Tim Curry as Hannibal Lecter. Yeah, that could have been fun and terrifying to see. Curry has played plenty of memorable villains over his career, but one character he desperately wanted and never got the chance to play was Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.
During his visit to the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library before he passed away, Curry was shown archival material connected to several major roles he was considered for or wanted to play.
While he had no memory of being considered for Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park, Hannibal Lecter was a completely different story.
“One of my great regrets is that I read the script of Silence of the Lambs and I desperately wanted to play Hannibal Lectar.”
Unfortunately, Curry couldn’t even get an opportunity to audition. He said: “My agent couldn’t get me in the room, but Tony Hopkins did a great job.”
Anthony Hopkins certainly was great in the role. His chilling performance as Hannibal Lecter in Jonathan Demme’s 1991 film earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor and created one of cinema’s most famous villains.
Still, it’s hard not to have some fun imagining what Curry might have done with the character. It’s wild that he couldn’t even get an audition!
Curry had the voice, intelligence, charm, menace, and wicked sense of humor to make his Hannibal fascinating to watch. His version almost certainly would have felt very different from Hopkins’ performance, and that’s what makes the possibility so interesting.
Curry also understood how much fun a great villain could be. During the same visit, he explained his attraction to those kinds of characters: “I think writers have so much more fun writing villains than they do heroes. Heroes are boring, you know.”
Hannibal Lecter certainly would have given Curry plenty to work with. Hopkins ultimately delivered an iconic performance that became inseparable from The Silence of the Lambs, but I sure would’ve liked to see what Curry would’ve done with the character.
