Sir Anthony Hopkins openly shares his deep regrets regarding his estranged relationship with his daughter, Abigail, in his new memoir We Did OK, Kid, released on November 4, 2025. The 87-year-old actor offers painful insights into his struggles with alcoholism and family hardships.
The two-time Oscar winner confronts his past honestly, revealing what he calls his “greatest regret.” As a Welsh-born star known for embracing challenging roles, Hopkins now turns that candidness inward. He left his first wife, Petronella Barker, and their infant daughter when his alcoholism became uncontrollable. Abigail was just 14 months old when he walked away.
“Abigail never seemed able to forgive me for leaving the family when she was a baby.”
Hopkins describes himself as “a cold fish” who relied on childhood defense mechanisms. He acknowledges Abigail’s pain and takes responsibility without making excuses.
“I will always be sorry for hurting her when I left the family, even as I believe to this day that I had no choice.”
The father and daughter briefly reconnected in the 1990s. Abigail appeared in his films Shadowlands and The Remains of the Day, but their relationship later fell silent and distant again over the years.
This memoir marks a meaningful moment as Hopkins publicly accepts the consequences of his past emotional distance and confronts his regrets openly for the first time.
Anthony Hopkins candidly recounts his painful estrangement from his daughter, reflecting on alcoholism’s impact and expressing heartfelt remorse in his revealing memoir.