Not Thor, Anthony Hopkins May Never Forgive Himself for Starring in One of His Most Celebrated Franchises

Sir Anthony Hopkins has been a commanding presence on screen all his career, but nothing can ever beat his portrayal of the infamous fictitious cannibal Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. The movie was one of those rare ones that managed to floor the critics and the audience alike. It was also one of the most successful adaptations of Thomas Harris’ novel that managed to snatch the top five Oscars, consisting of the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay categories.

He then went on to star in two other Hannibal movies, namely Hannibal and Red Dragon. However, contrary to popular belief, Anthony Hopkins had deep-seated regrets about starring in his most celebrated role. 

Anthony Hopkins Thinks It Was A Mistake To Reprise Hannibal Lecter

Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lecter is a horror genre masterpiece. Only Mads Mikkelsen in NBC’s Hannibal could come anywhere near it in terms of the gravitas of the character’s portrayal later on. Although Harris’ novels received mixed reviews, Sir Ridley Scott took the best parts of them to retain the shock factor, removed the controversial parts, like the ending of Hannibal, and presented iconic classics that were hard to look away from.

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After the success of Silence of the Lambs, Ridley Scott again took to the big screen soon enough with Hannibal, which, although it surpassed its predecessor at the box office, is still deemed vastly inferior to its predecessor. Jodie Foster dipped out of the project and was replaced by Julian Moore. Although the movie was enjoyable as a thriller, it was nowhere near the greatness of The Silence of the Lambs.

Anthony Hopkins returned for the third time to the franchise for Red Dragon. The movie was the lowest of the lows in the series, despite boasting a cast of Hopkins, Ed Norton, and Ralph Fiennes. Although the trilogy earned $800 million globally, Hopkins deeply regretted returning to the franchise after the success of the first movie. While talking to The Wrap in 2016, he expressed his regret, saying,

“I did it once. Made the mistake of doing it twice — three times.”

Also Read: Anthony Hopkins Admits He Was Horribly Wrong About The Silence of the Lambs Until He Read the Script

He termed the first movie “okay” and said that he regretted playing a role three times where once would have been more than enough. When asked whether he would consider returning to the role again, he adamantly said that he was “done with that.” Hopkins probably regrets turning such an iconic character as Hannibal and its popularity into a cash mill and churning out subpar movies just for the sake of it. 

Anthony Hopkins Is Working On His Biography While His Wife Does A Documentary On Him

Jodie Foster’s Clarice told Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter “Why don’t you look at yourself and write down what you see?” It seems that Hopkins finally took the advice and started working on his biography. In an exclusive with People, the 86-year-old actor said,

“I’m writing a biography. It’s a weird process. I realized how I’m blessed with one thing. Maybe it’s my actor’s brain. I do have quite a memory. I remember days of months in the years.”

Also Read: One Common Thread Links Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter With Jim Carrey’s Ace Ventura

He also added that his wife, Stella Hopkins, is working on a documentary on his life. Hopkins said he has no idea when the movie is going to release but he did mention that his wife has already interviewed Jodie Foster for the documentary.

“I don’t know. I don’t ask her. It’s quite a lot of film. I don’t know when it’s going to come out.”

He currently stars in the movie Freud’s Last Session, playing the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud. 

The Silence of the Lambs is available to stream on Prime Video.