Anthony Hopkins

I was astounded that I was asked to do it.

There was...

Olivia's Casket, full of the flowers and wreaths and collections of flowers from Shakespeare's Winter's Tale.

And after that, we got into our cars and

And we went to the crematorium and I was sitting next to Maggie Smith, the great actress Maggie Smith.

I didn't know her that well, but we were sitting next to each other.

And we both worked with Olivia.

And there was the casket.

And finally, as the curtains went, you could hear the rollers taking them into the crematorium, into the flames.

Maggie Smith said, what a final curtain.

And you think, God Almighty, what is it all about?

The wonder of all that energy that had gone into his life or anyone's life, not just a celebrity, but anyone's life.

The energy that goes into survival.

Seeing my own father dying, you know, going to the hospital the night he died and standing at the foot of his bed, my mother crying.

smoothing his hair, and I felt his feet at the foot of the bed.

They were dead cold.

He'd gone.

And as I stood there, that silent night in that empty-sounding hospital in South Wales, a voice again came to me, ''You're not so hot either.''

This is what will happen to you.

And it's a great wake-up call when you know that.