How Anthony Hopkins Gave Love a Chance at 64 and Proved It’s Never Too Late to Be Happy Again

Sir Anthony Hopkins is one of the most beloved actors by audiences. At 85 years of age, he holds the Guinness World Record for being the actor who had won an Oscar at the oldest age, when at 83, he received the award for his performance in the film The Father. But that’s not the only thing Hopkins found at a mature age. His Colombian wife, Stella Arroyave, and he met when he was in his sixties. She brought a new energy that keeps him active and very happy.

Bright Side looked into their story and wants to share with you how his wife has motivated him to continue acting. Their relationship shows us that the last love is always the most important thing in the world.

Two failed marriages

Anthony Hopkins’ first marriage was celebrated in 1966. He married English actress Petronella Barker. Although it lasted only 7 years, they had a daughter in 1969, singer and songwriter Abigail Hopkins.

His second marriage was to Jennifer Lynton, a production assistant. They were together for 29 years, until 2002, but the relationship faded over time. In the last years, the couple lived apart. Around that time, Hopkins said, “I live a separate life and am not very good with any relationships — with anyone. I can’t be locked up with anyone for too long.”

A new hope at 64

But everything changed when he met Stella Arroyave in 2001. A year had passed since his second divorce, and at the age of 64, the actor was going through a difficult time.

One day he was in an antique store in Los Angeles, where Arroyave worked, and they fell for each other from the minute they met. Hopkins recalls that she didn’t walk up to greet him but looked like she was dancing.

Arroyave is an actress and producer born in Popayán, a small Colombian town. She left her country to move to the United States with the dream of becoming an actress. She started in New York, then moved to Los Angeles, where she opened an antique business and an art gallery in Malibu.

A relationship with Stella, 18 years his junior, changed his life. Anthony recalls, “She met me ten years ago when I was shut down. I didn’t feel shut down at that time. Not trusting anyone. Certainly not trusting women.”

In 2003 they were married at the actor’s Malibu mansion in a very intimate wedding attended by 25 people, including Steven Spielberg, Winona Ryder, Nicole Kidman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Mickey Rooney. As Anthony was awarded the title of Sir by British royalty in 1993, his wife became Lady Stella Hopkins.

Love saved his life

The actor has pointed out that it was thanks to Stella that he was able to get out of the pit. He said, “I am married to a woman who has an optimism that is foolproof. From the moment she opens her eyes, she is happy. She tells me all the time to stop worrying and live in the moment. She taught me to enjoy life. I was on the edge of the precipice, but I took a step back and now I know that every day I live is a gift.”

Anthony credits Stella’s quiet nature for helping him deal with the difficulties of fame and now doesn’t care what people think of him. Hopkins notes, “My philosophy is: it’s none of my business what people say and think about me. I am what I am, and I do what I do. I don’t expect anything, and I accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.”

Fell in love with Colombia

But those have not been the only changes Stella has made in the actor’s life, since thanks to her Colombian roots, she has made him a fan of Colombian flavors, colors, and rhythms, as she mentioned in an interview.

“Tony (Anthony) loves arepas. He eats one for breakfast almost every day, and we also listen to a lot of Colombian music together. Because of my Latin nature, I wake up every day smiling and wanting to dance, a far cry from the Welsh temperament, which is much more subdued. Together we have found a good balance.”

Hopkins describes Stella as: “A wonderful woman who likes to spend money”. But this is not a flaw, on the contrary, it is part of the qualities that made the actor fall in love with her, the way she enjoys life but at the same time takes care of it.

“’She’s very good for me, my wife, because she slows me down. This morning I was sitting in a restaurant and I was leaning back in my chair jiggling away and she said, ’Don’t do that.’ I said, ’Why?’ She said, ’Cause you could collapse!’ She looks after me that way and she needs to, because my nature is to do things very fast because I have convinced myself that I am still 45 years old. I walk far too fast and I’m always falling over and she reminds me not to.”

Now he dances life away.

At 84 years old, the energy and joy that actor Anthony Hopkins acquired overflows the screen and is contagious. He has posted several videos in which you can see him wearing summer clothes, a Panamá hat, and dancing cumbia or merengue. He sometimes even says, “I am Colombian.”

Undoubtedly, all this energy and joy comes from the love in his life and shows us that it is never too late to find true love.

What or who brings happiness into your life? How do you notice when someone is happy and in love?