Some rather shocking words are coming from acclaimed actor Sir Anthony Hopkins as he’s saying that he apparently regrets reprising his iconic role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter in 2002’s prequel Red Dragon and 2001’s sequel Hannibal.
Telling The Wrap, Hopkins explains, “I did it once. Made the mistake of doing it twice, three times. ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ is okay. It was a good film.” But when asked about if he would ever reprise his role as the iconic urbane cannibal, Hopkins simply stated, “No. I don’t want to do that. Done with that.”
While I don’t think anyone can argue that The Silence of the Lambs is the superior film of that particular trilogy, it’s still somewhat surprising to hear Hopkins express such feelings towards a role that brought him such acclaim. After all, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor even though he had only 16 minutes of screen time in a nearly 2 hour film.
The role of Dr. Lecter has been played by Hopkins, Brian Cox in the 1986 film Manhunter, and most recently by Mads Mikkelsen in NBC’s now cancelled TV series “Hannibal”.
