A monologue about female psychology, which is attributed to a famous Hollywood actor, is popular on the Internet. We checked the reliability of this attribution.

“A woman who has no friends or a small social circle is a very, very confident woman. Trust me,” Anthony Hopkins allegedly once said. The text goes on to list the virtues of single women: they know their strength, they know that true friends are rare, they don’t like drama and gossip, and so on. The text ends with the words: “Therefore, if you meet a woman who has no friends or a very small social circle, do not underestimate her. She is calm, confident and knows her worth. She is a woman who does not need approval from others because she has already established herself.” This monologue Very popular V Facebook, but it can also be found in “VKontakte", V Instagram, as well as on entertainment websites.

Anthony Hopkins is a two-time Oscar winner. He is best known for his role as serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. The actor often gives interview, but in none of Hopkins’ conversations with journalists that we reviewed “Verified” did we find similar statements about women. This quote has been circulating since at least 2023 - in both Russian and English. At the same time, it is not always attributed to Hopkins - for example, in the English-speaking segment of the Internet these words can be meet signed by US President Donald Trump, American comedian Steve Harvey and former South African President Nelson Mandela. Often on social networks they publish videos created with the help of AI, in which a monologue about women is read in the voice of the corresponding character. But the Hopkins version remains the most common.

In the earliest publications - 2023 year - this quote was distributed in a shortened version: “A woman who has no friends or a small social circle is a very confident woman.” She used as a short statement without attribution. The rest of the text and celebrity signatures were added to this short phrase later.

This is not the first time Hopkins has been credited with a text in the field of popular psychology. Distributed on the Internet quote from the essay “Next Year, Get Rid of People Who Are Not Ready to Love You,” by best-selling self-help author Brianne Wiest, who is also commonly attributed to the actor.

Thus, there is no evidence that Anthony Hopkins ever spoke about the advantages of women limited to a small circle of friends. This quote has been attributed to other celebrities who most likely have nothing to do with it either.

Cover photo: still from the film “The Silence of the Lambs”