Nixon in Nixon

Sir Anthony Hopkins, in the latest Gramophone:

Music often helps me find a way into roles. I listened to Copland all the time when preparing to play Richard Nixon on film.

Listening to a pinko composer to portray a red-baiting politico! Interesting.... But on the other hand, maybe Hopkins is getting to the heart of Nixon's self-delusion. Mightn't Tricky Dick have styled himself a Coplandesque American folk hero? In related news, Sly Stallone—not to be outdone—now claims that he listened to nothing but old Nixon speeches during the filming of CopLand.