Hopkins Voices Olivier's Lines For Spartacus Restoration

Anthony Hopkins has replaced the voice of Lawrence Olivier in a scene in the restored version of Spartacus (1960), film restorer Robert Harris has revealed.

Interviewed by Mark McEwen on the CBS Early Show, Harris said that when he began working on the restoration, he discovered that the dialogue track for one scene featuring Olivier had been destroyed. Since Olivier was dead, Harris went to his widow, Joan Plowright, and asked who she thought could best mimic her husband's voice. She replied that Hopkins "used to do him to his face at cocktail parties." Said Harris: "So we got him to agree to do this. And we went over to London and he voiced Olivier's part.

Thanks, Françoise