The Silence of the Lambs

NOMINATED FOR:

Best Sound

Best Film Editing

WON:

Best Picture

Best Actor in a Leading Role

(Anthony Hopkins)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

(Jodie Foster)

Best Director (Jonathan Demme)

Best Writing, Screenplay Based

on Material Previously Produced

or Published

Anthony Hopkins described his voice for Hannibal Lecter as, “a combination of Truman Capote and Katharine Hepburn.”

When Jonathan Demme filmed the scene where Lecter and Starling first meet, Anthony Hopkins said he should look directly at the camera as it panned into his line of sight. He felt Lecter should be portrayed as "knowing everything."

Director Cameo: Jonathan Demme makes an appearance wearing a blue cap at the end of the film.

After Lecter was moved from Baltimore, he was originally to be dressed in a yellow or orange jumpsuit, but Anthony Hopkins was able to convince director Jonathan Demme and costume designer Colleen Atwood that it would make the character seem more clinical and unsettling if he was dressed in pure white. Hopkins has since said that this idea came from his fear of dentists.

Anthony Hopkins invented the fast, slurping-type sound that Hannibal Lecter does. He did it spontaneously during filming on the set, and everyone thought it was great. Director Jonathan Demme became annoyed with it after a while, but denied his irritation.

The first moth cocoon found in one of the victim's throats was made from a combination of Tootsie-Rolls ® and Gummy Bears ®, so that if she swallowed it, it would be edible.

In preparation for his role, Anthony Hopkins studied files of serial killers. Also, he visited prisons and studied convicted murderers and was present during some court hearings concerning serial killings.

When Ted Tally was writing the screenplay for the film, he suggested Jodie Foster for role of Clarice Starling. Foster had been lobbying hard for the part from the start but when Jonathan Demme was hired to direct the film, he felt she was wrong for the part and wanted Michelle Pfeiffer instead. Pfeiffer turned the part down because she felt the film was too violent. Demme then agreed to meet Foster and hired her after only one meeting because he said he could see her strength and determination for the part that he felt was perfect for the character of Clarice.

Jodie Foster spent a great deal of time with FBI agent Mary Ann Krause prior to filming and it was Krause who gave Foster the idea of Starling standing by her car crying. Krause told Foster that at times, the work just became so overbearing that this was a good way to get an emotional release.

Anthony Hopkins studied videotapes of serial killers as part of his research for the film. After noticing that Charles Manson hardly ever blinked when he spoke, he did the same for Hannibal Lecter. (He did, however, blink at least once during Lecter's conversation with Clarice in his "open-plan" cell.)

After working with John Douglas for some time Scott Glenn thanked him and said how fascinating it was to have been allowed into his world. Douglas laughed at this comment and told Glenn that if he really wanted to get into his world, he should listen to an audio tape of serial killers Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris torturing, raping and murdering two teenage girls. Glenn listened to less than one minute of the tape, and has since said that he feels he lost a sense of innocence in doing so and that he has never been able to forget what he heard.

After being cast as Buffalo Bill, Ted Levine had done a lot of research into developing his character by reading profiles of serial killers. Levine later said that he found the material very disturbing. He also went out and attended a few transvestite bars, where he began interviewing patrons, as Bill was also a cross-dresser.

Clarice Starling was chosen by the American Film Institution as the sixth greatest film hero (out of fifty), the highest ranked female on the list; Hannibal Lecter was chosen as the #1 greatest film villain (also out of fifty).

Jodie Foster claims that during the first meeting between Lecter and Starling, Anthony Hopkins's mocking of her southern accent was not rehearsed and that Hopkins improvised it on the spot. Foster's reaction of horror was totally genuine, as she felt personally attacked, though she later thanked Hopkins for generating such an honest reaction.

John Hurt, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Stewart, Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Duvall, Jack Nicholson, and Robert De Niro were all considered for the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Jeremy Irons turned down the offer.

Gene Hackman bought the rights to "The Silence of the Lambs" and was planning to direct the film as well as taking on the role of either Lecter or Jack Crawford, but he withdrew after watching a clip of himself in Mississippi Burning (1988) at the The 61st Annual Academy Awards (1989) (TV), which made him uneasy about taking more violent roles.

Michael Keaton, Mickey Rourke, and Kenneth Branagh were all considered for the role of Jack Crawford.

Cameo: Producer Kenneth Utt appears as the coroner.

Sean Connery was director Jonathan Demme's first choice to play Hannibal Lecter, but he turned the part down. Connery later did a similar serial-killer thriller called Just Cause (1995), where Ed Harris plays a sort of bible-bashing, redneck rip-off of Hannibal Lecter. The film was neither a critical or commercial smash like The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was.

Anthony Hopkins has expressed regret for his involvement in this film; although his portrayal of a psychopath as seductive, intelligent and charming has basis in fact, he felt his performance might glamorize psychopaths to the impressionable.