Anthony Hopkins moved to the US because London was ''f***ing boring.''

The Welsh-born "Silence of the Lambs" star never felt like he belonged in the UK because its acting community is "so very strange."

The 71-year-old actor - who started his career in on the London stage - said: "I went to America years ago because I felt I didn't fit in here in England."

"I worked with some good people, like Judi Dench, but I never fitted in to a group of actors."

"I was on the outside; I was like a sore thumb. I didn't have any friends who were actors at all; I never did. I was always on the outside."

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"It was difficult being in London in this very strange acting community. All that, 'Theater darling' - I just found it insufferable. It was f***ing boring."

"So I moved to America and did what I'd wanted to do my whole life - make movies."

Nearly 30 years later, Anthony is still happy with his decision to leave England, insisting the move made him a better actor.

He told Empire magazine: "Working with Katherine Hepburn on 'The Lion In Winter,' she said to me, 'Don't act. Read the lines. Just be' I think actors from that generation were just wonderful."

"People say, 'They didn't act, they were always themselves.' Well who else were they going to be? In England we have a tradition where everyone is acting. Too much acting."