Hannibal's homecoming: A welcome in the hillside for Sir Anthony at 70 - from his old school chums

The occasion was a £200,000 70th birthday party thrown by Hollywood veteran Sir Anthony Hopkins.

But instead of inviting glittering A-list celebrities, the Welsh actor welcomed 50 long-lost childhood friends among his 200 guests.

Scroll down for more...

Sipping pear and ginger juice, the reformed alcoholic joked that the party had "cost me so much, I'll have to make another film to pay for it", adding: "Some people I haven't seen in 65 years. I'm very excited about it."

The New Year's Eve bash was held in the Orangery at Margam Castle near his home town of Port Talbot in West Glamorgan.

Guests were greeted by blazing torches, and the local Pelenna Valley Male Voice Choir sang We'll Keep A Welcome In The Hillside for the actor, who effectively turned his back on Wales by becoming a US citizen in 2000.

As the champagne flowed, Sir Anthony mingled with long-lost friends who sat down to lobster starters, blood-orange sorbets, Welsh lamb and chocolate and fruit tarts.

Scroll down for more...

"It was all brilliant," he said later, accompanied by his third wife Stella Arroyave, 51.

"I had the most wonderful time of my life. My old school friends told me things I'd forgotten.

"I can't remember being in so much trouble at school, but they told me I was."

Of course Sir Anthony, who won an Oscar as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs, did invite a few celebrities, including actors Michael Sheen and Julian Fellowes, who chose Hopkins as the godfather to his children.

"Tony is a copper-bottom star," said Fellowes. "He was never into that self-important nonsense."