The horror genre has proven to be one of the most consistently popular in cinema, with audiences everywhere finding entertainment in the dark thrills of its stories. Few entries into the horror genre have been as seminal as 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs, which is widely credited with inspiring a surge in horror thrillers featuring dangerous serial killers. The movie famously starred Jodie Foster as FBI trainee Clarice Starling and Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, the cannibalistic and unnervingly insightful killer who assists Starling in the hunt for a serial murderer known as Buffalo Bill. One of the longest-standing rumors surrounding the movies is that the two actors barely spoke at all, due to Foster being deeply unsettled by Hopkins.
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Jodie Foster has previously stated in interviews that she was too scared of Hopkins to speak to him after their first read-through of the script, and after hearing him become the horror movie icon Hannibal Lecter, she deliberately avoided him. Foster’s comments suggested that the pair barely spoke at all, but Anthony Hopkins recently revealed on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard that this wasn’t at all the case. According to Hopkins, he and Foster were quite friendly on set while making The Silence of the Lambs, and any reports of tension had been deliberately played up for publicity. However, considering Foster has stated on multiple occasions how scared she was of Hopkins while making the movie, the theory about their relationship has only grown more complex after Hopkins’ latest comments.
What Anthony Hopkins’ Recent Interview Tells Us About The Making Of The Silence Of The Lambs
The fact that the two biggest stars of one of the most iconic horror thrillers in cinema have conflicting accounts of their relationship on set might seem to make the theories surrounding them more complex, but the truth is likely less interesting than it seems. Foster has stated on multiple occasions that she was terrified of Hopkins on set, and there’s very little evidence that actually disputes her account. In fact, Hopkins’ own comments don’t contradict Foster at all, but rather dismiss any claims of ill feeling between the pair.
Considering Anthony Hopkins delivered an Oscar-winning turn as one of the creepiest horror movie villains of all time in The Silence of the Lambs, it’s not hard to see how Foster would have been unsettled. However, this doesn’t mean that Hopkins’ own claims that the pair were friendly are untrue, either. The main discrepancy lies in Foster stating that she barely spoke to and actively avoided Hopkins, while the Hannibal Lecter actor claims they were friendly toward one another. While they seem to contradict each other, the likely truth isn’t too difficult to surmise.
In all likelihood, one is playing up the tension while the other plays it down. Foster almost certainly was somewhat afraid of Hopkins during filming, as his intense performance must have unnerved her on some level. However, that isn’t to say that things were at all unfriendly, as they were both experienced actors undertaking the task of playing roles opposite one another. The truth almost certainly lies more with Hopkins’ claims of a friendly relationship between the two, but perhaps with the distance suggested by Foster’s own admission of her fear of her co-star.
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