It Turns Out Anthony Hopkins Wasn't The First Choice For Silence Of The Lambs

Anthony Hopkins has played a number of remarkable roles throughout his career, including Frederick Treves in The Elephant Man, Mr Stevens in The Remains Of The Day and the title role in Nixon.

However, the screen legend’s most famous role is inarguably Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs in which he masterfully played the hyper-intelligent serial killer and cannibal. 

In fact, he played this role so well, he was awarded an Oscar for his efforts, and went on to reprise the character in two subsequent films, Hannibal and Hannibal Rising.

However, he wasn’t actually first choice to play Lecter. In fact, first refusal was sent to legendary Scottish actor Sean Connery.

Why Sean Connery turned down the role of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence Of The Lambs

While we reckon Sean could still have nailed the role, the actor was repulsed at the suggestion of playing such a dark character.

Speaking with Deadline back in 2017, Silence Of The Lambs director Jonathan Demme recalled: “Connery has that fierce intelligence and also that serious physicality. I love Tony Hopkins, but Sean Connery could be amazing.”

In fact, the James Bond star was sent the Silence Of The Lambs script before any other actors were considered,as he was on such a roll of commercially successful projects at the time. 

However, the esteemed actor was not drawn to the role... to say the least.

Demme added: “Word came back shortly that he thought it was disgusting and wouldn’t dream of playing that part.”

The filmmaker also shared that the role was very popular, with actors like Morgan Freeman and Dustin Hoffman among those expressing “tremendous interest” in the part.

Jodie Foster wasn’t first choice for the role of Clarice, either

Much like Anthony’s role in The Silence Of The Lambs, it’s hard to imagine anybody other than Jodie Foster playing Clarice Starling.

However, it turns out Michelle Pfieffer was offered the part first. 

Apparently, Michelle had similar concerns to Sean Connery, telling The New Yorker in 2021: “With Silence Of The Lambs, I was trepidatious, there was such evil in that film.

“It was that evil won in the end, that at the end of that film evil ruled out. I was uncomfortable with that ending. I didn’t want to put that out into the world.”

Jodie, however, desperately wanted the role and personally campaigned to play Clarice.

Speaking to Empirein 2021, she revealed that she flew out to New York to convince Jonathan Demme to cast her.

“I said, ‘I know you have somebody else in mind and I love her and think she’s fantastic and a great actress, but I’d like to be your second choice’,” Jodie admitted.

Her risk truly paid off as her performance in Silence Of The Lambs resulted in a Best Actress win at the Oscars – and even all these years later, it still feels like a pretty career-defining role.