Hai că am reușit, puștiule

by Anthony Hopkins, Silvia Năstasie (Translator)

Sir Anthony Hopkins își explorează cu onestitate și emoție cariera remarcabilă din film și teatru, copilăria dificilă și drumul spre vindecare.

Născut și crescut în Port Talbot – un mic oraș galez al oțelăriilor – Hopkins a trăit printre bărbați duri, care respingeau orice formă de vulnerabilitate. Era considerat un elev mediocru, fără viitor, dar destinul i s-a schimbat într-o seară de sâmbătă, când a văzut adaptarea din 1948 a piesei Hamlet. Acela a fost momentul care i-a aprins pasiunea pentru actorie.

Cu o sinceritate dezarmantă, Hopkins rememorează momentele definitorii ale carierei sale: debutul la Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, sub aripa lui Laurence Olivier, întâlnirile cu Richard Burton, rolurile legendare precum Hannibal Lecter sau Regele Lear, în care a transformat tăcerea și stoicismul tatălui său în emoție pură.

El vorbește deschis și despre prăbușiri: dependența care i-a ruinat prima căsnicie și aproape că i-a curmat viața – o luptă ce l-a condus către sobrietate, pe care o păstrează de aproape cincizeci de ani. În singurătate și reflecție, se confruntă cu întrebările despre fragilitatea umană și despre ceea ce tatăl său numea Marele Secret.

Îmbogățită cu o selecție de fotografii personale, „Hai că am reușit, puștiule” este confesiunea sinceră și profundă a unui om complex, care a redefinit arta actoriei și a inspirat generații, timp de peste șase decenii.

„E multă putere și multă fragilitate în cartea asta, care nu e doar povestea unui mare actor, ci anatomia unui spirit cu adevărat extraordinar.“ (Marian Coman)

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, Biography Memoir, Autobiography, Art

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage, and television, and a composer and painter. After graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 1957, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and was then spotted by Laurence Olivier who invited him to join the Royal National Theater. In 1968, he got his break in film in The Lion in Winter, playing Richard I.
Considered to be one of the greatest living actors, Hopkins is well known for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, its sequel Hannibal, and the prequel Red Dragon. Other notable films include The Mask of Zorro, The Bounty, Meet Joe Black, The Elephant Man, Magic, 84 Charing Cross Road, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Legends of the Fall, Thor, The Remains of the Day, Amistad, Nixon, The World's Fastest Indian, Instinct, and Fracture.(-wiki)

Reviews

[Nina (ninjasbooks)]

always interesting to read about actors and their journey.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always admired Anthony Hopkins and his work. This memoir offered a wonderful glimpse into the man behind the spotlight. Throughout the book, Hopkins reflected on the roles he embraced and made his own, both on the screen and the stage. He elevated each character with the details that made them believable and memorable and that in turn made Hopkins himself impossible to forget.

I completely enjoyed the parts where he opens up about his family, his early experiences in acting, his journey to stardom, his alcoholism, and his other struggles. His success never felt like a matter of being in the right place at the right time. He clearly had the talent, discipline, and the presence to support every opportunity that came his way. He still remembered a lot of his lines from early on....and took every opportunity to share them with the reader. That wasn't always my favorite, but I have to say, I loved his tenacity.

Overall, this memoir was a heartfelt and engaging look at an extraordinary career and the person behind it. So 5 stars.

[Aya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Невероятният и истински Антъни Хопкинс. Не е нужно да казвам нищо повече.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting. An interesting life to read about!
I really appreciated his reflections on alcoholism and on his (“failed”) relationship to his daughter. I also found it so interesting that he stayed very close with his own parents throughout his life. Given his fame and age, it was just really interesting to hear so much about his relations with his parents. Not all famous people’s autobiographies would spend this much time reflecting on their relationships with their parents. He is especially eloquent/loving in describing his father and the men of his father’s generation.

He makes passing reference to his infidelities during his 2nd marriage. That seemed odd to me, because he never said more about it before or after that. So I was surprised he mentioned the topic, if he wasn’t going to discuss it more.

At the end there is 45 minutes of him reading his favorite poems, which was just really interesting.

(Interestingly, in contrast to what I recently said about Bjorn Borg’s autobiography, Anthony Hopkins really, really makes it clear in this that he has wrestled with how he handled fatherhood and his relationship with his daughter. I think he said it’s his greatest remorse and greatest sadness (?), or something along those lines—and that he is also sure the choice he made, to leave her mother because their marriage was so dysfunctional, was the correct one. But the level of his remorse, and the admission of his own imperfection is so clear here. It’s exactly the degree of introspection that I thought seemed to be missing from Borg’s autobiography.)

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and brutally honest retrospective by Hopkins on his life, relationships, sobriety, and career… I loved every moment of this book.

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A long slog through the life of an actor whose mindset is that of a very insecure rebel. It's a pretty unsatisfying read, especially if you're hoping to hear much about his movie work. There's a short chapter on Silence of the Lambs, but little about most other films and some of his best-known screen work isn't even mentioned. Seriously?

You may enjoy this if you admire a lot of introspection, poetic views of existence, his turning alcoholism into a life of sobriety, or hearing too much about his theater work. I admire Hopkins for facing head-on his faults and weaknesses, though he also skips over some major flaws (he mentions cheating on his wife with many women in just one sentence and his reputation for being a scary hothead on movie sets is barely acknowledged).

His single-sentence aside that his grandfather fed him beer regularly as a child is probably one of the most important things in the book, considering the mean alcoholic he became, but the author fails to hone in on that.

Meanwhile he goes off on tangents about stars he watched at the movie theater and quotes from other performers but it all has nothing to do with his actual life. Why is he including multi-paragraph Wikipedia style entries about American film actors, some of whom he tells more about than himself?! The oddest inclusion is a halfhearted message to his estranged daughter, who he abandoned when she was a child and he has failed to do much to show her his love.

In the hands of a better co-writer this could have been a worthy memoir. By the tenth time he's repeating his depressive "whoa-is-me" commentary it gets old, especially after he's rich and famous! And while he skips over many major events and films, in almost every aspect of his life he includes simplistic narrative on unimportant things like answering a door, answering a phone, the name of the pub where he had a drink and where he sat, what he ate at a restaurant, etc.

It feels like the book was rushed to publication while he's still alive (even a quick note added about his 2025 house fire a few months before publication) and it needed a sweeping edit that would cut out at least fifty pages. He could also dump the thirty pages of poetry that he includes at the end. It feels like one of those rambling four-hour theatrical productions that seems interesting at first, has some good spots, but would have been better cut almost in half.

I understand the title, since Hopkins internally still considers himself that little boy from Wales who was told he'd amount to nothing, but it also reflects that he wrote a memoir that is just "ok."

[Davi Kladakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazingly written memoir.

[Lorin (paperbackbish) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will not be okay when this man leaves us.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly autistic for a guy who suddenly doesn't think autism is a thing despite proudly wearing that diagnosis about 10 years ago. Still an excellent book. One of those rare celebrity memoirs that doesn't make me feel like the guy who wrote it is kinda gross by the end of it.

[Sally Boocock · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely interesting and thought provoking memoir. Sir Anthony talks about his alcoholism in depth and what eventually made him give up drinking. He talks about his family and how he regrets walking out on his then wife and daughter. It has not been an easy life but by God he's worked to get where he is today. Well done. Would definitely recommend to any one who loves memoirs.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still reading, but oh, so good. I'm listening to the recording of this book done by Kenneth Branagh. Completely engrossing.

Brilliant book. Now I want to go back through all of Anthony Hopkins's movies. I rarely give five stars to any book, but this one earned it.

Thank you, Donna, for nudging me to read this book, so timely for me.

[Bernkastel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piękne podsumowanie życia z perspektywy człowieka, który wiele osiągnął, ale i popełnił mnóstwo błędów. Nie ma tu tego, co w autobiografiach doprowadza mnie do szału, czyli wybielania swoich występków. Hopkins pisze z perspektywy osoby, która przeżyła długie życie, wie, że niedługo się z nim pożegna i pokazuje, jak przez lata zmienił mu się charakter i priorytety. Na plus wybór ulubionych wierszy autora (na końcu książki)

[Theresa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as memoirs go, this was top shelf. The audiobook is narrated by Kenneth Branagh, not Anthony Hopkins himself, but this does nothing to detract from the atmosphere and that intimate listening feeling that a good memoir should give you. We do hear from Anthony, in the epilogue, which is made up of him reading a selection of poems that mean a lot to him. It's in this section that you appreciate why Anthony did not read his own memoir for the audiobook - he's almost ninety, and his age is evident in his voice. Kenneth Branagh was able to bring the full force of his acting talent to the 'role', which he did with vigour, and the resulting audiobook was a wonderful listening experience.

Anthony Hopkins certainly has a story to tell. It’s a long and winding life with plenty of initial setbacks in terms of his acting career, a bad first marriage, estrangement from his only child, alcoholism, a better second marriage, but still another divorce, a change of direction within his career, London, Hollywood, New York, and marrying for a third time later in life.

I absolutely loved his relationship with his parents. And while not without difficulty at times, it was always one of love, and as their only son, this came through in waves. His father asking him to recite Hamlet to him while on his death bed; his mother watching him win an Oscar for his role as Hannibal Lecter, even though she had to watch at 4am from Wales. These, and many other moments, brought tears to my eyes. His stories of his grandparents were also heart warming. His strong Welsh heritage is such a defining part of his character.

I laughed, also cried, was impressed over and over. One story I'll share and leave you with, is how Anthony tells of Jodi Foster admitting after the filming of The Silence of the Lambs was concluded, that she had been terrified of him the entire time, from the very first table read. He was that convincing as Hannibal Lecter.

I highly recommend this memoir. It was a brilliant read, entertaining and inspiring.

[Vivienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Anthony Hopkins, so I was pretty sure I would enjoy this memoir, impeccably read (on Audible) by Kenneth Branagh with a wonderful Epilogue of favourite poetry, read by Hopkins himself.

A surprise, I guess, was the fact that Hopkins, in his younger years, was quite a difficult person, difficult to understand and difficult to get along with, obviously lacking self confidence and belief in himself, ultimately leading to his alcoholism, despite his growing success and achievements. His story is filled with theatre and movie anecdotes and stories about other well known actors along with references to his often difficult family life.

What is no surprise of course, is his ultimate success . . . all the great plays and movies, the Oscars and so on.

As an ageing person myself, I particularly liked his reflections on getting older despite these being somewhat melancholy, his looking back on life and the philosophies he developed through his many and varied life experiences.

While being a Hopkins' fan certainly enhances this memoir, I think it would be an interesting read for anyone. I really enjoyed it. ****

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there's a better memoir published this year, I sure don't know what it could be. Sir Anthony Hopkins' life from a perceived ne-r-do-well youth to an accomplished actor, award winner, and British knight is fascinating in its own right. He is a humble man who tells his extraordinary life . But what makes this book special is that he weaves in poems, lines from his movies and plays that add depth and emotion to his story. A must for movie fans, but actually, a must for anyone who is interested in reading a book well told.

This is a book that should be experienced as an audiobook. With Kenneth Branagh as the narrator, and Sir Anthony reading his favorite poems and reciting lines from various plays, it is an auditory feast. Find it on Libro dot fm or Libby.

[Jolanta (knygupė) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5*

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

One day when my mother came home, I greeted her with "Göring committed suicide in prison. he took cyanide so he wouldn't be hanged."
"Good God, how do you know that?" she said. "How morbid! You're nine. You shouldn't be listening to the news."

It's a rare occasion when I get sucked into the modern celebrity circuit, especially in my reading. However, when the subject is part of the small coterie that have exerted a singular level of fascination on you for the last few decades and your workplace sees fit to source the subject's one (and likely only) memoir, well. With both Silence of the Lambs and The Remains of the Day doing double favorite duty in both original text and adapted film, I'm one of the last folks who'd be able to resist those baby blues of Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE and all that jazz. And from the beginning on, I truly was enjoying myself, as while the veil of a ghost writer was certainly occluding, Hopkins comes through as humble, erudite, and at times brutally sympathetic, interesting through the sheer effort of being forthcoming without ever losing his professional dignity or mature composure. It made for reading that felt personable even, or perhaps especially, during the subject's darkest moments, but I'll let the folks more invested in the sordid details of that sort of thing to get into all that.

Nothing against anger in the proper dosage. Anger gets you places. But I don't have much time for it now. I wake up in the morning and I look at my cat.

All in all, I just wanted an authentic glimpse into what had made a consummate professional tick for nearly a century in such a way that I'll probably take that core memory of "Good evening, Clarice," to my grave. The bottom did fall out the closer the timeline reached the modern day, as one of the surest ways of losing my interest is slinging out a bunch of names and expecting that to stand in for any sort of truly engaging narratology. Still, Hopkins presented himself in such a way that I don't feel cheated in having sustained an invested interest in him, even tangentially, for as long as I have. I honestly don't have much interest in seeing whatever else he puts out in the years he has left with us, but I'm glad he's spent his life figuring himself out, as that's all you can really ask of yourself when approaching the end of your mortal coil.

A young actor recently said to me, "You're very friendly with the crew, aren't you?"
"What do you mean?" I asked. I had noticed that he didn't give anyone the time of day.
He said, "You talk to everyone." He seemed surprised.
"Yes, I do," I said, "because I don't even know how to take a photograph, but those guys put my stupid face on the screen and they put your stupid handsome face on the screen. The most important people around here are plugging in the lights, driving the trucks, and making sure the set doesn't crush us. That answer your question?"
That was the last time he tried to talk to me.

[Hannah Edmonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm listening to Hopkins' beautiful composition, And the Waltz Goes On as I type this review.

I listened to the audiobook, brilliantly narrated by Sir Kenneth Branagh with poetry readings by Sir Anthony Hopkins. It was often hard to tear myself away from this audiobook. The narration was wonderful and the writing was every bit as good. I really admire Hopkins' candour; he doesn't shy away from his flaws, but faces them head-on.

He talks a lot about his battle with alcoholism as well as his abandonment of his only child; something that is obviously still very painful for him.

I know other reviewers have said they're disappointed that he didn't talk as much about his work, but I'm far more interested in the person behind the films, than the films themselves. Hearing all the nitty gritty about how each film was made would've got boring eventually, I'm sure.

Hearing about his childhood in Wales and how he struggled at school, and about his dad's bakery, and his parents' depression was really interesting to me, as was his assertion that actors are only human and he can't stand the ones who have enormous egos and can't bear eye contact from us peasants.

Hopkins is a national treasure and I'm grateful that he put pen to paper and wrote about his life, which has been far from boring.

The added joy of the audiobook was the final chapters in which Hopkins himself reads some of his favourite poems and soliloquies. My personal favourite which really resonated with me is, Remember by Christina Rossetti. I also adored The West Wind by John Masefield; the first poem Hopkins really "performed" when he was just a boy.

[bouj fakhro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually started reading this book, but when I encountered the exceptional poetry in between its pages, I had to switch to the narrated version. I listened to the audiobook on Audible, and Kenneth Branagh’s performance is nothing short of remarkable. His skill at seamlessly shifting between different voices, accents, and emotional tones when voicing various characters is thoroughly engaging.

We Did OK, Kid is far more than a conventional actor’s memoir. Hopkins writes candidly about Port Talbot, alcoholism, and fractured relationships, but what surprised me most was how literary the book feels: he keeps circling back to Shakespeare and even the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam as if they were old companions helping him think through ageing, regret, and grace.

I cherished the moments when a line from Hamlet or King Lear would resonate alongside Khayyam’s quatrains, which encapsulate the blend of resilience, uncertainty, and tenderness that permeates the entire book. His writing style moves fluidly between straightforward, unvarnished confession and sudden bursts of poetic expression. This stylistic tension beautifully captures the contrast in his life between his strict working-class "son of a baker" upbringing and the refined, cultivated world of theatre and film that he inhabits.

This is a moving, self‑questioning memoir from someone who has every excuse to be self‑congratulatory and NEVER IS. It left me feeling that the title isn’t just a verdict on his career, but on the fragile, hard‑won peace of his later life.

Thank you, Sir Anthony, for sharing this remarkable memoir that has not only enriched my spirit with inspiration but also illuminated the profound beauty of perseverance and the human experience.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off stronger than I was expecting tbh and I liked hearing about his early family life and early acting career. I thought he was pretty honest/open about his alcoholism and journey to sobriety including what it cost him to get there. I also felt like he was really respectful about the way he selectively mentioned certain family members/partners. Then towards the end of the book he just starts reciting poems and Shakespeare soliloquies and he lost me. I could have done without the last 20% of the book but on the whole I’m happy I read this!

[Hanan Al Mahmoud · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sensitive soul. So much of Mr Stevens (from Remains of the Day) in these lines. You can easily imagine this entire life like a movie, bullied “large-headed” boy, brave career moments, battles with drinking feelings down. A man of poetry, and a good ear. No wonder The Waltz Go On moves anyone who hears it the first time with familiar melancholy, it has so much unexpressed life bottled between its notes, and this memoir unveils plenty of it.

[Shaunna · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Anthony Hopkins, you’ll love this. If you don’t like Anthony Hopkins you’ll probably still love this A great telling of his life. I listened to the audio book and I felt so engrossed like a little kid on a rug in kindergarten staring unblinking at the storyteller. Just so well done on a life that has so much range. The poetry readings by AH at the end…*chefs kiss. I’d like to see the photos from the print version

[Ioana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hai că am reușit, puștiule" de Anthony Hopkins (trad. Silvia Năstasie) este autobiografia celebrului actor galez, o carte pe care eu am citit-o de cum a ajuns la mine și care mi-a plăcut tare mult 🎬 Mai multe am scris într-un articol publicat pe blog despre lectura ce îmbină excelent emoția cu rușinea și triumfurile profesionale cu eșecurile personale ✍️

https://ciobanuldeazi.home.blog/2025/...

[Aleksandra Szranko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Noo, napisać dobrej książki nie daliście (rady, chłopaki).

Jedyny plus tej książki jest taki, że po latach obejrzałam Milczenie owiec.
34 (sic!) lata od premiery jest tak samo straszne jak oglądane za pierwszym razem, gdy się miało naście lat.

[shelbzilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredibly honest memoir. anyone who is a fan of anthony hopkins should listen to the audiobook specifically because kenneth branagh gives a superb performance. highly recommend. i did cry lol. anthony hopkins speaks briefly at the end and then performs some poetry. i love him. 5 stars

[Ellen McClure · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a heart wrenching memoir. This, at least to me, shows how early childhood can affect everything you do going forward. Some of the pages and statements hurt, but, it seems that, through it all, there was a glrious light at the end. To truly be yourself is a gift and I'm glad Hopkins was able to find it.

[Olya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked it

[Guus Hartemink · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 star. Its always nice to read something i a totally different world. He is very open and takes us with him trough out the years.
He is def a rich character alone and en phenominal actor, and it def shows in the book. Would recommend

[Cameron Rhoads · Rating 3 out of 5]

9.05 hours on Audible. Overall enjoyed it, but tedious appendix at the end.

[Ronnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

But if you survive long enough, you come to the point: We come and say, "Hello," hang around, then say, "Goodbye, kids."

Hopkins' voice is so well known from his famous roles on stage and screen that reading this book was, for me, almost like listening to an audiobook version. Writing at age 87 and from a clearly happy place, he shares life lessons learned and his difficulties along the way, and he does pull too many punches. The saddest part to me was his anecdote about playing King Lear eight years ago and uttering the line "I did her wrong," Lear's tragic realization regarding Cordelia, only then--at age 79--feeling "deeply," he says, "perhaps for the first time in my life, how I had hurt my own daughter, Abigail," whom he'd left when she was an infant when he walked out on his first wife in 1972. It's the one part of his narrative that doesn't jibe with this memoir's title, and even though he doesn't provide any details on how Abigail's life turned out, he does say, unflinchingly, "After realizing I was unfit as a father for Abigail, I vowed not to have any more children, and I have kept that promise. I knew I was too selfish." Other parts of the book are way more fun, especially when he's discussing his iconic roles--particularly the whole chapter on portraying Hannibal Lecter ("That role was a turning point in my lie, not just my career, because it helped me reach a new level of self-assurance.")--and delivering acting advice in general ("go through the script a thousand times"). Even before he divulges late in the book that his third/current wife believes he probably has Asperger's, he's related enough details along the way regarding his obsessive-compulsive tendencies and photographic memory for poetry that the revelation makes sense. What was surprising to me was the level of anger and self-doubt he harbored for so much of his life, all of which makes his current level of peace and serenity a happier book ending. I like these lines he shared with the young people at his "artists forum":

Believe that your life is all a matter of weaving; when you look back over the years, you'll see a tapestry.

His book is an intricately rich example of one of those.

First line:
"One gray Sunday morning in 1941, in the sand dunes of Aberavon Beach, a friend of my father's, Cliff Mathers, handed me a cough lozenge."