Anthony Hopkins shoots down rumours of any link with Bond 23

11-Mar-2011 • Skyfall

It was a lazy day at the showbiz news desk of The Sun when they cooked up the false story that Sir Anthony Hopkins was being lined up to play a recurring 'Blofeld-type' villain in the 23rd James Bond film.

As the saying goes, the devil makes work for idle hands, so it was left to journalists at the press-junket for Hopkins' new film "The Rite" to sort out fact from fiction with the man himself.

When asked if there was any truth to the rumour, Hopkins said "You must ask my agent because I know nothing about it." He then leaned over to his agent who said "First I've heard of it too!"

Not only did Hopkins and his agent know nothing about the tabloid rumour, but the "Silence of the Lambs" star was also out of date on the 007 series, asking if Pierce Brosnan was still doing the movies. His agent correctly pointed out that Daniel Craig was now the leading man of the franchise.

Jokingly, Hopkins said he would be interested "if they paid me enough money for it".

When he found out it was the British tabloids who first ran the story, he wisely suggested that people "don't believe anything they say."

MI6 Note: Hopkins was once in consideration for the role of the villain Elliot Carver in "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), but walked away from the offer when he heard the script was still in flux despite shooting being scheduled.