“In my youth, I used to think that drinking helps you to relax, to feel free, and, therefore, to be a better actor. Many people in my profession think the same way. They are wrong,“ says Anthony Hopkins.

In 1964, Hopkins got a job at the National Theatre and later that year was dismissed for drunkenness. ”For 15 years, I drank all that I could not bite off,“ admits the actor.

One day, Hopkins woke up at the wheel of his car in a completely unfamiliar place and couldn’t remember how he got there. “When drunk, I used to occasionally fall asleep at the wheel. And I could’ve easily smashed into another car or run over a pedestrian,” says Anthony. After that incident, the actor decided to quit drinking.

”Alcohol almost killed me. If I hadn’t stopped, I would’ve been lying somewhere in Mexico now. At best — in a gutter, at worst — buried under some cactus."

Today, Hopkins is 79 years old, and he has been sober for 41 years — almost half of his life.