UPDATE: After I whined (below) about Anthony Hopkins's "star" behavior it occurred to me to check if he had as yet received his Oscar for playing Hannibal Lecter. He had. I don't like actors assuming that I, and the people around me, are potential groupies. (I don't even know who is famous these days, so I would pose no threat even if I were the type.) However, can you imagine the kind of people that were approaching Anthony Hopkins in those days? Maybe he was right to try to hide. I would, however, like to make a recommendation. If you are going to try to hide from the public perhaps holding a newspaper over your face is not the best approach. Hardly subtle. Who knows if I would have noticed you if you didn't have a newspaper over your face, which now that I think of it, I could see right past? At any rate, all is forgiven.
I was in Los Angeles for a couple of weeks in 1995. I know it was 1995 for two reasons: 1) the OJ Simpson trial was in progress and 2) Anthony Hopkins was looping the movie, Nixon.
Let me start with Anthony Hopkins. His appearance all over social media today (12/30/2020) prompted these recollections. He has been sober for 45 years--since before I encountered him. I wish him well because of his sobriety but I am still a bit angry at how he underestimated me.
When I had to work for two weeks in the downtown LA office of my DC-based company, our travel agent got me a great deal on an oceanfront room in the Sheraton at end of Santa Monica Boulevard. This made perfect sense since, instead of staying around the block from the office, I got to drive the I10 back and forth from downtown to the beach every morning and every evening at rush hour. However, when I finally got home, I had a balcony that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. And, when I woke up I had a bed with the same view. It was worth the commute. Besides, no one at the office was watching the clock.
Many years later I read that Anthony Hopkins lived in that hotel for a while. I only knew he was there because I ran into him at breakfast one morning. I might not have noticed him but, as the hostess led him past the row of booths where I was sitting, he bowed his head, held a newspaper in front of his face and scurried down the aisle. Yes, he scurried. There was not a big crowd in the restaurant. No one was paying attention to him. There was no need to scurry. I took it personally.
Did he think the excitement of seeing him would cause me to leap out of my seat and block his way? Did he think that I would be so overwhelmed that I would stop him to ask a million questions? Did he think that I would eavesdrop on his conversations? Okay, I did that. But I couldn't help it. He sat in the booth behind me facing in my direction. That was how I discovered he was looping Nixon.
I listened to his conversation but don't recall anything he said. However, he was very friendly to the waitress. They seemed to have an ongoing friendship. My only conclusion is that he was very nice, and I would have had wonderful things to say about him but all I remember is that he dissed me. I'm almost over it.
Luckily, I had the OJ Simpson trial to divert my attention. But that's another story.
PS I've also had a grudge against Mary Steenburgen for much longer.
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