15 "Silence Of The Lambs" Facts That May Creep People Out

Alright, I’m going to be honest for a second here – I actually never saw The Silence Of The Lambs until this year. Go ahead, judge me all you want but it’s better late than never, right? The reason it took me 15 years to see perhaps one of the best thrillers of all time is because of my mother. When I was a kid she told me that she lost sleep over how scary it was and that I should probably never watch it. Although, that doesn’t really say much because she’s scared of everything (hi Mom!). 

Anyways… I recently watched the movie and not only did so many cultural references suddenly made sense to me, but I found myself more intrigued than scared. I ended up doing some unnecessary research and found out a ton of cool facts about the movie.

Check it out. 

1. Gene Hackman was initially going to star and direct it.

Gene’s previous movie at the time saw him depicting an incredibly dark character, and he felt it was a poor career move to play another one so quickly.

2. And Michelle Pfeiffer was supposed to play Clarice.

This could have been a MUCH different movie.

3. Hannibal never once said “Hello, Clarice” throughout the entire film.

This is a common mistake, but every time he greets Jodie Foster’s character, Sir Anthony Hopkins says “Good evening, Clarice.”

4. Buffalo Bill was actually based on three different serial killers.

Ted Bundy, Ed Gein and Gary M. Heidnik were the three men that the antagonist was based on.