Anthony Hopkins celebrates 50 years of sobriety: 'Choose life instead of the opposite'
- - Anthony Hopkins celebrates 50 years of sobriety: 'Choose life instead of the opposite'
Mekishana PierreDecember 30, 2025 at 6:17 AM
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Daniele Venturelli/Getty; Anthony Hopkins/Instagram
Sir Anthony Hopkins
Sir Anthony Hopkins is continuing his tradition of celebrating his sobriety journey with his social media fans, right before his birthday.
The two-time Oscar-winning actor took to Instagram Monday to commemorate 50 years of sobriety, which he's done for several years on Dec. 29, posting to the social media app in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
"Here we are, another happy new year coming up. Lots of cheer, lots of fun and all that. So really have a great time," Hopkins began in Monday's video. "Congratulations on reaching another year, to all of you. My only problem was I had too good a time because 50 years ago today I was nearly killed by driving my car in a drunken blackout. That's the way it was. But I realized at that point that I was having too much fun. It was called alcoholism."
Daniele Venturelli/Getty
Sir Anthony Hopkins in 2025
The 87-year-old continued, "So anyone out there who's got a little problem with having too much, check it out because life is much better. So I stopped. Without bragging, I got help, and 50 years ago today was the end."
"Choose life instead of the opposite. Life life life and more life. I'm also going to be 88 in two days. So maybe I did something right, I don't know," the actor closed out his message with a laugh. "Happy New Year and happy life!"t
Hopkins captioned the video, "One day at a time, today I celebrate 50 years of sobriety. Happy birthday to everyone."
View this post on Instagram
The Silence of the Lambs star has been open about his past struggle with addiction and uses his social media platform to encourage others who may be dealing with similar struggles to reach out for assistance.
Hopkins gave fans more in-depth insight into his struggle in his memoir We Did OK, Kid, published in October. In the book, the actor recalls the wake-up call from a doctor at 37 years old that made him realize he was an alcoholic.
But Hopkins "secretly" knew things weren't right. During an appearance on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday last month, the actor reflected on the terrifying incident that motivated him to go sober.
S&S/Summit Books
'We Did OK, Kid: A Memoir' by Sir Anthony Hopkins
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"I was driving my car here in Los Angeles, drunk, and I lost my car. And somebody said, 'No, you didn't lose it. We found you on the road with the lights on.' And I realized I could have killed somebody in my car," Hopkins recalled. "And that was it. I said, I need help."
He continued, "And I made a phone call, the fatal phone call. And on the Monday morning, 29 of December 1975, some voice in my head said, it's all over. Now you can start living. And it's all been for a purpose, so don't forget one moment of it. Now go about your life. And that's why I called this book, We Did OK, Kid."
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
