Los Angeles, May 31 (IANS): Anthony Hopkins is 83 and in fighting form in front of the camera, having just won an Oscar as Best Actor for "The Father". He asserts that he enjoys working, which is what keeps him going.

"I enjoy working. I enjoy getting out of the house and doing something different. I enjoy the novelty of it. I love the activity," Hopkins told Saga magazine, according to an aceshowbiz.com report.

"My wife, Stella, worries about my health and once said, 'Do you want to keep going until you drop dead?' I replied, 'I guess so, unless my health gives out first'. And she said, 'Well, that's good, if it's really what you want to do'. And it is. Acting is my passion," he added.

Hopkins shares that his role in "The Father" took its toll on him.

"What was difficult about 'The Father' was that playing an older man, I actually started to feel older. My back would ache and my legs would ache.

"The theory I have -- and it may be a cockamamie theory -- is that the brain is not as sharp as we think it is, so if I started to tell it I'm an old man with dementia, it will believe me," Hopkins said.

He added: "After I stopped playing the part, I started feeling better and better, and thought, 'Oh, good, I'm coming back'."