During the rest of the 1930s she appeared in such films as The Smiling Lieutenant, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Trouble in Paradise, The Story of Temple Drake, Becky Sharp (for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress), Barbary Coast, These Three, The Old Maid and Old Acquaintance. The studios made up a rivalry between Hopkins and Bette Davis, making the climactic confrontation scene in Old Acquaintance eagerly anticipated by audiences.
She was one of the actresses auditioned to portray Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind.
She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 1701 Vine Street, and one for television at 1708 Vine Street.