recording session at Alexandra Palace, Hopkins said, "I'm sitting there thinking, 'How the hell did I write this?' I have no idea," and said Dudamel told him, "This is wonderful." Hopkins called Dudamel "one of the most astonishing people I've met. He's so full of life and so full of energy and love, and it's quite extraordinary."
Dudamel said in a statement, "The same depth of imagination, humanity and emotional truth that has defined his extraordinary work on stage and screen is present in his music," adding, "Anthony approaches music with the heart of a storyteller and the instincts of a poet, creating sound worlds that are both deeply personal and universally resonant."
Carnegie Hall Dreams
Hopkins said live performances may come next, with Carnegie Hall at the top of his list. "That's where I want to go. That's what I want," he said. He said the 1947 film "Carnegie Hall" was formative for him and that he remembers his mother saying, "You play at Carnegie Hall one day."
Why This Matters:
Hopkins' return to music at 88 shows that creative work doesn't retire when the world expects it to. His album isn't a celebrity vanity project — it's the product of six decades of composition, conducted by one of the world's leading maestros and performed by a major orchestra. The fact that he finds more freedom in music than in the craft that made him famous reveals something about the constraints of even the most successful acting careers. His reflections on mortality, gratitude, and the unplanned arc of his life offer a perspective on aging that's grounded in acceptance rather than regret. And his mother's hope that he'd one day play Carnegie Hall remains unfulfilled — for now.