Julianne Moore replaced Jodie Foster in the role of Agent Clarice Starling in Hannibal, the sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. Moore delivered a commendable performance in a role that was darker and gorier than in the first film. However, her portrayal in the film was deemed inferior to Foster’s performance. Moore revealed that she always knew there would be comparisons and understood the challenge when she took up the role.
While Anthony Hopkins, who played Hannibal Lecter, returned for another movie installment, this film marked the end of the road for Julianne Moore’s character. Unfortunately, Hannibal was considered the weakest movie of the three installments.
Julianne Moore Opens Up About Replacing Jodie Foster In Hannibal
Julianne Moore recently discussed her various roles over the years in the industry with Vanity Fair. Among them was her role as Clarice Starling in Hannibal, where she replaced Jodie Foster. Taking on an Oscar-winning role in an Oscar-winning film was a huge challenge for Moore, as she revealed that she felt the pressure to deliver.
Moore praised Foster’s work in The Silence of the Lambs, but she had to make sure that she did not blatantly imitate her work. The Chloe actress was clear that she wasn’t involved in a remake of a classic, but an entirely different film. Ridley Scott, who took over the director’s role from Jonathan Demme, also provided valuable support to Moore. She revealed that Scott instilled confidence in her for the role. Moore told Vanity Fair:
“Of course I felt pressure! Jodie Foster is absolutely iconic and is one of my favorite performers ever. And I think the most important thing was not to try to, I’m like, I’m not gonna be Jodie. There’s no way. And I’m not in that movie, I’m in this movie. And I think that was something that Ridley made very clear. There are no comparisons. I think Ridley made me feel pretty secure. And you can only do what you can do.”
Moore also opened up about her co-star Anthony Hopkins’s dark sense of humor during the film. Hopkins had previously collaborated with Moore in the 1996 film Surviving Picasso and recommended her to the Hannibal team. In one of the scenes in the film, where Hopkins’ character Hannibal Lecter is threatening Agent Starling, as the scary scene unfolds, Hopkins leaned in and asked Moore, “Isn’t this fun?”.
Despite a decent performance from Julianne Moore, the film received mixed to negative reviews. Criticisms were directed at the film’s explicit and gory violence. Nevertheless, it proved to be a box office success, grossing $351.6 million against a $87 million budget.
Why Did Jodie Foster Decide Not To Return To Hannibal?
After her Oscar win for the role, Jodie Foster initially expressed interest in returning to a sequel film. However, after reading the manuscript of Thomas Harris’s sequel novel, Foster, along with director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ted Tally, declined to return. They all had reservations about the novel’s excessive violent content.
In December 1999, Foster issued a statement saying that she did not want to play the new story arc of Clarice Starling in the sequel. She mentioned that it gave some “negative attributes” to her character, thus “betraying” the arc established in her 1991 film (via BBC). While her spokesperson cited her film, Flora Plum, as the official reason, Foster clarified in a 2005 interview with Total Film that she and Demme didn’t wish to trample on Agent Starling. She told Total Film:
“The official reason I didn’t do Hannibal is I was doing another movie, Flora Plum. So I get to say, in a nice dignified way, that I wasn’t available when that movie was being shot … Clarice meant so much to Jonathan and I, she really did, and I know it sounds kind of strange to say but there was no way that either of us could really trample on her.”
Both Julianne Moore’s performance in Hannibal and Jodie Foster’s in The Silence of the Lambs are now available for streaming on Max.
