NEW YORK (AP) — It may be hard to believe, but even Sir Anthony Hopkins doubts himself sometimes. “There’s a part of me which says, ‘you didn’t write that,’” he recalls of composing his debut album, “Life Is a Dream.” “What’s it called? Impostor syndrome.”Thankfully, it did not stop him from finishing the collection of 12 compositions he crafted over six decades.Conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra and recorded at London’s Alexandra Palace in April, it will be released by Decca Records on Aug. 21.“My first love, or vocation really, is music,” said the 88-year-old actor. “That sounds very official, but I was raised with a lot of music (of the) postwar years, and it influenced me. And I started playing the piano when I was quite young.” He picked up the instrument at 4 and began composing years later, writing his first piece, a waltz, in 1960. He was 22 at the time.
“I find more freedom with music,” he says, compared to acting, which he labels “a discipline, you have to know your stuff. But music for me is a freewheeling kind of art form.”And he’s had his fair share of experience. Prior to the release of “Life Is a Dream,” Hopkins had composed scores for a number of films. “The opening of ‘Shadowlands’ is my first adventure in composing music,” he said, referring to the 1993 film he starred in as “The Chronicles of Narnia” author C.S. Lewis. Then he became the principal composer on a few other movies that he also starred in and directed, including 1996’s “August” and 2007’s “Slipstream.” 2020’s “Elyse.”
