Sir Anthony Hopkins has recorded an inspiring and impassioned speech to youngsters whose dreams have been dashed by the pandemic.
The Oscar winner, who is 83 today, says a wake-up call 45 years ago to quit booze saved his life and he is urging people to keep fighting.
His new year message said: “I was heading for disaster.
“Drinking myself to death. I got a message, a little thought that said, ‘Do you want to live or die?’ and I said, ‘I want to live’. And suddenly the relief came, and my life has been amazing.
“Young people – don’t give up. Just keep in there, just keep fighting.
“Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid. “That’s sustained me through my life.”
Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, has posted positive new year videos before.
Last January, he sent a message on behalf of his cat Niblo in which he was blowing a kazoo.
Next year he stars in The Father, with Olivia Colman, a drama about a dementia sufferer in a power struggle with his daughter.
Twice-divorced Hopkins is estranged from his only daughter, Abigail, born in 1969 as his drinking spiralled out of control. He walked out on her and first wife, Petronella Baker, in 1971.
Singer/songwriter Abigail is said to have never forgiven him for his treatment of her mum.
The pair have barely spoken for more than two decades.
Two years ago Hopkins said he didn’t know and didn’t care if he had grandchildren.
He has attributed his lack of compassion to a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome, explaining a few years ago: “I always felt empty – no compassion, just carelessness all my life.”
