Sir Anthony Hopkins is putting his life into words for the first time.
PEOPLE can exclusively reveal that the legendary actor, 87, is releasing a “raw and passionate” memoir later this year. We Did OK, Kid will be released on Nov. 4 from Summit Books and the two-time Oscar winner will also read the audiobook.
“I like it and I think you will, too,” Sir Hopkins says in a video announcing the news. “Have a read.”
The book will cover the Academy Award–winning actor’s “illustrious film and theater career, difficult childhood and path to sobriety,” an official synopsis says, in what the publisher calls “honest, moving and long-awaited memoir” told in a voice that’s both “arresting” and “vulnerable.”
It won’t shy away from difficult moments either, promising “a deeply honest look at the low points in his personal life,” the synopsis continues. “His addiction cost him his first marriage, his relationship with his only child and nearly his life — the latter ultimately propelling him toward sobriety, a commitment he has maintained for nearly half a century.”
As Sir Hopkins recounts his “desire to move through life alone and avoid connection for fear of getting hurt,” he also grapples with “questions of mortality, getting ready to discover what his father called The Big Secret.”
We Did OK, Kid will also feature “a special collection of personal photographs throughout.”
Sir Hopkins exclusively shared with PEOPLE that he was writing a memoir in January 2024.
“I’m writing a biography,” the Welsh star told PEOPLE at the time. “It’s a weird process.”
“I realized how I’m blessed with one thing. Maybe it’s my actor’s brain. I do have quite a memory,” The Father actor continued. “I remember days of months in the years.”
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And with a career spanning over six decades, Sir Hopkins certainly has quite a story to tell.
Born in a small town in South Wales in 1937, he was a self-confessed “poor learner” at school.
He went on to study at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, before serving as an understudy for Sir Laurence Olivier at London’s Royal National Theatre.
Sir Hopkins has since made appearances in dozens of critically acclaimed films, including The Remains of the Day, Nixon and Amistad, and won numerous awards for his work on stage and screen.
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In 2021, at age 83, he became the oldest person to win a Best Actor Oscar when he took home the trophy for his performance in The Father. This followed the star’s first Oscar win in 1992 for The Silence of the Lambs.
He most recently starred in the drama series Those About to Die and Netflix film Mary. He’s also set to appear in an upcoming biopic about the Maserati family directed by Oscar winner Bobby Moresco.
Sir Hopkins lives in Los Angeles with his wife Stella Arroyave. He told PEOPLE last year that she was working on a documentary about him, though he wasn’t sure how far along his other half was with the project.
“I don’t know. I don’t ask her. It’s quite a lot of film. I don’t know when it’s going to come out,” he said.
We Did OK, Kid comes out Nov. 4 and is available now for preorder, wherever books are sold.
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