Sir Anthony Hopkins, who is known as one of the greatest actors of our time, has opened up about being an alcoholic and an atheist until one encounter led him to God.

There is no doubt that Anthony Hopkins is a skilled actor, having played diverse characters that are the epitome of evil to those who are men of faith. However, when he was 37-years-old, the Oscar-winning actor found himself in the depths of despair as an alcoholic and an atheist.

In 1975 while in New York, Hopkins had a drinking problem that was so bad that it almost felt like he was possessed. “It was like being possessed by a demon, an addiction, and I couldn’t stop,” the Welsh actor admitted. “And millions of people around like that. I could not stop.” The Silence of the Lambs star realized that in his drunken stupors, he was a danger to not only himself but those around him.
That’s what led him to Alcoholics Anonymous where the words of a woman at the AA meeting changed his life and started his journey to faith. “Why don’t you just trust in God?” the woman asked him. It’s not something Hopkins had ever tried. But, as desperate as he was, he thought, “Well, why not?” Deciding to believe and trust in God was the moment everything changed for the desperate actor.

“I could not stop [drinking], but I just asked for a little bit of help and suddenly, pow. It was just like, bingo,” Hopkins recalled. Almost miraculously, taking a leap of faith, the craving to drink was taken from him, “never to return again.” And, he’s believed in God ever since, working day after day, year after year, to grow in his faith.