Congratulations to Sir Anthony Hopkins on his Best Actor Oscar win

Neath Port Talbot Council has added to the many congratulations heaped on Sir Anthony Hopkins who won The Best Actor award at the 2021 Oscars ceremony.

The 83-year-old became the oldest ever actor to get the coveted award for his widely praised performance as a man suffering with dementia in The Father, 29 years after he won his first Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs. 

Following his first Oscar win he was made a Freeman of his home town of Port Talbot.

Neath Port Talbot Council’s Chief Executive, Karen Jones, said: “Congratulations to Sir Anthony for his continued success and it’s likely the sensitive subject of this movie will help us all understand more about the difficulties posed by dementia to the sufferer and to family members.”

Sir Anthony was absent from the Oscars ceremony but posted a message on Instagram filmed in Wales, where he has been travelling.

“At 83 years of age I did not expect to get this award, I really didn’t,” he said. “I’m very grateful to the Academy, and thank you.”

The Father, which will be released in the UK on June 11th, also won best adapted screenplay for Sir Christopher Hampton.

Sir Anthony Hopkins was born in Margam, the son of Muriel Anne and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker in 1937. He often said he was inspired to become an actor after once meeting acting legend Richard Burton in Port Talbot when Hopkins was a 15-year-old.

Hopkins went on to have a glittering career, receiving numerous awards including Oscars, Baftas and Emmys and in 1993 he was knighted for services to the arts. The actor, who lives in Malibu, also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and the Bafta Fellowship of Lifetime Achievement in 2008.