'BEYOND MY UNDERSTANDING'

Anthony Hopkins Recalls Getting Sober After Hearing Bizarre ‘Radio Voice’

The ‘Silence of the Lambs’ star opened up about a moment in which he “could have killed somebody.”

Anthony Hopkins, 87, shared the exact moment that turned him sober with The New York Times. The Oscar-winning actor, whose memoir We Did OK, Kid will be published Nov. 4, went on The Interview podcast and recalled a night in the 70s that changed the trajectory of his life. On Dec. 29, 1975, Hopkins was drunk driving in California in a “blackout” when he had a moment of clarity. “I realized that I could have killed somebody,” he said, recalling that as the moment he realized he was an alcoholic. Hopkins said he heard a voice inside his head saying, “It’s all over. Now you can start living.” He described the voice as “male” and “like a radio voice,” one that took away his “craving to drink.” The voice was a power “beyond his understanding,” he told David Marchese, “I chose to call it God, I didn’t know what else to call it.” This year, The Silence of the Lambs actor will celebrate 50 years sober.