Actor Anthony Hopkins welcomed his only child, a daughter named Abigail Hopkins, with his first wife, Petronella Barker, in 1968. According to The Telegraph, before Hopkins and Barker ended their marriage in 1972, he also ended his connection to his young daughter. In a 2002 press interview for "Red Dragon" (via Philstar), Hopkins responded to an assumption that he was "self-possessed": "I may have screwed up a lot of my life, I may have hurt a few people, I'm not a very good husband, I'm not a good father," he said, in part.
In her interview with The Telegraph in 2006, Abigail shared that she infrequently saw her father when she was a child. She had a brief reunion with him when he cast her in cameos for "Remains of the Day" and "Shadowlands." Abigail made mention of an argument they had when she was 16, downplaying mental health struggles from her younger years. She was still open to having a relationship with her famous father, but only if it was mutual.
In a 2018 interview with the Radio Times, the "Silence of the Lambs" actor had no intention of reconciling with his only daughter. "People break up. Families split, and you know, 'Get on with your life.' People make choices. I don't care one way or the other.'" Further explaining their estrangement, he told The Times (via People), "I've got no blame. People do what they do. And I don't understand it, and it doesn't bother me. I can't waste my time worrying about it. And I'm not cold, I'm just thinking, 'Oh well, that's the way it is.'"
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7XCpKCsr5mbwW%2BvzqZmamhoaIByf46cnKWdkqe2tbXErGSwoJ9isbC602aqqZ2RoHq1u4ytn56homK9or7Ep6usZw%3D%3D