Those About to Die (TV Program)

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    Anthony Hopkins on Playing a Roman Emperor in ‘Those About to Die’

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    In an interview, the actor discusses his new series, humble origins and the freedom age brings. “That gives me a tremendous amount of energy to move forward,” he said.Anthony Hopkins has advice for any aspiring actor: Speak clearly.“If you whisper, you sound sexy,” he said during a recent video call. “But I can’t hear you. What’s the story? Tell the story. Stop mumbling.”Though Hopkins, 86, has won two Oscars (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Father”), a pair of Emmys and a Laurence Olivier award, he still insists that acting is mostly just enunciating. “It’s just showing up,” he said. This summer, he can be heard, clearly, in “Those About to Die,” a 10-episode series set amid the blood and sand of a Roman amphitheater. It premieres on Peacock on July 18. Hopkins plays Vespasian, a general-turned-emperor who ordered the construction of what would become the Roman Colosseum.“Those About to Die” allowed Hopkins to return to Cinecittà, the famed Italian studio where he filmed “The Two Popes.” And it continues his interest, demonstrated in projects such as “Freud’s Last Session,” “The Father,” “Westworld” and even as far back as “Nixon” and “The Remains of the Day,” in playing men in the waning of their power.Though Hopkins appears in few scenes of “Those About to Die” (anyone familiar with the ancient Roman timeline can guess why), he is fully in command of his own capacities. His Vespasian is infirm of body, not purpose. Facing down his legacy, Vespasian scolds his sons (played by Jojo Macari and Tom Hughes), dismissing their advice and praise.“I had to be tough on them and no nonsense,” Hopkins said.Roland Emmerich, the show’s director, wanted Hopkins for that sternness. “He plays a little bit like a gruff guy,” Emmerich said in a recent interview. He also suspected that Hopkins could play Vespasian’s canniness as he contends with both the aristocracy and the people. And that he could make that realpolitik pleasurable.“He has this likability,” Emmerich said. “He played Hannibal Lecter and was still lovable.”During the video call, Hopkins was only occasionally gruff and, yes, often lovable. (A man who has a way with a twinkle, he has amassed millions of followers on TikTok.) These days, he views his career, he said, “with a sense, not of self-congratulation, but a sense of fun.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Streaming in July

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      “Sausage Party: Foodtopia,” “Lady in the Lake,” “Love Lies Bleeding” and “Those About to Die” arrive, and “Snowpiercer” returns.Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of July’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)New to Amazon Prime Video‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’ Season 1Starts streaming: July 11This sequel series to the raunchy 2016 animated comedy “Sausage Party” begins in the aftermath of that movie’s climactic battle between sentient supermarket foods and the humans who consume them. Seth Rogen (who also cocreated the franchise) returns as the voice of Frank, a hot dog who alongside his girlfriend/bun Brenda (Kristen Wiig) has to figure out how to build and lead a new society, for the benefit of all foodstuffs. The original film’s sex-obsessed Pixar parody gives way here to more of a political satire, as the well-meaning sausages try to prevent their friends from succumbing to anarchy or authoritarianism.‘Betty la Fea, The Story Continues’Starts streaming: July 19One of the most popular TV series ever produced, the Colombian telenovela “Yo soy Betty, la fea” has been adapted dozens of times, all over the world — including in the United States as “Ugly Betty.” Now much of the original’s cast members and characters return for a sequel, set over 20 years after their story began. In “The Story Continues,” Betty (Ana María Orozco) comes home to the fashion house where she started her rags-to-riches rise and met her now-estranged husband, Armando (Jorge Enrique Abello). While dealing with bittersweet memories and some familiar old rivalries, Betty once again has to fight to be respected for her sharp mind and kind heart, in an industry that tends to value superficiality and swagger.Also arriving:July 4“Space Cadet”July 9“Sam Morril: You’ve Changed”July 11“Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black”July 18“My Spy: The Eternal City”“Uninterrupted’s Top Class Tennis”July 25“Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net”“Troppo” Season 2Daveed Diggs in Season 4 of “Snowpiercer” on AMC+.AMC+New to AMC+‘Snowpiercer’ Season 4Starts streaming: July 21After three seasons on TNT, the fourth and final season of this postapocalyptic thriller moves to AMC, completing the saga of a heavily stratified society ripe for a revolution. Adapted from Bong Joon Ho’s 2013 film (itself adapted from a comic book series originated in 1982 by the writer Jacques Lob and the illustrator Jean-Marc Rochette), “Snowpiercer” stars Daveed Diggs as Andre Layton, one of the masses of underclass citizens who once were living in squalor on a massive passenger train, speeding across a ruined, ice-covered Earth. At the end of Season 3, Layton’s band of rebels went literally off the rails to found a new democratic community; but as the new season begins, they realize that their old nemeses from the train aren’t going to leave them alone.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More