Anthony Hopkins is reflecting on his estrangement from his daughter, Abigail.
The Silence of the Lambs star reluctantly but candidly discussed his lack of a relationship with his only child during a conversation with The New York Times about his upcoming memoir, We Did OK, Kid.
“My wife, Stella, sent an invitation [to Abigail] to come and see us,” the 87-year-old actor said in the interview, published Saturday. “Not a word of response. So I think, okay, fine. I wish her well, but I’m not going to waste blood over that. If you want to waste your life being in resentment, fine, go ahead.”
Mike Coppola/Getty
Hopkins shares his daughter with his first wife, Petronella Barker, from whom he split in 1972 when Abigail was a young child. He and his daughter reconnected in the 1990s, and Abigail appeared in his films Shadowlands and Remains of the Day, but the two have since fallen out of touch.
“I could carry resentment over the past, but that’s death. You’re not living,” Hopkins told the Times. “You have to acknowledge one thing: that we are imperfect. We’re not saints. We’re all sinners and saints or whatever we are. We do the best we can.”
He continued, “Life is painful. Sometimes people get hurt. Sometimes we get hurt. But you can’t live like that. You have to say, ‘Get over it.’ And if you can’t get over it, fine, good luck to you. I have no judgment. But I did what I could. So that’s it. That’s all I want to say.”
When asked if he hopes that Abigail reads his book, Hopkins responded, “I’m not going to answer that. No. I don’t care.”
When the Times interviewer said he’d move on from the topic, the actor replied, “Please. I want you to. Because I don’t want to hurt her.”
Abigail Hopkins works primarily as a musician, according to her website. She released three albums in the 2000s and a new LP, Stardust, this year.
After being diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal bowel cancer in 2020, Abigail earned a master’s degree in film studies from the University of East London. In 2024, she wrote and directed a documentary short, Under This Sky, about her journey with cancer. She has also worked as an acting coach and theater director.
Cedric Ribeiro/Getty
In 2006, Abigail told The Telegraph that she would “possibly” be open to reconciling with her father, to whom she said she had not spoken in five years. “It would have to be a two-way thing, though,” she said at the time. “I don’t know how I would feel about it. We have never really been close. We’ve never discussed big life issues. Because, well, our relationship was always so sporadic. I’ve never felt I could discuss those sort of things with him.”
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
She continued, “I love my father. He has been very supportive. I really wish him well. But I have found a certain independence through my music. I need to give myself that time, to move out of the shadow.”
We Did OK, Kid is out Nov. 4.
