The Co-Star Anthony Hopkins Says Was a Nightmare to Work With

Anthony Hopkins once spoke very bluntly in an interview from the 1970s about what he believes separates professional actors from those who fail to take the craft seriously.

The comments were made around the time he worked on The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, and were later reported in retrospective coverage of his career, including references to his film The Girl from Petrovka.

At that point in his career, Hopkins was still early on in his rise in film, but already shaped by a strict theatre background. He emphasized preparation, discipline, and consistency as the core of acting, saying that no method mattered as long as the work was properly prepared.

He explained his view clearly, stating, “What I’m speaking about is discipline. It always comes back to that. I don’t care how you get prepared, even if it’s standing on your head in the morning, as long as you’re prepared. The most pure thing that an actor can do is be prepared. Acting is basically a craft, and an actor has to know his craft.”

His frustration became more pointed when he referred to working conditions on The Girl from Petrovka, the 1974 film directed by Robert Ellis Miller. The film starred Hal Holbrook and Goldie Hawn, and followed an American journalist in the Soviet Union who becomes involved with a Russian ballerina played by Hawn.

The production itself received mixed attention at the time, and later reviews often described it as uneven, with critics pointing to tonal inconsistencies and a lack of strong chemistry between the leads.

Hopkins used the film as an example of what he saw as a lack of professionalism in some parts of the industry. He claimed that Hawn would sometimes arrive late to set and was not fully prepared.

In the same interview, he said, “Any actor who doesn’t and gets paid an enormous amount of money like Goldie Hawn did when I was working with her on The Girl from Petrovka, and who, like Miss Hawn, came to the set two hours late and doesn’t know her lines, shouldn’t have the job. If I had been the director, I would have just said, ‘Screw it, off the set,’ and gotten another actress.”

At the time, Hawn was already a major rising star in Hollywood, known for her breakout success on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and her Oscar-winning performance in Cactus Flower. Her style of acting was much looser and more instinctive compared to Hopkins’ disciplined, theatre-trained approach.

While Hopkins criticized that approach, audiences and critics had already embraced Hawn’s screen presence and comedic timing, which helped define her early career.

The Girl from Petrovka itself is often remembered more as a modest entry in both actors’ filmographies rather than a standout success. It did not achieve strong critical acclaim and is rarely highlighted among notable 1970s romantic dramas. Reviews from the period were generally mixed, with some praise for its premise but criticism of its execution and uneven tone.

Hopkins later reflected that his attitude at the time came from a strict belief in professionalism, especially in an industry where he felt preparation defined the quality of the final performance. He also pointed to a broader divide in Hollywood during that era, where stage-trained actors often clashed with performers who came from television or comedy backgrounds and worked with a more instinctive style.

Despite the tension described in the interview, both Hopkins and Hawn went on to have long and highly successful careers, each becoming respected figures in their own style of performance.

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