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Widely regarded as the most iconic appearance in film history – and he remains utterly motionless.

A young FBI agent, new to the job, must walk a row of prison cells arriving at Hannibal Lecter's secure glass tank. He is positioned, appearing as a living skull exuding demonic evil, chillingly static wearing a snug blue prison jumpsuit. He doesn't move right up until he propels himself at the barrier, making that unforgettable spitting-growling noise. A multitude of documentaries on serial killers have since demonstrated that genuine criminals are often very boring, far from Hopkins' powerful on-screen charisma.

He was not unrecognized upon receiving the part that won him an Oscar in the iconic film during the late 80s: he was already established, but rather a megastar emerged. The character of Hannibal was inspired, Hopkins notes with amusement in his recent memoir, on Bela Lugosi's Dracula, on Joseph Stalin based on his daughter's accounts, and also from his strictly demanding acting coach his mentor Fettes. Additionally, there existed a father-daughter dimension in these moments; a painful subject for the actor, who further explains how his King Lear was subconsciously influenced by painful regret about Abigail, the estranged daughter from his failed first union back in 1966 to his first wife, who disliked his absences and his alcohol use.

The memoir's title is derived from an historical picture of a young Hopkins on the beach with his dad – the boy who perhaps believed he couldn't make it. He felt confused, isolated and sensitive child raised in Port Talbot, the child of Richard Hopkins, the standout secondary character in the narrative: a baker and man's man, a direct communicator who loathed the religious hypocrites in their community and refused to expressing his feelings, but also exhibited nostalgic, emotional sentimentality. It was Hopkins Sr who deeply disliked the necessity of going humbly to their rich relatives including Auntie Patty, whose spouse was acquainted with Nye Bevan and helped enroll Anthony as a boy into a posh school: “Since they are extremely wealthy!” he exclaims in the car on the way there. “Everyone is looking for scraps! Total garbage, that's all it is!”

The humility worked, for a while. He was a poor student at his new school. However, one day in a literature class he was required to perform the poem by Masefield known as The West Wind – without prior preparation – and that voice came to life; he amazed the instructor and his classmates. He reasonably claims that poetry, on its own, launched him. This, and joining the YMCA drama club. Notably, he graduated without much hope, entered the acting world, and amazingly to his parents, was acting with the great Olivier at the Old Vic in just ten years. He more or less did it on his own, even though back then there were grants to attend Rada – an opportunity for performers from modest means. His dad remained in awe with Anthony's worldwide acclaim: upon requesting his son to perform the Yorick monologue from Hamlet, Hopkins Sr listened attentively and then went into another room and began crying.

As for the hot-tempered, strong-willed son, he departed the theatrical troupe out of frustration – much to Olivier's disappointment and displeasure – but lucked into an excellent television part playing an alleged war criminal in the series QB VII, which paved the way to parts like that in the film The Elephant Man and a thriving starry career in movies, which he preferred over theater. He stopped drinking back in 1975 once a notorious drinker, and thus made it into his later years to deliver outstanding roles, like Hannibal Lecter, the butler Stevens in the movie with Emma Thompson featuring Emma Thompson and the senior with memory loss in his film The Father – his second Oscar.

In the latter half of the book his character seems more elusive, more calculated. Certain stories fall a bit flat. He remembers being taken out to lunch alongside his cast mate in the film Nixon, the much-respected actor Sorvino, who wanted to tell him his portrayal of Nixon was falling short. Was this the moment for him to absorb something from the legendary star from Goodfellas? Not exactly. Anthony appears to agree with the director's criticism of Sorvino as driven out of envy. Is that so?

He repeatedly performs the grounded, serious thespian who maintains it is one's responsibility to be on time, learn everyone's name on set and do the job. Quite so. But he also recounts confronting an obnoxious director who brought a background actor to tears: “Say sorry to her! And acquire some decency. You ever do that again in front of me, I'll change the shape of your face! Hopkins sounds like a person who quit alcohol but possibly not the combativeness that came with it. A Shakespearean like him surely knows Cornwall's speech regarding Kent from Lear: “He cannot flatter, he! A straightforward and sincere nature – he must speak truth!”

He finishes his autobiography with a detailed supplement composed simply