Here’s my thoughts. Richard Burton was an all time great. He was a contemporary of Laurence Olivier, John Mills, Alec Guinness etc. He made some poor choices when it came to which films to lend his talents to (Exorcist 2 anyone?) but he always gave his best and brought a lot of credibility to every role he took on. I believe his best work was on the stage, live theatre, and this can be seen in some of his films where he is simply too large for the screen. A great actor, and what a voice….that voice. However, I don’t think he’s the best of the three.

Michael Sheen, incredibly versatile, can inhabit the very body of the person he is portraying, be it Tony Blair, Brian Clough, Chris Tarrant or a Vampire King, he is as flexible as it’s possible to be. However, away from acting, he gives too much of himself away, panel shows, game shows, news interviews….the more we see of him the deeper insight we get of the man, which chips away at his character work. This is to his detriment.

And so we come to Sir Anthony Hopkins, to me, the greatest actor alive today. To see him at the height of his powers is an absolute privilege. Magic, The Silence if the Lambs, The Father, The Remains of the Day, The Rite…..the very presence of Sir Anthony lifts any movie. He limits his personal appearances, he gives everything to every part. The man is everything an actor should be. Quite simply, he is the best that Wales has ever produced.