Casting What-Ifs
The panel preserves a wide, sometimes uncertain list: Hackman and Connery for Lecter/Crawford, Pfeiffer and others for Clarice, Ed Harris for Crawford, and numerous alleged Lecter auditions.
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:20Read transcript
- Gene Hackman reportedly partnered to adapt the novel and considered directing and playing Lecter or Crawford before withdrawing.
- Paul Verhoeven reportedly turned the film down and later expressed regret.
- Jonathan Demme reportedly wanted Sean Connery for Lecter, but Connery declined.
- Michelle Pfeiffer declined Clarice; the panel prefers Foster because Pfeiffer’s overt glamour would shift the character’s closed, professional center.
- Meg Ryan reportedly rejected the material as too gruesome, and Molly Ringwald auditioned but was considered too young.
- Ed Harris reportedly declined Jack Crawford because the role was not interesting enough.
- Reported Lecter possibilities include Daniel Day-Lewis, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Derek Jacobi, and Forest Whitaker; the panel openly doubts some unsourced casting lists while noting Whitaker publicly discussed auditioning.