In June, Anthony Hopkins turned to Twitter for help navigating one of the internet age’s deeper mysteries: non-fungible tokens. “I’m astonished by all the great NFT artists. Jumping in to acquire my first piece,” he wrote, calling on fellow Web3 enthusiasts Snoop Dogg, Jimmy Fallon, and Reese Witherspoon for recommendations.
The two-time Oscar winner has since become not just an NFT buyer but a seller as well. Today, Hopkins unveiled an NFT series in collaboration with the digital goods start-up Orange Comet. Dubbed the Eternal Collection, it features digital images of Hopkins as 10 different archetypes he’s portrayed during his five-decade film career. As the Hero, for example, he wears a black leather bodysuit with expansive wings. As the Rebel, he appears with a face mask resembling the one that he wore as Hannibal Lecter in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. Elsewhere, he appears as the Lover, the Jester, and the Creator.
The Hero is one of 10 NFT concepts that Hopkins created with Orange Comet.
Hopkins began painting with acrylics years ago, when he wasn’t busy with his formidable day job. His works were semiabstract portraits and landscapes influenced by Francis Picabia, Lucian Freud, and Francis Bacon, among others. He recently starred in Zero Contact, a film shot in the early days of the pandemic, which director Rick Dugdale first released as an NFT, and his interest was piqued. “NFT is for me a blank canvas to create art in a new format,” the actor told reporters during a preview of the collection this week, adding that he’s always intrigued by new technologies. “It’s fun to be the old guy on the block—the oldest guy,” he said. “I’m interested in and fascinated by young people…. But inspiration is reciprocal, and so I’m hoping to also return some inspiration to people by saying that everything is possible. Give it a whirl, have a go. That’s what I did in my life.”
The Hero archetype represents the balance of light and dark.
Hopkins said that his wife, Stella, and the team at his management company and publisher, Margam Fine Art, first connected him with Orange Comet. He met with its creative team in Los Angeles to workshop ideas. Later, they brought Hopkins to a studio with a green screen, where they could capture footage of his face and body that they used to render his likeness in digital form. “It’s a true collaboration and critical to us to get this from Tony’s perspective and nail it,” said Orange Comet CEO Dave Broome, who cofounded the company after a career as a producer on reality shows like The Biggest Loser.
The masked Rebel is meant to resemble Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lecter.
Hopkins, who will be seen this fall in James Gray’s period drama Armageddon Time, and Orange Comet plan to auction a limited number of the NFTs. Most buyers will receive animated digital NFTs, autographed printed copies of the art, and audio of Hopkins discussing the project. Some will also walk away with copies of Hopkins’s art book, Dreamscapes, and access to a virtual conversation with Hopkins. One buyer will even get to have to lunch with the actor in the old-fashioned medium of flesh and blood.
VIEW ORIGINAL ARTICLE
