Gene Hackman Was Nearly Hannibal Lecter and That’s So Weird

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Brian Cox, a multiple Emmy award winner known for his roles in “Succession”, has an extensive background in both film and television. He’s tackled Shakespearean plays, battled mutants in the X-Men series, and famously portrayed the brilliant cannibal Hannibal Lecter in Michael Mann’s “Manhunter”. While he delivered a strong performance, he didn’t quite match the chilling, iconic impact of Anthony Hopkins in Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs”. Hopkins won an Oscar for his portrayal and made audiences shudder at the thought of fava beans and chianti. However, it’s fascinating to know that Hopkins wasn’t initially chosen for the role; producers originally intended to cast Gene Hackman instead. Incredibly hard to believe!

In an article published on Slashfilm, it was mentioned that the owner of Thomas Harris’ novel, The Silence of the Lambs, faced challenges launching the project due to several reasons. One of these factors was the less-than-impressive box office performance of Manhunter, as stated by Bob Bookman. At one instance, the project seemed to gain some momentum when Gene Hackman expressed interest in directing the film and portraying Hannibal Lecter himself, but it didn’t ultimately materialize.

Nobody was interested in it; both the chilling serial killer theme and the poor performance of ‘Manhunter’ made it seem like the science fiction genre was as good as gone… until George Lucas released ‘Star Wars.’ One day, my coworker Fred Specktor asked if the rights were still up for grabs. Gene Hackman expressed interest in buying them. Gene reached out to his friend Arthur Krim at Orion Pictures, and they purchased it together, splitting the costs 50/50. Gene wanted to direct the project and play Hannibal Lecter himself.” – Bob Bookman

Hackman’s daughter found the novel’s violent content disturbing and asked her father to withdraw from the project. At this point, Orion bought out Hackman’s stake in it. The next year, Hopkins won an Oscar, and a year after that, Hackman received Best Supporting Actor for “Unforgiven.” So everything seemed to turn out okay in the end.

I find it fascinating to learn about the alternate paths in film history, such as David Schwimmer initially being selected for Agent J in “Men in Black” and Will Smith for Neo in “The Matrix”. It’s hard to imagine these scenarios, but that’s just the way Hollywood works. Despite Hackman being a talented actor, I believe he wouldn’t have been suitable for Dr. Lecter. He simply doesn’t emanate the psychopathic vibe, and I doubt he would have directed the film with the same level of intensity as Demme did. Sometimes, things turn out exactly as they should.

Kyle Anderson serves as the Senior Editor for TopMob, where he also runs the popular weekly pop culture analysis podcast titled “Laser Focus.” His insights into films and television can be found here. Connect with him on Letterboxd.

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2025-08-28 22:33