--- description: Looking back, it seems like such an easy decision: of course Alfred Hitchcock should have made Psycho, the 1960 thriller that is now one of... title: Exclusive: Catch an Early Look at Anthony Hopkins as the Master of Suspense in 'Hitchcock' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f81d54f0931cfe3/698a8f689d83e85c47b9fc5a/hitch2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # Exclusive: Catch an Early Look at Anthony Hopkins as the Master of Suspense in 'Hitchcock' by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Nov 14, 2012 1:00 PM CUT  DSC\_8713.NEF DSC\_8713.NEFSuzanne Tenner by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Nov 14, 2012 1:00 PM CUT Looking back, it seems like such an easy decision: _of course_ Alfred Hitchcock should have made _Psycho_, the 1960 thriller that is now one of the director’s most acclaimed films. Yet at the time the story—based on a true crime story that was widely seen as gory, trashy and titillating in the worst way possible—was a no-go in tightly buttoned Hollywood. (**MORE**: [_Hitchcock_](http://ti.me/ZIDFFX "undefined")[ Filmmaker Sacha Gervasi on the Great Director’s Life, Genius and Grocery Bills](http://ti.me/ZIDFFX "undefined")) But, as the upcoming (Nov. 23 limited release) movie _Hitchcock_ shows, that didn’t stop Hitchcock. With the support of his wife, Alma Reville—and with her creative help—he decided to finance the movie himself and see if he could make it work, even if it meant personal sacrifice. To play Hitchcock, Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins wore facial prosthetics, contact lenses and paint to dull the color of his teeth—and, of course, he summoned the director’s famous voice and attitude. Oscar-winner Helen Mirren matches him line-for-line as Alma, as can be seen in this scene from the movie, available as an exclusive preview here at TIME.com. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7120661/hitchcock-featurette/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7120661/hitchcock-featurette/"},"headline":"Exclusive: Catch an Early Look at Anthony Hopkins as the Master of Suspense in 'Hitchcock'","datePublished":"2012-11-14T13:00:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T05:57:48.255Z","description":"Looking back, it seems like such an easy decision: of course Alfred Hitchcock should have made Psycho, the 1960 thriller that is now one of...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7120661/hitchcock-featurette/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f81d54f0931cfe3/698a8f689d83e85c47b9fc5a/hitch2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f81d54f0931cfe3/698a8f689d83e85c47b9fc5a/hitch2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DSC_8713.NEF","caption":"DSC_8713.NEF","creditText":"Suzanne Tenner","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7120661/hitchcock-featurette/","name":"Exclusive: Catch an Early Look at Anthony Hopkins as the Master of Suspense in 'Hitchcock'"}}]}] ```