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maximumwobblerbanditdonut · 5 months

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Sir Anthony Hopkins landed a Hollywood film role playing a man who saved the lives of hundreds of children

One Life (2023) ‧ War/Drama. The story of British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of Central European children from the Nazis on the eve of World War II. Sir Nicholas Winton saved 669 children, who were mostly Jewish, from Czechoslovakia before World War Two broke out in 1939.

Sir Anthony Hopkins will appear as Sir Nicholas Winton in an upcoming biographical film called One Life.

Sir Anthony Hopkins tells the story of 'hero' Sir Nicholas Winton in One Life. The Welsh acting legend plays a man who saved 669 Jewish children before the Second World War. Nicholas Winton from London was a stockbroker and humanitarian who died at the age of 106 in July 2015.

He was known for organising the rescue of 669 Czech children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia during the nine months before the war broke out in 1939. The story became known to the public in 1988 when it was featured on That’s Life!, the BBC magazine programme. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for Services to Humanity for this work.

In the nine months leading up to the outbreak of World War Two, 669 children who were mostly Jewish, were transported from Czechoslovakia to Britain and other countries. This was due to the foresight and work of a small group of people organised by 29-year-old stockbroker Nicholas Winton.

He made sure that those who were displaced found a new home, but he was haunted by the thought of those he was unable to save and as a result, he never spoke of the rescue. Around 50 years later, however, his work came to light when his wife, Grete Winton, found an old scrapbook which detailed everything her husband had done, including the names of the children he had saved.

As the news of his heroism broke out, Sir Nicholas was invited to appear on That's Life!. During the show, presenter Esther Rantzen asked the studio audience if "anyone here tonight owes their life to Nicholas Winton?" and in turn, some members of the audience, who sat next to Nicholas, began to stand.

Sir Nicholas Winton was known as "Britain's Schindler" as he saved hundreds of children from Czechoslovakia in 1939(Image: PA)

The stockbroker was reunited with some of the Jewish children he had saved. He was known as "Britain's Schindler" coined after Oskar Schindler who was a German industrialist who saved thousands of Jews he had employed at his factories during the Holocaust.

The remarkable story is now being turned into a Hollywood film and stars Port Talbot-born actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins, as Sir Nicholas Winton.

On the BBC's programme That's Life! Sir Nicholas Winton was reunited with some of the children he had saved in an emotional reunion (Image: BBC)

One Life, which has been adapted from a 2014 book written by Sir Nicholas's daughter Barbara, entitled If It's Not Impossible. The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton will be a biographical film and will focus on Sir Nicholas and the rescue operation. The film will be premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Sir Anthony Hopkins plays the older version of Sir Nicholas Winton, while Johnny Flynn plays the younger version. The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter, Romola Garai and fellow Welsh actor and Hopkins' The Two Popes co-star, Jonathan Pryce. Directed by James Hawes.

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