Hopkins to take on role of Picasso

OSCAR-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins is to undergo a major physical overhaul for his next movie role.

The versatile Hopkins, who has tackled just about every role possible from flesh-devouring monster Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs to the gentle writer C.S. Lewis in the heart-wrenching Shadowlands, faces one of his greatest dramatic challenges in portraying artist Pablo Picasso.

Hopkins is re-uniting with James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, the director-producer team who cast him in The Remains Of The Day and Howards End, in Surviving Picasso. Some may argue Hopkins is not a first choice for the distinctly Mediterranean-looking Picasso, who wasn't too fond of being hindered by clothes.

To achieve his goal, the superstar will don contact lenses to acquire the artist's legendary charcoal-black eyes, lose more than six kilograms for the nude scenes and shave his head to play Picasso at 62.