Sir Anthony Hopkins to go on piano tour

Sir Anthony Hopkins has decided to take a break from his acting career and go on a world tour playing his piano.

The Silence of the Lambs actor will carry out a lifelong dream by playing his piano with a full orchestra and telling stories over the music.

His passion for music came to light when he met Malcolm Luker, who scored the soundtrack for his latest movie Slipstream, and the pair started planning the tour. It will commence either next year or in 2009.

Luker revealed they are still in the early stages of planning, saying: "I think people will be surprised by (Anthony's) talents. He's a great pianist and an incredibly pleasant and softly spoken man.

"It's going to happen either next year or early 2009 but at the moment we're doing the preliminaries of checking timing, availability and venues."

The Oscar-winner hopes to kick off the tour in Melbourne, Australia.