“Is it a children’s story?” he recalls thinking. “I was in London in 1989, doing a play called M. Butterfly. My agent sent the script.”
After 10 pages, Variety reports, Hopkins called his agent back, asking if it was a real offer, declaring to his agent: “This is the best script I’ve ever read.”
“I read the rest of the script, and Jonathan [Demme, the director] came over on a Saturday afternoon and we had dinner,” said Hopkins, who won the Oscar for his role as Hannibal Lecter in 1992. “And I said, ‘Is this for real?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ He was such a wonderful guy to work with. “
– Anthony Hopkins recall thinking ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ was a children’s movie [via People Mag]
I attended the Academy Awards that year and had both Hopkins and Foster sign my paperback copy of the book!