Actor Anthony Hopkins is going to pursue his dream of becoming a music star. He will embark on a world tour in which he plans to play the piano accompanied by an orchestra. Hopkins will tell narrative stories about his life and acting career to accompany the music.

In a series of shows to be performed in cities across the world, Hopkins will be taking centre stage on the piano, playing music that he has composed himself. The actor will be accompanied by an orchestra, and will narrate stories over the music.

Hopkins, whose film roles include Adolf Hitler, Pablo Picasso and Quasimodo, will also tell anecdotes from his film career.

Despite having performed in more than 70 films, this is not the first time he has found time to immerse himself in music; in 1986 he released a single called “Distant Star”. The song was not well-received in the UK, only reaching number 75 in the charts.

His music tour, which is expected to start next year, will begin in Melbourne before heading round the world. The project is being planned with the musician and film-score mixer, Malcolm Luker, who met the actor when he was working on the score for Hopkins’ latest film, Slipstream. This experimental screenplay had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and was widely panned by critics for its self-indulgence.

Luker thinks Hopkins’ foray into music will be better received. “I think people will be surprised by Tony’s talents”, he said. “He’s a great pianist and an incredibly pleasant and softly spoken man.”

“It’s going to happen either next year or early 2009 but at the moment we’re doing the preliminaries of checking timing, availability and venues,” Luker said yesterday.

He said the proposed venture would not be as simple as Hopkins sitting at the piano. “[It] will feature Sir Anthony playing music, narrating stories over a live orchestra and telling anecdotes about his movie career, such as his famed role in The Silence of The Lambs.”

[The Independent via Huffington Post]

Hopkins released a single in 1986 called “Distant Star” with the b-side “Ordinary Man.” The songs are available below. It’s not as bad as William Shatner’s musical efforts, but it’s definitely reminiscent of Shatner’s mock-worthy work. Both tracks feature Hopkins talking over a new-age sound scape with comically cheesy lyrics. Maybe his storytelling and music ability have improved in the 11 years since he created these awful songs. If his new music will be drastically different he should probably put out a new single to erase the public’s memory of his previous efforts.

Hopkins’ talents aren’t limited to acting and singing. He is also an artist, and had an exhibition of his paintings last year called “Dreamscapes.” His art sells for thousands.

Here are Hopkins’ initial musical efforts, thanks to Hopinksville.de. There have to be old ladies around the world that will pay good money to watch him perform, hanging on his every breathy word.

Distant Star:

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Ordinary Man:

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Hopkins is shown in the header image on 11/11/07 at the Beowolf London premiere, thanks to PRPhotos.