‘The contender was Chadwick Boseman, so I went to bed’: Anthony Hopkins on why he missed his Oscar win

Hopkins’s absence made for a very anti-climactic end to the ceremony

Anthony Hopkins made headlines in April after he failed to show up at the Oscars to collect the Best Actor prize for his performance in The Father.

In the film, which also stars Olivia Colman, the 83-year-old plays a man suffering from dementia. He was nominated in the category alongside Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Steven Yeun (Minari), Gary Oldman (Mank) and the late Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom).

Many viewers of the ceremony were left scratching their heads as to why Hopkins didn’t attend the awards night in person in Los Angeles, nor at one of the remote hubs set in other parts of the world, with his absence leading to a rather anti-climactic end to the ceremony.

Now, nearly six weeks on, in an interview on ITV’s Lorraine, the actor has finally revealed that he skipped it as he “didn’t expect” to win.

He said: “The contender was Chadwick Boseman, so I went to bed.”

The star added: “I wasn’t being cynical, I didn’t expect to get it, at all. My phone went, and it was a text from my agent saying, ‘You’ve won the Oscar,’ at about 5 o’clock in the morning.”

Hopkins later recorded an acceptance speech from Wales, saying: “I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman who was taken from us far too early, and again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this, so I feel very privileged and honoured. Thank you.”