Sir Anthony Hopkins resigned to daughter estrangement
Sir Anthony Hopkins won't "waste blood" over his estranged daughter after she ignored an invitation to reconnect.
Sir Anthony Hopkins won't "waste blood" over his estranged daughter.
The Silence of the Lambs actor has no relationship with his only child Abigail - who he has with first wife Petronella Barker - and after she ignored an invitation from his wife Stella to reconnect, the 87-year-old star is resigned to them not repairing their rift.
He told The New York Times newspaper: "My wife, Stella, sent an invitation [to Abigail] to come and see us.
"Not a word of response. So I think, okay, fine. I wish her well, but I'm not going to waste blood over that. If you want to waste your life being in resentment, fine, go ahead.
"I could carry resentment over the past, but that's death. You're not living. You have to acknowledge one thing: that we are imperfect. We're not saints. We're all sinners and saints or whatever we are. We do the best we can."
Anthony - who split from Petronella in 1972 when Abigail was a young child - believes he "did what [he] could" to resolve the situation and now wants to "get over it".
He added: "Life is painful. Sometimes people get hurt. Sometimes we get hurt. But you can't live like that. You have to say, 'Get over it.' And if you can't get over it, fine, good luck to you. I have no judgment. But I did what I could. So that's it. That's all I want to say."
The Oscar-winning actor is set to release his memoir, We Did OK, Kid, next month and "doesn't care" if Abigail reads the book or not.
Asked if he hopes she reads his autobiography, he said: "I'm not going to answer that. No. I don't care."
When the interviewer said he would move on from the topic, Anthony replied: "Please. I want you to. Because I don't want to hurt her."
In 2006, Abigail said she would "possibly" be open to reconciling with her famous father, who she hadn't spoken to for five years at the time.
She added to The Telegraph: "It would have to be a two-way thing, though.
"I don't know how I would feel about it. We have never really been close. We've never discussed big life issues. Because, well, our relationship was always so sporadic. I've never felt I could discuss those sort of things with him.
"I love my father. He has been very supportive. I really wish him well. But I have found a certain independence through my music. I need to give myself that time, to move out of the shadow."
