Editing Anthony Hopkins (section)

== Other activities ==

=== Activism and philanthropy ===
[[File:Snowdonia - panoramio (23).jpg|thumb|Panorama of [[Snowdonia]] in north Wales which Hopkins described as "one of the most beautiful places in the world and Snowdon is the jewel that lies at its heart. It must be cherished and protected."<ref name="Snowdon">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/149533.stm "Hopkins gives a million to save Snowdonia"], BBC. Retrieved 19 October 2011.</ref>]]
Hopkins has offered his support to various charities and appeals, notably becoming President of the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]]'s [[Snowdonia]] Appeal, raising funds for the preservation of [[Snowdonia National Park]] in north Wales. In 1998 he donated [[£]]1&nbsp;million towards the £3&nbsp;million needed to aid the Trust's efforts in purchasing parts of [[Snowdon]].<ref name="IndependentHopkins" /><ref name="Snowdon" /> Prior to the campaign, Hopkins wrote ''Anthony Hopkins' Snowdonia'', which was published in 1995.<ref>Hopkins, Anthony (1995). ''Anthony Hopkins' Snowdonia''. Colin Baxter Photography, 1995</ref> Due to his contributions to Snowdonia, in addition to his film career, in 2004 Hopkins was named among the [[100 Welsh Heroes]] in a Welsh poll.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.gwales.com/bibliographic/?isbn=8888039759&tsid=10 |title=Arwyr Cymru Welsh Heroes |date=April 2004 |publisher=Culturenet Cymru |isbn=8888039759 |page=216 |access-date=23 January 2016}}</ref>

Hopkins has been a patron of the [[YMCA]] centre in his home town of [[Port Talbot]], south Wales, for more than 20 years, having first joined the YMCA in the 1950s.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-10683793 "Drama returns to YMCA where Sir Anthony Hopkins started"], ''[[BBC Wales]]'', 20 July 2010.</ref> He supports other various philanthropic groups. He was a Guest of Honour at a Gala Fundraiser for Women in Recovery, Inc., a [[Venice, California]]-based non-profit organisation offering rehabilitation assistance to women in recovery from substance abuse. He is also a volunteer teacher at the Ruskin School of Acting in [[Santa Monica, California]]. Hopkins served as the Honorary Patron of The New Heritage Theatre Company in [[Boise, Idaho]] from 1997 to 2007, participating in fundraising and marketing efforts for the repertory theatre.<ref>[http://arbiteronline.com/2000/09/07/branthony-hopkins-to-kick-off-5-4-million-fund-drive/ "Anthony Hopkins to kick off $5.4 million fund drive"]. Arbiter. Retrieved 4 January 2015</ref>

Hopkins contributed toward the refurbishment of a £2.3&nbsp;million wing at his alma mater, the [[Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama]] in Cardiff, named the Anthony Hopkins Centre. It opened in 1999.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/royal-welsh-college-of-music-and-drama-459044.html "Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622061549/https://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/royal-welsh-college-of-music-and-drama-459044.html|date=22 June 2018}}, ''The Independent''. Retrieved 24 December 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Facilities |url=http://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/young_actors_studio/student_handbook/facilities.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906155842/http://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/young_actors_studio/student_handbook/facilities.aspx |archive-date=6 September 2015 |access-date=6 September 2015 |website=Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama}}</ref>

Hopkins is a prominent member of the environmental protection group [[Greenpeace]] and as of early 2008 featured in a television advertisement campaign, voicing concerns about [[whaling in Japan]].<ref>{{cite web |date=17 March 2003 |title=Green Peace anti-whaling video |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/resources/videos/whales/sir-anthony-hopkins-speaks-out |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005191538/http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/resources/videos/whales/sir-anthony-hopkins-speaks-out |archive-date=5 October 2009 |access-date=17 October 2009 |publisher=Greenpeace}}</ref> He has also been a patron of [[RAPt]] (Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) since its early days and in 1992 helped open their first intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit at [[Downview (HM Prison)]], a women's prison in Surrey, England.<ref>[https://www.forwardtrust.org.uk/about-us/our-team/ "Our Team – Patrons: Sir Anthony Hopkins"]. Forward Trust.org. Retrieved 7 February 2019</ref>

Hopkins is an admirer of the late Welsh comedian [[Tommy Cooper]]. On 23 February 2008, as patron of the Tommy Cooper Society, he unveiled a commemorative statue in the entertainer's home town of [[Caerphilly]]. For the ceremony, he donned Cooper's trademark [[Fez (hat)|fez]] and performed a comic routine.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 February 2008 |title=Tommy Cooper statue is unveiled |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7260219.stm |access-date=17 October 2009 |work=BBC News |location=London, UK}}</ref>

=== Composing ===
[[File:Anthony Hopkins Centre.jpg|thumb|Anthony Hopkins Centre at the [[Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama]], [[Cardiff]]]]
In an interview, Hopkins stated, "I've been composing music all my life and if I'd been clever enough at school I would like to have gone to music college. As it was I had to settle for being an actor."<ref name="Guardian interview 2012" /> In 1986, he released a single called "Distant Star", which peaked at No. 75 in the [[UK singles chart]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=David |title=British Hit Singles & Albums |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |year=2006 |isbn=1-904994-10-5 |edition=19th |location=London |page=259}}</ref>

In 2007, he announced he would retire temporarily from the screen to tour around the world.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 December 2007 |title=De gira como pianista |url=http://www.elnuevodia.com/diario/noticia/musica/flash/de_gira_como_pianista/324637 |agency=Associated Press}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Hopkins has also written music for the concert hall, in collaboration with Stephen Barton as orchestrator. These compositions include ''The Masque of Time'', given its world premiere with the [[Dallas Symphony Orchestra]] in October 2008, and ''Schizoid Salsa''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Anthony Hopkins Scores big With Dallas Symphony Orchestra |url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/10/prweb1491484.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031350/https://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/10/prweb1491484.htm |archive-date=26 March 2023 |accessdate=5 May 2021 |website=PRWeb}}</ref>

On 31 October 2011, [[André Rieu]] released an album including a waltz which Hopkins had composed in 1964, at the age of 26. Hopkins had never heard his composition, "[[And the Waltz Goes On]]", before it was premiered by Rieu's orchestra in [[Vienna]];<ref>{{cite news |date=6 July 2011 |title=Hopkins' waltz gets Vienna premiere |url=http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2011/07/06/Hopkins-waltz-gets-Vienna-premiere/UPI-69081309971888/ |access-date=8 January 2012 |work=United Press International}}</ref><ref name="independent.uk">{{cite news |last1=Jaques |first1=Adam |date=9 November 2012 |title=How We Met: André Rieu & Sir Anthony Hopkins |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-andr-rieu-sir-anthony-hopkins-8294824.html |access-date=2 December 2015 |work=The Independent |quote=I...wrote this piece, "And the Waltz Goes On", in 1964}}</ref> Rieu's album was given the same name as Hopkins's piece.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jaques |first1=Adam |date=9 November 2012 |title=How We Met: André Rieu & Sir Anthony Hopkins |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-andr-rieu-sir-anthony-hopkins-8294824.html |access-date=6 May 2020 |website=[[Independent.co.uk]]}}</ref>

In January 2012, Hopkins released an album of classical music, entitled ''Composer'', performed by the [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]], and released on CD via the UK radio station [[Classic FM (UK)|Classic FM]].<ref name="composer">{{cite news |title=Sir Anthony Hopkins' classical music released on CD |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16584155 |publisher=BBC |date=6 August 2015}}</ref> The album consists of nine of his original works and film scores, with one of the pieces titled "Margam" in tribute to his home town near [[Port Talbot]] in Wales.<ref name="composer"/>

=== Directing ===
In 1990, Hopkins directed a film about his Welsh compatriot, poet [[Dylan Thomas]], titled ''Dylan Thomas: Return Journey'', which was his directing debut for the screen. In the same year, as part of the restoration process for the [[Stanley Kubrick]] film ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'', Hopkins was approached to re-record lines from a scene that was being added back to the film; this scene featured [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Tony Curtis]], with Hopkins recommended by Olivier's widow, [[Joan Plowright]] to perform her late husband's part thanks to his talent for mimicry.<ref name="Universal Pictures">{{cite web |title=Restoration of "Spartacus" – "Spartacus" Production Notes |url=http://www.in70mm.com/news/2009/spartacus/ |publisher=Universal Pictures |access-date=2 September 2013 |archive-date=4 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204183532/http://www.in70mm.com/news/2009/spartacus/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1995, he directed ''[[August (1996 film)|August]]'', an adaptation of [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]]'s ''[[Uncle Vanya]]'' set in Wales. His first screenplay, an experimental drama called ''[[Slipstream (2007 film)|Slipstream]]'', which he also directed and scored, premiered at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] in 2007. In 1997, Hopkins narrated the [[BBC]] natural documentary series, ''Killing for a Living'', which showed predatory behaviour in nature. He narrated episode 1 through 3 before being replaced by [[John Shrapnel]].