Oscar-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins stunned the new owner of the small Welsh house where he grew up when he dropped in for a cup of tea – and asked if he could buy the property.

The star arrived at the semi-detached home in Port Talbot in a chauffeur-driven car with his wife and two bodyguards, and asked Chris Trainor and his partner Carly Culver if he could look around.

The bemused couple invited the actor and his group inside and he stayed for 30 minutes, posing for pictures before asking if the home was for sale and even offering £180,00 for it.

Sir Anthony Hopkins shocked a young family by offering to buy their house because he was born there

Sir Anthony also invited them to visit him at his stunning Malibu mansion.

Mr Trainor, who has a two-year-old daughter called Poppy, said: ‘I looked out of the window and caught sight of a chauffeur and he told me he was taking Anthony and his wife to London.

‘Then Sir Anthony Hopkins popped his head out of the car window and said to me, “How are you?”

‘I knew from the previous owner that Sir Anthony had been born in this house and spent a number of years living there, so I asked him in.

‘He had a really good look around the house and said he was born in my daughter’s bedroom.

‘He said he has got a place in LA and would send us a postcard with his details on it. He said we could visit. At one point his wife revealed that Sir Anthony would be interested in buying this house from me.

‘I made a joke about it at the time, but if they do make an offer, I’ll definitely have to consider it.’

Celebration: Sir Anthony and his wife Stella at his 70th birthday party in Port Talbot, South Wales

 

Sir Anthony pictured when he was just nine months old… it is not known if this picture was taken in the garden of the house he offered to buy

It was reported that his wife Stella asked if the couple would consider a £180,000 offer – more than the average price of such a house in the area.

The star, who turned 75 on New Year’s Eve, was travelling back to London from Pembrokeshire where he and his Colombian wife, Stella Arroyave, renewed their wedding vows.

Mr Trainor, 32, who runs a home-maintenance firm, added: ‘I was a bit star-struck, but the visit clearly meant a lot to Sir Anthony. I was glad he got to revisit the place where he was born.’

It was at the YMCA in Port Talbot that Sir Anthony, whose father was a baker in the town, had his first experience of acting.

He also once credited a Port Talbot dentist he remembered as a child as the inspiration for his Oscar-wining portrayal of serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 thriller The Silence Of The Lambs.

He said: ‘Lecter was sophisticated and educated and could be charming, but he was capable of inflicting pain without turning a hair.

‘It made me think of going to the dentist as a child.’

 

Home: Sir Anthony, who grew up in the Welsh town of Port Talbot, is considering buying back the house where he grew up

Luxurious: Anthony Hopkins’ home in Malibu, Los Angeles