The director who humiliated Anthony Hopkins with CGI
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(Credits: Far Out / MUBI)
Few actors have been able to harness such a successful and long-lasting career as Anthony Hopkins. The actor started out in the 1960s, performing as Laurence Olivier’s understudy after the legendary star scouted him. His theatre studies paid off – Hopkins was thrown into the deep end and managed to stay afloat.
By the end of the decade, he was garnering attention from critics for his early television endeavours, leading him to secure some film roles. He appeared in Anthony Harvey’s The Lion in Winter and Tony Richardson’s Hamlet while also appearing in several acclaimed television adaptations, such as a miniseries of War and Peace.
His career continued to grow in the 1970s, and in 1980, he landed one of his more well-known roles: Doctor Treves in The Elephant Man by David Lynch. The tender film was highly praised, and it helped to expose Hopkins to a wider international audience. From here, his career picked up pace, and by the ‘90s, he was considered Hollywood royalty.
Now, he is perhaps best recognised for playing Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, the terrifying cannibalistic murderer who Jodie Foster’s character, a trainee FBI agent, is forced to interview. The actor gives a truly unnerving performance, which, unsurprisingly, won him an Oscar. In the wake of his success, he landed roles in movies like The Remains of the Day, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Hannibal, and, more recently, The Father, the Thor series, and Hitchcock.
It seems as though Hopkins is able to look back at his career and feel proud of his achievements, which includes several prestigious accolades and the status of one of Hollywood’s most accomplished stars. However, there has been an instance where he was, believe it or not, replaced in favour of CGI.
In 2006, Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns was released, which saw Brandon Routh play the titular character alongside Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth. Hopkins was interested in playing Jor-El, the superhero’s father, so the film’s initial director, Brett Ratner, cast him in the part. However, Ratner soon left the project, leaving the casting up in the air.
When Singer was brought on board, he decided to use a different actor to play Hopkins – the great Marlon Brando. The iconic star had been dead for two years, so Singer employed the use of CGI to resurrect him. Brando had played Jor-El in 1978’s Superman and its sequel, Superman II, thus, Singer decided to bring him back for his own Superman movie.
Hopkins was a little disappointed. According to the actor, speaking via MTV, “I was going to do the movie with Brett, and I don’t know what happened.”
He added, “[There was] some political movement. I think Brett was out of line with something and they said thank you very much. I never heard from Brett since then, but I was all set to do it.”
While Hopkins ended up being replaced by a CGI version of Brando, he has still starred in several superhero movies in the form of Thor and its sequels, playing Odin.
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