Valuetainment - February 24, 2026


“The Saddest Fact Of My Life” - Anthony Hopkins OPENS UP On Painful Daughter Separation


Episode Stats

Length

15 minutes

Words per Minute

181.29915

Word Count

2,805

Sentence Count

252

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

Actor Anthony Hopkins recently released a book about his relationship with his daughter. They have not seen each other in 20 years and she does not want to see him. What does this mean for the future of their relationship? Is there any chance of reconciliation?


Transcript

00:00:00.900 I'm Kelly Kennedy. I've been called a hope dealer for leaders and with over 300 episodes of the Business Development Podcast, we'll guide you and we'll always be in your corner.
00:00:12.900 Follow the Business Development Podcast on Spotify and let's make 2026 your best year yet.
00:00:19.720 And by the way, yesterday, you know, I was talking to a couple of parents about what young boys need.
00:00:30.420 And I said, there's five things young boys need. They need a present father, the right belief system sold to them.
00:00:38.440 You need high standards, you need friction and you need fun. You need friction to be able to know that life's going to be tough.
00:00:43.380 And over the weekend, I saw a video, an interview with Anthony Hopkins. Anthony Hopkins, one of my favorite actors of all time.
00:00:50.460 The guy was in Shadowlands. He was in, I think it's called Shadowlands. He was in Silence of the Lambs.
00:00:56.320 He's been on so many, The Fracture. He's been on so many things.
00:00:59.440 But in this interview, he just came out with a book a few months back and this interviewer is asking him about his daughter.
00:01:06.220 His daughter's 58 years old. They haven't seen each other for 20 plus years.
00:01:10.780 Oh, wow. And she does not want to see him. And you have to see how uncomfortable he gets.
00:01:15.500 And then I want you to hear his answer. Then I'm going to come back to you guys.
00:01:19.480 Then I want to show you a video clip of a son and a father talking to each other.
00:01:25.440 The son is now 32 years old, but let's watch this clip first.
00:01:28.460 Here's Anthony Hopkins being asked about his estranged, being estranged from his daughter.
00:01:33.780 Go ahead, Rob.
00:01:36.200 For you. So I know what you're going to talk about my domestic life.
00:01:39.560 Yes. No, no.
00:01:41.360 Even though it's in the book?
00:01:43.180 No. It's done.
00:01:44.580 He doesn't want to talk about it.
00:01:45.100 Can I ask a general question that's not specifically about the material in the book?
00:01:49.940 Well.
00:01:51.540 It's about the...
00:01:53.480 I'll stumble through this.
00:01:56.700 Part of the reason that the material in the book about your relationship with your daughter,
00:02:02.860 your estranged relationship with your daughter,
00:02:04.980 part of the reason why I found it so painful is that it resonated with me for personal reasons.
00:02:12.600 I've seen my father, I think, twice in 20 years.
00:02:17.300 You know, I've spoken to him once in those 20 years.
00:02:20.080 And I'm very curious about other people's experience of that kind of estrangement.
00:02:26.600 In this instance, the estrangement is my choice.
00:02:30.220 But I just wonder if you have thoughts about where reconciliation might lie between estranged parents and children.
00:02:38.640 And my wife, Stella, sent an invitation to come and see us.
00:02:53.940 Not a word of response.
00:02:58.780 So I think, okay, fine.
00:03:00.900 I wish her well.
00:03:02.700 But I'm not going to waste blood over that.
00:03:04.860 If you want to waste your life being in resentment, oh, 50 years later, 58 years later, fine, go ahead.
00:03:12.620 It's not in my ken.
00:03:13.700 See, we can, I could carry resentment over the past, this and the other.
00:03:24.100 But that's death.
00:03:27.040 You're not living.
00:03:29.320 You have to acknowledge one thing, that we are imperfect.
00:03:34.520 We're not saints.
00:03:36.620 We're all sinners and saints or whatever we are.
00:03:39.940 We do the best we can.
00:03:42.540 Life is painful.
00:03:43.460 Sometimes people get hurt.
00:03:44.900 Sometimes we get hurt.
00:03:46.100 But you can't live like that.
00:03:48.400 You have to say, get over it.
00:03:49.800 And if you can't get over it, fine.
00:03:51.920 Good luck to you.
00:03:54.420 But I have no judgment.
00:03:59.680 But to do what I could.
00:04:03.520 So that's it.
00:04:06.740 That's all I want to say.
00:04:08.180 Do you hope your daughter reads the book?
00:04:11.160 I'm not going to answer that, no.
00:04:12.380 I don't care.
00:04:14.160 Wow.
00:04:15.320 I'll move on.
00:04:16.680 Please, I want you to.
00:04:18.100 Because I don't want to hurt her.
00:04:19.920 I understand.
00:04:20.540 I don't want to make any, no.
00:04:24.080 20 years, the offer was made, but fine.
00:04:27.720 Onwards.
00:04:28.120 What do you think?
00:04:31.280 That's tough, man.
00:04:35.080 Vinny, what do you think?
00:04:36.660 I mean, I'm curious.
00:04:37.640 Like, what did he, did they say what he, what happened for something like that to occur?
00:04:43.220 Why, why, why the estrangement?
00:04:45.160 Is there any, like, fallout?
00:04:46.860 Did we, was it because of his acting?
00:04:48.480 Was it because of an action?
00:04:50.220 What did he do?
00:04:51.080 Because I mean, that, but I could, I could feel the pain in the, in the interviewers thing.
00:04:57.420 Because mind you, I don't have any kids, but I can only imagine what that must feel like
00:05:01.240 is something that came from you.
00:05:02.800 You can't communicate with that person.
00:05:05.160 I lost my dad when I was 19.
00:05:08.480 And Pat, we talked about this.
00:05:10.060 I couldn't see.
00:05:11.020 My mom's still alive.
00:05:12.300 I love her to death.
00:05:13.280 I couldn't see a moment or a scenario happening where I know that he's walking around,
00:05:18.200 and I wouldn't be able to talk to him or be around him, even though whatever he put us through.
00:05:22.980 And remember, you asked me, Pat, I think a month ago, you're like, Vinny, not less than a month ago,
00:05:27.080 we're eating dinner, and you're like, if you had three wishes, what would one of them be?
00:05:32.240 And I told you, five minutes with my dad.
00:05:35.020 Give me five minutes.
00:05:36.260 So when I see people like that, it hurts, because I'm like, you could see the pain.
00:05:40.560 He doesn't want to talk to you.
00:05:41.220 He's fighting it.
00:05:41.920 He's fighting it.
00:05:43.240 You've gave this person everything.
00:05:44.660 You've nurtured this person.
00:05:45.700 You gave them a life.
00:05:46.720 They're 58 years old.
00:05:47.640 They're an active, contributing person in society, and you can't get them to be with you
00:05:54.920 or even communicate with you.
00:05:56.340 And it's like, man, that's a struggle I can only imagine.
00:05:59.300 I can only imagine with everything that I've seen with you do, with Tico, with Dylan, with
00:06:04.540 Senna, with Brookie, it would drive, Pat, if I found out one day Tico doesn't want to
00:06:10.540 talk to you, and it's just because in his mind or a scenario happened in his head, he
00:06:15.180 doesn't want to talk to you.
00:06:16.080 It would crush me knowing how horrible, horrible you would feel because of everything that
00:06:22.860 you've done and the lessons and everything with the video that you put on Instagram, the
00:06:26.480 work and all the stuff that you put in.
00:06:27.940 So I'd be curious to find out what happened.
00:06:31.120 It's none of my business, but I mean, if he's saying it's in the book, but it's soul-crushing.
00:06:35.280 It's soul-crushing.
00:06:36.060 And I could see it in his face.
00:06:37.760 I could see it in his face.
00:06:39.140 So, yeah.
00:06:40.260 Yeah, it's tough, man.
00:06:41.120 In this article, this is him and Abigail did a movie together called Shadowlands, which
00:06:47.700 I think is a story of C.S. Lewis, which is worth watching if you haven't seen it.
00:06:51.800 And he was an alcoholic.
00:06:53.140 He talks about it in his new book as well.
00:06:55.240 He married his first wife, I believe, in 1967, and they had her.
00:06:58.760 It's the only child he's ever had.
00:07:00.880 And when they ask what happened and why he was hurt, because if you go a little bit lower,
00:07:05.140 there's a picture of the two together smiling.
00:07:09.140 That's his daughter right there.
00:07:10.700 So she was an extra.
00:07:12.160 She had some kind of a small role in the movie.
00:07:14.600 Go a little bit lower, Rob.
00:07:15.900 So he says, they fought frequently.
00:07:17.420 Hopkins explained that points of contection.
00:07:19.360 Rob, can you see if they says they fought frequently?
00:07:21.300 Is that his daughter or is that about his ex?
00:07:23.120 Go a little bit higher to see if it's talking about his daughter or his ex.
00:07:26.760 By the time we realized how awful of a match we were, Barker was pregnant, and we tried
00:07:31.540 to rally for the sake of the child we were about to have.
00:07:34.340 But it was no use.
00:07:35.640 The marriage was a disaster.
00:07:36.800 So he's talking about his wife, go a little bit lower.
00:07:39.040 And then he says, they fought frequently.
00:07:40.760 Hopkins explained that points of contention included his alcoholism and Barker's resentment
00:07:45.420 over his career.
00:07:46.280 One night when he returned home from working on a location in Scotland, Barker greeted him
00:07:51.960 with sarcasm and called him Mr. Lord High and Mighty.
00:07:55.560 I have never been physically violent, but in that moment I was filled with such revulsion
00:07:58.940 that I became afraid for myself and her.
00:08:01.800 And at that exact moment, Hopkins decided to leave for good and went to see his 14-month-old
00:08:06.860 daughter in a room.
00:08:07.940 I looked down at her and whispered goodbye.
00:08:09.940 He writes, then I walked back to the hall, picked on my suitcase, and left the house.
00:08:16.260 Go a little bit low, Rob.
00:08:19.580 Aside from sending financial support, I didn't have contact with Petronella and Abigail for
00:08:23.760 a few years after that.
00:08:24.760 It is the saddest fact of my life and my greatest regret, and yet I feel absolutely sure that
00:08:29.940 it would have been much worse for everyone had I stayed.
00:08:33.160 And I don't know their religious beliefs, Pat, but a horrible, horrible situation.
00:08:39.420 I don't know if she's a Christian.
00:08:40.420 I don't know if he's a practicing Christian.
00:08:41.940 The attitude that he has, which I think is beautiful that I miss, is we're all sinners.
00:08:46.740 We're far, far, far, far from perfect.
00:08:49.620 By the way, I don't act.
00:08:51.280 I'm trying to be the best Christian that I can.
00:08:53.740 I try to walk in the path.
00:08:54.960 I sin.
00:08:55.520 I stumble all the time.
00:08:57.360 He's at least saying, as a man, I messed up.
00:09:01.240 We're all going to mess up.
00:09:02.800 That's what this life is about.
00:09:04.520 You are the furthest thing from what Christ acts, but we're trying to walk in the footsteps.
00:09:10.180 And again, if she was a real, I don't know who she is.
00:09:13.000 I don't know nothing about her except for what you guys wrote.
00:09:15.480 If she was a real practicing Christian, that forgiveness, which is one of the hardest
00:09:19.560 things, praying for your enemies is number one for me, which is so difficult, but I do
00:09:24.120 it, and then forgiveness, knowing that we fall short of the grace of God, but he gives
00:09:29.180 us that moment to say, listen, you're going to fail.
00:09:31.840 You're imperfect.
00:09:32.580 And if you accept that, then that relationship could be a lot different, because if that
00:09:38.700 was me, and I was a daughter, and I was a real, legitimate practicing Christian, I'd
00:09:43.100 say, Dad, you know what?
00:09:44.020 I love you.
00:09:44.540 I forgive you.
00:09:44.980 I'm not going to forget anything that you did, leaving me at 14 months old.
00:09:48.740 But I do forgive you.
00:09:50.620 Adam.
00:09:52.560 Whoa.
00:09:53.560 I'll try to not cry like Vinny, but it might be tough.
00:09:57.280 But I'll say this.
00:09:58.620 I'm respectful and jealous of the relationship you have with your dad, because I see the relationship
00:10:04.620 you have with your dad, and I just didn't have that relationship at all with my dad.
00:10:08.400 I had the opposite relationship with Vinny, where you said you want to spend five more
00:10:11.380 minutes.
00:10:12.040 I said, I can't spend five more minutes with this guy.
00:10:14.500 I tried and tried and tried to work out this relationship with my dad, and at the end of
00:10:20.700 the day, I just had to block him from my life.
00:10:23.420 And it was the first time that I was able to press block on my phone after considering
00:10:28.320 it.
00:10:29.280 And he died less than a month later.
00:10:32.340 And I had all these crazy voicemails on my phone.
00:10:35.880 It was tough.
00:10:36.580 But when you deal with challenges in your life, it only makes you better.
00:10:40.380 Like if you see poor people, they get motivated, but I'm not going to be poor.
00:10:44.680 It's not going to happen.
00:10:46.040 When someone says you can't do so, yes, I can.
00:10:48.640 So for me, I had such a contentious relationship with my father.
00:10:52.380 I'm like, I'm going to have the best relationship with kids.
00:10:55.160 I was a camp counselor.
00:10:56.320 I was a school teacher.
00:10:57.740 All my best friends have kids.
00:10:59.240 I'm like, the fun uncle, I've taken a massive role in my nephew's life, especially since
00:11:05.240 my sister got divorced.
00:11:06.680 So I'm going to be the best possible uncle, father, leader.
00:11:10.720 And obviously, I'm going through that vetting system right now with my girl.
00:11:15.540 But it's not easy.
00:11:17.000 You know, you said these are the five things that every young man need.
00:11:20.140 You said, what is a father?
00:11:21.560 A belief system.
00:11:22.560 Present father.
00:11:23.700 A belief system.
00:11:24.640 Standards.
00:11:25.140 High standards.
00:11:25.800 Friction.
00:11:26.480 Friction.
00:11:27.020 Fun.
00:11:27.120 Fun.
00:11:27.500 And fun.
00:11:27.960 And I wrote it down because it's so true.
00:11:30.660 And I wish that more people, that more men had that active role with their kids.
00:11:35.240 I mean, you know, the one movie that you not encouraged us to see, you made us see, was
00:11:41.040 The Judge.
00:11:42.080 And Robert Duvall, I want to say, passed away last week.
00:11:45.080 And the relationship they had with their Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall, that was
00:11:50.200 tough.
00:11:50.560 I think he had to come back after being estranged for decades and represent his father that was
00:11:56.540 accused of murder.
00:11:57.540 And was this the movie?
00:11:58.820 And he says, where were you?
00:11:59.980 Yep.
00:12:00.220 Was that this movie?
00:12:01.060 That's Johnny Cash.
00:12:01.960 Okay.
00:12:02.400 Gotcha.
00:12:02.960 But same concept.
00:12:04.060 Both of them.
00:12:04.700 But in that scene, there's also where were you.
00:12:06.560 Oh, she wanted.
00:12:07.200 Your mother just wanted to see you.
00:12:08.380 Why don't you come?
00:12:09.240 Yeah.
00:12:09.380 So it's tough out there.
00:12:10.980 And we've seen the stats about, you know, the best outcome for a kid is to have a two-parent
00:12:18.140 household, a nuclear family.
00:12:19.560 But then when you take away the father, the stats plummet.
00:12:23.200 But when you take away the mother and it's a single father, the stats say the same.
00:12:27.680 And I'm not discounting what single mothers do because God knows we have that massive problem
00:12:32.580 in this country.
00:12:33.020 But the father's role in the life is the most important thing.
00:12:36.380 And the last thing is this, I have friends on the opposite side of things, guys my age
00:12:40.940 that have gone through a divorce.
00:12:42.880 And I've seen the women that hold the kids hostage from my buddies.
00:12:48.420 And I wish it was an equal footing type of thing.
00:12:51.100 But men have to know what they're getting themselves into in the legal system because
00:12:55.340 they're always going to side with the mother, whether that's alimony, whether that's child
00:12:58.680 support.
00:12:59.360 So be very careful who you have kids with.
00:13:01.480 Go through the vetting system.
00:13:02.520 I know you talk about the 101 questions to ask before you get engaged.
00:13:07.920 But this life thing that we're all trying to do, nobody has all the answers.
00:13:12.080 For the last seven or eight days, we've been at the Magic Show in Las Vegas and we're currently
00:13:17.760 at Italy at the Mikem Show, the Milan Show, the show that everybody shows up.
00:13:23.440 Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, everybody.
00:13:26.640 And you know who was there this year?
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00:13:30.400 We sent Pete, Leo, and Michele.
00:13:33.800 Went over there having a great time.
00:13:35.860 Go ahead and give them an update on what's going on with these FLB shoes in Vegas at the
00:13:39.280 Magic Show as well as Mikem.
00:13:40.480 Go ahead, Rob.
00:13:40.940 I just can't get it.
00:14:10.060 Okay, by the way, you know what I'm wearing today?
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00:14:14.200 Again, let me say this to you guys.
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00:14:20.240 Vinny's wearing his black ones, okay?
00:14:22.740 From September 9th, when I tell you from September 9th till today, I've only worn these shoes except
00:14:29.500 for five days.
00:14:30.880 That's all I wear.
00:14:31.840 Five days, okay?
00:14:33.120 And I love them.
00:14:34.560 They're so comfortable.
00:14:35.740 Every day, this is all I wear.
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