‘I couldn’t remember anything,’ recalled actor. Anthony Hopkins has reflected on the “fatal day” he realised he needed help with alcohol addiction. The 86-year-old Silence of the Lambs actor shared his annual message online in which he celebrated another milestone year of sobriety, and offered a hopeful message for those struggling with alcoholism.
![[Anthony Hopkins pictured in 2022]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/30/08/anthony1.jpg)
Hopkins described a situation almost five decades ago, aged 37, where he was driving drunk and “couldn’t remember anything”. “Happy 29 December,” he began. “Why 29th? Well, 49 years ago today, I stopped drinking.”. “I was having such fun and then I realised I was in big big trouble because I couldn’t remember anything and I was driving a car, drunk, out of my skull,” he said. “On that fatal day, I realised I needed help.”.
Hopkins recalled phoning up a group that supports people dealing with alcohol addiction and finding the help he needed. “I phoned up a group, of people like me, alcoholic, and that was it, it was over,” he said. He added that the past 49 years of his life have been “more fun” than those that came before, and urged viewers who are struggling with addiction to seek help.
“Having fun is wonderful, having a drink is fine – but if you are having a problem with the booze then there is help. It’s a condition – there is help, there’s plenty of help around,” he said. Hopkins remarked that he will be celebrating his 87th birthday on New Year’s Eve, and that he is bringing in 2025 by “celebrating my unexpectedly long life”.
