The Silence of the Lambs is based on the 1988 novel of the same name written by Thomas Harris, the plot following FBI student Clarice Starling, who gets the chance to interview the infamous psychopath and cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The film, both thrilling and terrifying, won five Oscars, including Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Director and Best Picture.
If you want to watch The Silence of the Lambs cast in action, the film is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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Jodie Foster
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CHARACTER PLAYED: Clarice Starling
BORN: November 19, 1962 in Los Angeles, California
BEST KNOWN FOR: Kansas City Bomber (1972), Tom Sawyer (1973), The Addams Family (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), The Brave One (1976), O’Hara’s Wife (1982), The Accused (1988), Anna and the Kind (1999), Hotel Artemis (2018) and Nyad (2024).
PERSONAL: Foster has been married to Alexandra Hedison since 2014. She also has three kids.
THOUGHTS ON THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: “For me, with Clarice, it was also about her voice, mostly because she was somebody that had been scarred by the bleeding of the lambs, the sound and how there was nothing she could do to help them.. My mom said to me, ‘Why do you want to play this character who’s kind of quiet and mousy?’”
FUN FACT: Foster would avoid Hopkins on set, because she was so scared of him.
Sir Anthony Hopkins: The Silence of the Lambs cast
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CHARACTER PLAYED: Dr. Hannibal Lecter
BORN: December 31, 1937, in Margam, Wales.
BEST KNOWN FOR: The Elephant Man (1980), The Bunker (1981), Chaplin (1992), Nixon (1995), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), The World’s Finest Indian (2005), All The King’s Men (2006), Hitchcock (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Rebel Moon – Part One and Two (2023/2024).
PERSONAL: Hopkins was married to Petronella Barker from 1967 t0 1972, and they had one child together. Then he married Jennifer Lynton in 1973 and remained with her until 2002. Then, finally, he married Stella Hopkins in 2003 and has been with her ever since.
THOUGHTS ON THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: In 2021, Hopkins sat down with Variety and revealed that when he was working on a play in London called M. Butterfly when he got the script and recalled thinking it “The best script I’ve ever read.” He shared that he thought the film was going to be a children’s movie based on the name.
FUN FACT: Hopkins and Foster only share four scenes together.
Scott Glenn
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CHARACTER PLAYED: Jack Crawford
BORN: January 26, 1939, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
BEST KNOWN FOR: She Came to the Valley (1979), Silverado (1985), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Slaughter of the Innocents (1993), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), W. (2008), The Bourne Legacy (2012) and The Hill (2023).
PERSONAL: Glenn has been married to Carol Schwartz since 1968. They have two children together.
THOUGHTS ON THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: Glenn worked with former FBI agent John Douglas to help him learn and he shared how much that helped him when it came to filming. “The benefit for me from Silence of the Lambs was that I didn’t have to do research. Because I’d spent so much time with John Douglas and the FBI Behavioral Science people before I did Silence of the Lambs, I knew more than I really wanted to about that world”
FUN FACT: During training, Douglas told the actor to listen to a recording of serial killers Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris torturing, sexually assaulting and ultimately killing two teenage girls. Glenn listened to about one minute of the the tape and said he will never, ever forget what he heard.
Ted Levine: The Silence of the Lambs cast
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CHARACTER PLAYED: Jame Gumb, AKA “Buffalo Bill”
BORN: May 1957 in Bellaire, Ohio.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Crime Story (1986-1988), Heat (1995), Flubber (1997), Monk (2002-2009), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Shutter Island (2010), The Bridge (2013-2014), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie (2023).
PERSONAL: Levine is married to Kim Phillips.
THOUGHTS ON THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: The film was directed by Jonathan Demme and Levine remembered working with him, saying “He [Demme] was one of the most intensely sweet men I have known. He was like an 11-year-old kid. He was always really excited about what he was doing.”
FUN FACT: Some of the movie’s scenes were filmed in Levine’s hometown.
Anthony Heald
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CHARACTER PLAYED: Dr. Frederick Chilton
BORN: August 25, 1944, in New Rochelle, New York.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Deep Rising (1998), 8MM (1999), Red Dragon (2002), Boston Public (2000-2004), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and A Man in Full (2024).
PERSONAL: Heald has been married to Robin Ray Herskowitz since 1985. They have two children together.
THOUGHTS ON THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: “I was working at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, doing Betrayal, and I got a call from my agent that Jonathan Demme wanted to see me for Silence of the Lambs. The agent said, ‘Read the book.’ So I went to the drugstore and got a paperback of Silence of the Lambs. Read it in one sitting. Sat up all night. Then I drove down to New York the next day, went into Jonathan’s office, and he greeted me like an old friend and he said, ‘You know, I’m a New Yorker and I see theater all the time. I’ve seen everything you’ve done, and I really love your work. I’m very anxious to work with you. I want you to be in this movie.’ You never have an audition like that!”
FUN FACT: Heald was originally cast as Roden, which eventually went to Dan Butler.
Brooke Smith: The Silence of the Lambs cast
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CHARACTER PLAYED: Catherine Martin
BORN: May 22, 1967 in New York City.
BEST KNOWN FOR: Vanya on 42nd Street (1994), Bad Company (2002), In Her Shoes (2005), Crossing Jordan (2007), Grey’s Anatomy (2006-2008), Fair Game (2010), Ray Donovan (2013-2015), Labor Day (2013) and Class of ’09 (2023),
PERSONAL: Smith has been married to Steven Lubensky since 1999. They have two children together.
THOUGHTS ON THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: “The whole movie confronted me with the fact that, if you’re in this circumstance, are you gonna fight for your life or are you gonna give up? I’m not gonna lie, I had some issues going on, and I remember thinking that was the difference between Catherine and myself. I didn’t have as much self-worth back then. It wasn’t the most obvious thing for me to do. And that made me sort of examine, ‘Okay, wait a minute, why don’t I wanna live?’ I’m making it sound a little more than it was, but, I just remember going, ‘Oh, okay, so what’s going on here?’ And it led me into years of therapy.”
