NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The 鈥渉eart and soul鈥� of a film is an often-overused term, but it鈥檚 practically unavoidable when it comes to Anthony Hopkins in James Gray鈥檚
, drawn with exquisite detail from his childhood growing up in 1980s Queens, New York, follows an 11-year-old named Paul (Banks Repeta) with dreams of becoming an artist. Made with both nostalgia and self-examination, 鈥淎rmageddon Time鈥� touches on larger social currents 鈥� a Black classmate (Jaylin Webb) faces distinctly different opportunities at school; the Trump family makes an appearance 鈥� while crafting a vivid portrait of Gray鈥檚 Jewish-American family.
The parents (Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway) have a strained, disciplinarian relationship to their son, but Paul's kind grandfather (Hopkins) is a deep reservoir of support. In warm, intimate scenes, Hopkins鈥� grandfather, Aaron Rabinowitz, mentors Paul even as his health is deteriorating. For the 84-year-old Hopkins, who for his patriarch slipping into dementia in 鈥淭he Father,鈥� it鈥檚 another radiant twilight performance and a gentle, masterful capstone to one of acting鈥檚 most distinguished careers.
Just as the film鈥檚 small, specific moments reverberate with larger meaning, Gray鈥檚 film 鈥� about a young artist's coming of age and the people who formed him 鈥� has profound connections for Hopkins. It鈥檚 a role deeply felt by the actor, resonate with echoes of his own grandfather. Growing up in the working-class Welsh town of Port Talbot, Hopkins says he was closer to his grandfather than he was to his parents.
鈥淲e spent a lot of time walking together. He was the one who gave me the liberty to be free of myself,鈥� says Hopkins. 鈥淚 tended to be a bit slow in school. My father was always worried, of course, so was my mother. My grandfather said: 鈥楧on鈥檛 worry about it. You鈥檒l do fine.鈥� He had an old country philosophy about it. He used to call me George because it sounded very countrified, very English country. He was born in Wilshire. 鈥楧on鈥檛 worry, George. It鈥檒l all be all right.鈥� And I still use that.鈥�
Hopkins rarely does interviews at this stage in his life. But he recently spoke by phone during a short stay in the Hamptons while en route from Wales to Los Angeles. Gray, who joined the conversation from New York, was delighted to hear of Hopkins鈥� whereabouts. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e so fancy pants,鈥� he said.
鈥淎rmageddon Time,鈥� which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and Focus Features is releasing in select theaters Friday, is an exhumation of a personal past that Gray has tailored to the actors. Robert De Niro was initially to play the character before the pandemic altered the film鈥檚 production plans and Gray鈥檚 conception of the character. Rabinowitz, who hasn't completely shed Hopkins' own Welsh accent, is the son of Ukrainian Jews who emigrated to London.
鈥淚 needed somebody of a great stature to play my grandfather because he was the person who loved me and made me feel wanted,鈥� says Gray. 鈥淩eally, there鈥檚 a very short list of screen legends and great people in the world today. Tony Hopkins is number one.鈥�
Hopkins responded immediately to the screenplay. 鈥淲hat I like is: less is more,鈥� Hopkins says. 鈥淚f a script is too full of gobbledygook or direction and all that, I tend to turn off. When a script is clear and concise, it鈥檚 like a roadmap.鈥�
Hopkins immediately began firing off long emails to Gray with reflections of his own grandfather as the two exchanged memories with one another. Hopkins鈥� own recollections, in many ways, mirrored Gray鈥檚.
鈥淢y sad remembrance is one day in 1961 we had a drink in the hotel up the road in Port Albert,鈥� Hopkins says of his grandfather. 鈥淗e wanted me to go for lunch up to his house. I was too busy, too young. I said, 鈥業鈥檝e got to go now, see you soon.鈥� He turned around and waved and he was dead within two months. I always remember that. It鈥檚 a bit of a sword in my chest, that memory.鈥�
鈥淚 have a similar memory,鈥� Gray adds. 鈥淚 remember saying goodbye to my grandfather in a very unsentimental way. I didn鈥檛 contemplate his mortality at all. I remember waving and saying 鈥楪oodbye, grandpa,鈥� and then I never saw him again.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 it,鈥� says Hopkins. 鈥淭hat stays with you for the rest of your life.鈥�
Countless details in 鈥淎rmageddon Time鈥� are derived directly from Gray鈥檚 childhood. The interior of his house was meticulously recreated. Hopkins wore his grandfather鈥檚 clothes and hat. But the director also insisted, the first time he met with Hopkins, that he didn鈥檛 want an imitation. 鈥淚 said, 鈥榊ou will always win any creative dispute with me,鈥欌�� says Gray.
Hopkins, himself, has no personal experience being a grandparent. He long ago drifted apart from his only daughter, Abigail, from his first marriage to Petronella Barker.
鈥淚 never think of myself as a grandfather,鈥� Hopkins says. 鈥淚鈥檓 84 but I鈥檓 physically very strong. A few aches and pains. But I feel like a 50-year-old, full of energy and life. I try not to think about the future or the past very much.鈥�
In 鈥淎rmageddon Time,鈥� the grandfather imparts some memorable words of wisdom, most notably his advice to Paul to 鈥渂e a mensch鈥� to his unjustly treated friend. The line came directly from Gray鈥檚 own childhood.
鈥淚 was very obnoxious as a kid. The older I got, the more unruly I was,鈥� says Gray. 鈥淢y grandfather would say, 鈥楥ome on. Be a mensh.鈥� He鈥檇 say that to me to sort of reorient me. I don鈥檛 understand this entirely, but he had more authority over me than my father did, even though my father, in his inept way, was trying to enforce discipline. My grandfather, he ruled with a velvet glove.鈥�
Hopkins, too, wove in moments crystalized in his memory. Just as his grandfather called him George, Hopkins calls Paul 鈥淛ellybean鈥� in the film. Another improvised line 鈥� 鈥淣ever give in鈥� 鈥� came from something his grandmother told Hopkins, a self-described loner as a child, when he was being bullied in school.
鈥淢ost of my life came from my grandmother: 鈥楴ever give in. Never give up,鈥� she said,鈥� Hopkins recalls. 鈥淲hat I got from that was to have grit inside yourself and stop feeling sorry for yourself. That鈥檚 what I鈥檝e practiced all my life.鈥�
The most poignant moment in 鈥淎rmageddon Time鈥� comes in a scene where the grandfather meets Paul to set off model rockets near the old World鈥檚 Fair grounds in Flushing. It鈥檚 a lovely, unsentimental scene beneath a soft, gray autumn light, with Hopkins sitting on a park bench. He knows he鈥檒l die soon, though Paul is naively unaware.
For both Hopkins and Gray, the scene stands out as a rare fusion of fiction and reality 鈥� of memory real and imagined.
鈥淚 used to go there with my grandfather to set off model rockets just like in the film,鈥� says Gray. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like a modern ruin, that old World鈥檚 Fair building that鈥檚 decayed now and falling down. Just putting Tony on that bench and the boy, it felt like a strange flashback in my own life. It鈥檚 very unusual in cinema to be able to do something that feels like it鈥檚 grabbed from your own memory. It felt like a huge gift."
鈥淚鈥檓 not American, I come from Wales. But that park, that area, was so America to me,鈥� says Hopkins. 鈥淚t was like the twilight years of the world. That open space and the boy playing on the grass. It just brought back the memory of my own childhood. I can鈥檛 say exactly what. All dreams and memories are flawed, anyway. But it reminded me of my grandfather. That everlasting light. That light and the knowledge that I鈥檓 going to die.鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
