Sir Anthony's got hannibal magnetism

Hannibal "the cannibal" Lecter had them eating out of his hand in Invercargill yesterday. The southern city might be a million miles from the glamour and bright lights of Hollywood, but this week it has been playing host to one of the film world's most recognisable stars.

Sir Anthony Hopkins, known around the globe as the man who chillingly brought Lecter to life in The Silence of the Lambs, fronted at a media conference yesterday to promote his new film The World's Fastest Indian.

The Oscar-winning actor plays New Zealand motorcycle legend Burt Munro. Sir Anthony arrived in Invercargill on Wednesday and will spend at least a month in the city filming the Southland part of the movie. Filming on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, in the United States, where Munro set a new world land speed record in 1962, has been completed.

Sir Anthony said The World's Fastest Indian was the happiest movie he'd been on in a long time. "It's one of the most pleasant parts I've ever had to play, I've played so many uptight guys and I'm not really like that," he said.

Roger Donaldson, the film's director, tipped that Invercargill could be rolling out the red carpet for the world premiere of the $30 million movie.

"The movie is everything I'd hoped it would be and then more, in terms of what Tony has brought to the role," he said. "He really has managed to make this at times very, very funny and at times very, very moving and that's not an easy feat to achieve."

A helicopter crash on the set in Utah had been a low point, Donaldson said. He expected the movie would be released early next year.

- NZPA