Sir Anthony, Sir Tony or just Tony?
Just Tony. I don't know why they gave me a knighthood – though it's very nice of them – but I only ever use the title in the US (1). The Americans insist on it and get offended if I don't.
Whose idea was it to release a CD of your music?
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. It was Stella's [his wife] (2) idea to collect all the scores that were lying around gathering dust in drawers around the house and send them off. After they got played by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, other people took notice and finally they've been recorded by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Did you worry your music was getting played because of who you were and not on its own merits?
I can't really answer that one. I don't know. What do you think?
Did you want to conduct your own music?
That was originally the plan. But then I fell over in the bathroom of a hotel in Vienna and broke my ankle, so I couldn't stand up for any length of time. It was probably just as well, though.
What kind of conductor would you have been?
One who knew the names of every member of the orchestra and whose main advice was to get everyone to finish on time together. A conductor can't be too arrogant with an orchestra and try to impose himself too much. There has to be mutual trust and respect. The same applies to film directors. I can't stand directors who try to micro-manage everything. When it happens these days I just walk off set, saying if they don't like the way I'm doing it they can get someone else.Life's too short to deal with other people's insecurities.
Would you like to name any micro-managing directors?
I don't think that would be wise.
What about your hit, Distant Star, that reached no 75 in the UK singles charts in 1986?
Oh, God. I can't remember much about it except it wasn't very good (3) and that I was talked into doing it on a Sunday evening in Weybridge by a record producer. I still don't think I've been paid.
How well did you know Richard Burton?
I don't know where everyone gets the idea we were good friends. I suppose it's because we are both Welsh and grew up near the same town [Port Talbot]. For the record, I didn't really know him at all. I once went up to his sister's house to ask for his autograph which he gave me and the only other time I met him was in his dressing- room in New York when he was performing in Equus.
Why did you move to the US?
Many people talk of London as being the heart of the swinging 60s. It wasn't for me. What I remember is the grey mist hanging over the Waterloo Road on a Wednesday afternoon. It was so depressing I moved to the land of Donald Duck.
Did you have to train yourself not to blink as Hannibal Lecter?
What a stupid question (4). You don't need to train. You just keep your eyes open.
Sorry, it seemed important at the time. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Everything rather blends into one now. It was very nice to get an Oscar but now it just rusts and tarnishes on the sideboard near the TV. You can't take any of it too seriously. Death comes to us all. Not long ago I was in Arlington cemetery by JFK's grave and I thought how the great years of his presidency were just blown away like ashes. Nothing really is of any importance and there's a peace in that.
What's your idea of a good night?
Staying in and watching Mob Wives on TV. I don't have many friends; I'm very much a loner. As a child I was very isolated and I've never been really close to anyone. Ask nothing, expect nothing. That's my creed. We're all just a bunch of sinners crashing around in the darkness (5).
Footnotes
1 Hopkins was eating Quaker Oats porridge at his LA home during this phone interview. 2 Stella is his third wife, but as he pointed out: "What's that got to do with my music?" 3 Hopkins speaks some sonorous lines that are a bit Clinton Cards over a plinky synth track. 4 It's not my fault. A Guardian colleague suggested the question. 5 He thinks tattoos are stupid, but if he had to have one he would choose "the mark of Cain".
