Anthony Hopkins Says Estranged Daughter Abigail Ignored Attempt To Reconcile: 'Not a Word of Response'

The Silence of the Lambs star reflected on his relationship with his 57-year-old daughter with The New York Times as he celebrates the release of his upcoming memoir, We Did OK, Kid.

"My wife, Stella, sent an invitation [to Abigail] to come and see us," the 87-year-old actor said in the interview published on October 25th.

"Not a word of response. So I think, okay, fine. I wish her well, but I'm not going to waste blood over that. If you want to waste your life being in resentment, fine, go ahead."

Anthony's rare comments were raised after the reporter noted how he resonated with the material in the memoir about Anthony and Abigail's estrangement. He compared it to his own relationship with his father, whom he has only spoken to once in 20 years.

The Academy-award winning actor continued: "I could carry resentment over the past, but that's death. You're not living. You have to acknowledge one thing: that we are imperfect. We're not saints. We're all sinners and saints or whatever we are."

Anthony shares his daughter with his first wife, Petronella Barker, from whom he split in 1972 when Abigail was a young child. 

"We do the best we can. Life is painful," he added. "Sometimes people get hurt. Sometimes we get hurt. But you can't live like that. You have to say, 'Get over it.' And if you can't get over it, fine, good luck to you. I have no judgment. But I did what I could. So that's it. That's all I want to say."

The reporter then asked if Anthony hoped Abigail would read his upcoming memoir.

"I'm not going to answer that. No. I don't care," Anthony responded.

The reporter then assured Anthony he would move on from the topic of his daughter, to which the actor responded: "Please. I want you to. Because I don't want to hurt her."

The pair did reconnect in the 1990s and Abigail even appeared in Anthony's films Shadowlands and Remains of the Day, however, the pair have become estranged since.

In 2018, Anthony revealed he didn't know he was a grandfather.

"I don't have any idea. People break up," Anthony shared with Radio Times. "Families split and, you know, 'Get on with your life.' People make choices. I don't care one way or the other," he said at the time.

"You don't have to like your family. Children don't like their fathers. You don't have to love each other."

The publication mentioned that his remarks could be taken the wrong way and could be perceived as cold.

 "Well, it is cold. Because life is cold," he said.

Earlier this year, Abigail shared her journey with Stage 3 bowel cancer during the height of the pandemic. She added that she is now in remission.

As a singer and songwriter, she released a charity album to raise funds for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Along with her work in music, she was able to complete an MA in Filmmaking and a documentary titled Under the Sky about her journey with cancer.

Abigail hasn't shared a lot in public about her relationship with her father, however in 2006 she mentioned she was open to "possibly" reconciling.

"It would have to be a two-way thing, though," she told The Telegraph at the time. "I don't know how I would feel about it. We have never really been close. We've never discussed big life issues. Because, well, our relationship was always so sporadic. I've never felt I could discuss those sort of things with him."

We Did OK, Kid is out November 4.