Mike Coppola/Getty; Orion/mgm
NEED TO KNOW
The Silence of the Lambs first premiered on Feb. 14, 1991
35 years later, Anthony Hopkins' chilling performance as Hannibal Lecter still resonates with viewers
In a March 1991 interview with PEOPLE, Hopkins, then 53, revealed why he believed the role was one of his "best" works at the time
Thirty-five years afterThe Silence of the Lambsfirst terrified and captivated audiences, the film still stands as a landmark of psychological cinema.
Based on Thomas Harris' 1988 bestseller, the movie reshaped the thriller genre and produced one of the most enduring performances in history. At the center of its legacy isAnthony Hopkins' Dr. Hannibal Lecter– a role that had been passed over by multiple actors before landing in his hands.
"I played Lecter with great relish," Hopkins told PEOPLE exclusively in March 1991, shortly after the film's release.
Orion Pictures
In the film, Hopkins portrays a psychiatrist and psychotic cannibal imprisoned for his crimes, whom the FBI enlists to help profile other serial killers.
Rather than overthinking the role, Hopkins trusted his instincts to guide his character development, especially in the film's tense scenes oppositeJodie Foster's Clarice Starling– an ambitious FBI trainee seeking insight from a man she's terrified of.
"You can't play evil to portray evil," Hopkins, then 53, told PEOPLE while dining at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. "If you do, it becomes a travesty."
"This was the best, most controlled work I've done," he said, noting that "the part jumped straight off the script into my mind."
"I immediately knew Lecter's voice, how he looked. I understood his complexities. It was easy. I used to make heavy weather of acting. Now I just learn my lines, show up and do it. No need to torture myself."
Ken Regan/Orion/Kobal/Shutterstock
To bring his "wacko" character to life, Hopkins tapped into his personal history, drawing on memories of growing up lonely in working-class Port Talbot, Wales. "Maybe it's in the genes," he admitted.
As an only child, Hopkins described having ''a balanced bond'' with his parents, Richard and Muriel, who ran a bakery. But he also recalled a household shaped by emotional distance. His father, he said, "tended to depression and dark moods."
"I just felt very isolated for years and years, didn't feel I belonged anywhere. It made me depressed and miserable," he told PEOPLE, explaining that he often drew that sense of melancholy into his acting.
As a young boy, school offered little comfort for Hopkins. Despite talent in music and art, he often felt lost in the classroom, describing himself as ''hopeless, pathetic, an idiot.''
''I thought I was nuts, I felt so weird,'' he added, explaining that acting became a way to cope and reclaim control.
''I used to impersonate people – teachers, later on army sergeants and famous actors – and made up bizarre situations for them. It was my way of controlling and getting back at what made me uneasy – authority," he told PEOPLE.
Orion Pictures
That emotional depth, however, didn't prevent Hopkins from keeping the atmosphere on set playful.
Despite being known for intense roles, Hopkins loved to regularly cut through tension bysneaking up behind actors and crewwhile in character forThe Silence of the Lambs.
"Not a shooting day went by without Tony gliding up behind Jodie or myself, baring his fangs," director Jonathan Demme recalled. "Or he'd look round with these gigantic eyes at the whole crew and go, 'You know Jonathan's the mad one. He never blinks. He's quite insane.' "
"His lightness made it easy for everybody else," Demme emphasized.
Whilechatting with PEOPLE in January 2024,Hopkins admitted he still feels the same way about the project over three decades later, calling it "one of the best parts I've ever read."
"I could understand Lecter. I could understand the mystery of the man, the loner, the isolated voice in the dark, the man at the top of the stairs who's not really there," Hopkins, now 88, said.
After its release 35 years ago,The Silence of the Lambsreceived widespread critical acclaim, winning the "big five" Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Hopkins, Best Actress for Foster and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Read the original article onPeople
