The screen legend, who picked up an Oscar for his chilling performance as the monstrous Hannibal Lecter in horror movie 'Silence of the Lambs', refused to let the success go to his head because he had seen too many good actors ruin their careers over it, Contactmusic reported.
"I think you have to be sure every time you get out of bed to be grateful for another day. There are no guarantees. I used to have a fear of failure when I was young. You can't live with that. Nor can you live with an insatiable desire for success because that's just as bad and as crippling. That's toxic," Hopkins said.
"I may have won an Oscar and been knighted, but I still have to look in the shaving mirror in the morning and see the same old face there. So it doesn't change your life that much," he added.
The 72-year-old star admits that it is his comical attitude which keeps him sane in the mad world of showbiz.
"The movie industry is full of crazy people who think that they are God. You look around and think, 'Oh, hide them from sharp objects.' I've witnessed some lunatic people in this business. You have to take it with a sense of humour and stay sane," Hopkins said.
Published 15 February 2010, 04:57 IST