HOLLYWOOD FOR GROWNUPS: Is Anthony Hopkins the Busiest Octogenarian in Show Business?

Plus, Johnny Depp Steps Back Out, Russell Crowe does double duty in films and music, and the Police reissue a special record

Merle Ginsberg,

AARP

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Published July 18, 2024

Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Depp and Andy Summers on an orange and blue background

(Left to right) Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Depp and Andy Summers

AARP (Pool Insabato Rovaris/Getty Images; Evan Agostini/AP; Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images; Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

Stars continually find new avenues to express themselves, whether they’re acting, playing music, painting, writing or taking photos — some of them indulge multiple creative passions at once.

Johnny Depp

Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Like it or not, Depp’s back in the spotlight

If you’ve missed seeing the controversial — and talented — Johnny Depp over the past few years, fear not: The formerly canceled 61-year-old is about to be uniquely ubiquitous. He’s directed his first film in 25 years (since the 1997 flop The Brave, starring Marlon Brando): Modi, the story of bohemian artist Amedeo Modigliani (he of the elongated faces), set in Paris during World War I. Depp will debut his project at the Venice Film Festival in late August. It’s financed by Italians and stars Al Pacino. Depp will appear on-screen this year or in early 2025 in Unleashed Spirits: The Rise of the Hollywood Vampires. Part documentary/part concert, the film gives the history of the somewhat iconic, loosely configured band Hollywood Vampires, named after a celebrity drinking club in the ’70s whose members included John Lennon, Ringo Starr, 84, Alice Cooper, 76, and Micky Dolenz, 79, of the Monkees. Depp cofounded the band Hollywood Vampires in 2012 with Cooper and Joe Perry, 73, of Aerosmith. Depp’s weirdest new project is Johnny’s Inferno, directed by avant-garde artist Boris Acosta, a scholar of Dante, the 1300s poet who wrote The Divine Comedy, the first third of which is Inferno. Little is known about the art film, but TikTok fans report it’s a pro-Johnny film about “a gentle soul” who has dealt with abuse. It has some Hollywood cred: Robert Downey Jr., 59, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Pfeiffer, 66, Dustin Hoffman, 86, Helena Bonham Carter, 58, Gwyneth Paltrow, 51, and Kate Moss, 50, were all interviewed. Despite all this upcoming exposure, a longtime Depp associate tells AARP, “He really just wants to be left alone.”

Anthony Hopkins as Vespasian in the Peacock series Those About to Die

Anthony Hopkins in "Those About to Die."

Reiner Bajo/Peacock

Hopkins’ highly charged brain at work

Anthony Hopkins, 86, a.k.a. Tony, a.k.a. double Oscar winner, can soon be seen in another of his larger-than-life roles as Emperor Vespasian in the epic Roman gladiator drama Those About to Die (July 18, Peacock). When he’s not acting or dancing or writing or composing or painting or charmingly chatting on social media, Hopkins is working with his wife again, actress/writer/director Stella Arroyave, 68. The couple of two decades collaborated on the 2007 film Slipstream (she starred, he wrote/directed/composed). She’s directing a documentary on Hopkins’ life, while he pens his autobiography — and preps The King of Covent Garden, a film about baroque German composer George Frideric Handel (Messiah). Believe it or not, Hopkins is involved in at least three other upcoming films, including Mary (Magdalene), in which he plays King Herod. The man has more gusto than people half his age — and that’s after he revealed in 2017 that he has Asperger’s syndrome. “I have a very highly charged brain,” Hopkins modestly told ARTnews. “It’s the way I’m constructed, nothing I can take credit for.”

Russell Crowe stars in the film The Exorcism

Russell Crowe in "The Exorcism."

Courtesy Vertical

The summer of Russell Crowe

Another jack of all trades, Russell Crowe, 60, played music long before his acting career took off in the mid ’90s. This summer, he’s back at it with Indoor Garden Party, his first music tour in 12 years. The show features songs/stories from Crowe and his band, the Gentlemen Barbers, some of whose members have played with Crowe for decades, including in his rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. After touring Europe, the party will hit our shores, first at Bruce Springsteen’s old haunt the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey (Aug. 11), then on to New York, L.A., Tulsa, Oklahoma, Austin, Texas, and New Orleans. Crowe’s a rowdy charmer on stage, but in two new movies — The Exorcism, out now, and Kraven the Hunter (Dec. 13) — he’s all seething violence and rage. The Exorcism producer Bill Block, a former agent who discovered Crowe after his breakout role in the film Romper Stomper (1992), was thrilled to work with him again. “Russell’s a generational talent like Brando, with emotional depth and intelligence, but who can still play scary,” Block tells AARP. “He’s physically imposing, a skilled fighter.” And with a set of pipes to boot.

Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers of the Police take a bow after performing Roxanne at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles

(Left to right) Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers of the Police during their reunion performance of "Roxanne" at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

L. Cohen/Getty Images

Everything, everywhere, all at once

Andy Summers, 81, guitarist for the Police, has been on tour since last year with his multimedia, one-man show, The Cracked Lens + A Missing String. “I improvise every night,” Summers tells AARP, playing solo guitar, Brazilian music, telling stories, all against a background of his own photography. He also tours with his Brazilian Police cover band, Call the Police. Another multifaceted artist, Summers has released 14 solo records, several photography books and dozens of short stories. The Police’s final studio release, Synchronicity, will be reissued on July 26, the album’s 40th anniversary, as a deluxe box set, with 55 unreleased tracks and new liner notes. “I don’t know if we’ll make money on it — but I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes number one again,” Summers says. “I just keep touring, working all the time.” How does his family feel? “I haven’t really asked them,” he chuckles. “My wife of more than 60 years just says, ‘Why don’t you stay away a little longer?’ ”

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Hollywood reporter Merle Ginsberg has written about celebrities, film, TV, music and fashion for publications including The New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Cosmopolitan and more.