Anthony Hopkins may have won an Oscar for his performance in the 2020 film The Father, but he long ago gave up his role as a dad in real life.
The 87-year-old has one child, daughter Abigail – whom he welcomed with his first wife Petronella Barker – but the pair have reportedly not spoken in over 20 years, with Anthony previously admitting he has “not been a good father”.
Anthony walked out on his family when Abigail was just 14 months old, and he and Petronella divorced when she was still a small child.
“It was a painful time in my life and not something I can talk about,” he told the New York Post about his first marriage. “I guess I am selfish. I have not been a good husband or father.”
While he has admitted that he has “regrets”, Anthony and Abigail remain bitterly estranged and he prefers to not dwell on the past.
“The past is sealed. I have regrets,” he told The Sunday Times last year, adding: “You can’t undo things. You have to get on with life – live it and don’t look back.”
© Getty ImagesGrowing up, Abigail had little contact with her dad, which she revealed at times greatly affected her.
“I would see him, but maybe once a year. There is a little bit of sadness, but I have to get on with my life,” she told The Telegraph in 2006. “It has always been like that. See him, and then not. Then, when I was 16, there was some row,” she added.
© Getty ImagesFollowing the argument, reportedly stemming from a comment Anthony made about Abigail’s mother, they ceased contact.
When Abigail was 18, she dropped out of university and spiralled into drug addiction and suffered from suicidal thoughts. “I bottled up so much emotion in my childhood, it caused my mind to go,” she revealed in a past interview.
“I came very close to killing myself. It was the worst time I can remember. I totally abused my mind and body. The root cause was the fact that my father and I had an intermittent relationship when I was young. I was angry and there was a lot of grieving going on.”
© Getty ImagesIn the 1990s, Anthony and Abigail reconnected, and she walked the red carpet with him at the Little Man Tate premiere. She also had small roles in two of his films, including 1993’s Remains of The Day and Shadowlands.
Fast-forward to around 2001, and Anthony and Abigail were no longer on speaking terms, with the actor telling Howard Stern: “I guess we are estranged. I don’t think she wants to know very much. I hope she is well. I hope she is okay.”
Anthony appears to know very little about his daughter’s life, something that doesn’t seem to bother him.
© AFP via Getty ImagesWhile speaking to Howard Stern, he admitted that all he knew was Abigail lived “in England somewhere”.
In 2018, he confessed to the Radio Times that he didn’t even know if he was a grandfather. “I don’t have any idea. People break up. Families split and, you know, ‘Get on with your life.’ People make choices. I don’t care one way or the other.”
© GettyHe added: “You don’t have to like your family. Children don’t like their fathers. You don’t have to love each other.”
When Anthony was told that his remarks sounded rather cold, he replied: “Well, it is cold. Because life is cold.”
