ANTHONY Hopkins has won his first Oscar since he was victorious for playing Hannibal Lecter.

Despite his pedigree, Hopkins was a surprise as the winner of the Academy Award for best actor for his work on “The Father.”

The late Chadwick Boseman was expected to win the award, which, in a very rare move from the academy, was the last to be handed out this year instead of best picture.

It was also an anti-climax on a show where Hopkins wasn’t present to accept the trophy. Joaquin Phoenix’s reading of his name was the last dramatic moment of a most unusual ceremony.

The second Oscar for Hopkins comes nearly 30 years after his first in 1992, for playing Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs.” He’s been nominated four times since without a win.

The 83-year-old Hopkins won the Oscar for his role as a man who battles with dementia opposite Olivia Colman in the film directed by Florian Zeller. (AP)