Anthony Hopkins on his big ‘Those About to Die’ scene

Warning: this article contains spoilers for episodes 1-3 of Peacock’s Those About to Die.

Those About to Die makes the most of Anthony Hopkins’ limited screen time.

The two-time Oscar winner plays Emperor Flavius Vespasian on the Peacock series, which examines the intersections between sports and politics in the darkest corners of ancient Rome. The 10-episode season begins in the final days of Vespasian’s reign — he’s immediately aware of impending death, and spends most of his screen time pondering which of his sons would make the better successor to the empire’s throne. These contemplative moments with Rome’s most powerful figure are among the most exhilarating in the series’ first three episodes, as Hopkins makes the show’s flowery dialogue sing.

Perhaps the greatest single moment in the first three episodes, however, comes at the end of episode 3 as Vespasian looks death in the eye and shuffles off this mortal coil while standing triumphant in his bedroom.

In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Hopkins identified Vespasian’s death scene as his favorite sequence to shoot. “I found the death scene at the end very interesting,” the actor says. “Roland Emmerich told me, ‘Just stand there. Just take your time.’ I said, ‘Okay, what do you want me to do? He said, ‘Look like you’re dying.’ I stood there and they put the crown and laurels on me.”

Hopkins emphasizes the ease of working with Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012)) and the series’ other director, Marco Kreuzpaintner. “It’s not brain surgery — there’s nothing difficult at all,” he says. “Director Emmerich could like to do many takes, but that’s good. The director knows what he wants to see, and so you just accommodate him. Do as many times as he wants — and there weren’t that many times. Some older directors would sometimes do take after take after take, and that gets tiresome. But no, these two directors knew exactly what they wanted.”

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Emmerich also highlighted Hopkins’ death scene as a personal favorite. “He was a little bit of this gruffy man, and we talked about it before, and ‘Play him as gruff as you’ve ever played somebody,’” the director recalled. “And he did that! The favorite scene with him was when he wants to die standing, which was really, really cool because it’s so unique that people at that point actually thought that they can become divine or God when they’re standing.”

Showrunner Robert Rodat also sung Hopkins’ praises. “The first time I ever saw Anthony Hopkins, it was in The Lion in Winter where he played the oldest of the three sons. “I remember watching that movie when I was a kid and I’m thinking, ‘Holy crap, who is that guy? That guy is freaking magnetic.’ And that was in a movie with Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn! It was amazing. He was in his twenties when he made that movie!”

Hopkins said that his brief time on the Those About to Die set was a blur. “I’ve been very lucky because I’ve been working nonstop, so it all begins to blob into one sequence,” he said. “Can’t even remember the events, they all blur into one period. It could have been a day, five days. I dunno! None of them were difficult. I just made sure that I was in good shape and the voice was clear, but that’s what’s essential is to make sure that there’s clarity.”

All 10 episodes of Those About to Die are now streaming on Peacock.