Anthony Hopkins is disputing his wife Stella Arroyave’s belief that he has autism.
“I’m obsessed with numbers. I’m obsessed with detail. I like everything in order. And memorizing,” the Oscar winner, 87, told the Sunday Times in an interview published Saturday
“Stella looked it up and she said, ‘You must be Asperger’s,’” he said about his wife of over 20 years.
Asperger’s Syndrome is a diagnosis that has not been formally used since 2013. Now, it falls under the broader umbrella of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to the Cleveland Clinic.
ASD, per the Mayo Clinic, is a condition related to brain development that affects how people see others and socialize with them.
Hopkins, who spoke to the Sunday Times to promote his new memoir, “We Did OK, Kid” (out Tuesday), shared his hot take about mental health labels.
“Well, I guess I’m cynical because it’s all nonsense,” he said. “It’s all rubbish. ADHD, OCD, Asperger’s, blah, blah, blah. Oh God, it’s called living.”
“It’s just being a human being, full of tangled webs and mysteries and stuff that’s in us,” the “Silence of the Lambs” star added. “Full of warts and grime and craziness, it’s the human condition. All these labels. I mean, who cares? But now it’s fashion.”
Earlier in the interview, Hopkins revealed he suspects he inherited his late father Richard Hopkins’ mental health problems.
“Oh yes, it crossed my mind that there was something not right with me,” he said.
Hopkins also shared that Laurence Olivier, who helped launch his career, once told him to see a psychiatrist, but he didn’t go. However, Hopkins did see a therapist “briefly” but didn’t say when.
“He kept saying, ‘Let’s go back ’ And I’d just go, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ So boring,’” Hopkins recalled, revealing that he quit the session after learning his therapist had been married three times.
In his new memoir, Hopkins “recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles,” according to the book’s description.
The “Nixon” actor also “takes a deeply honest look at the low points in his personal life,” such as his struggles with alcohol and his journey to getting sober in December 1975 after a drunk driving incident in California.
“We Did OK, Kid” comes out Tuesday.
