Michelle Pfeiffer turned down a huge role in Silence of the Lambs over 'evil' script

Michelle Pfeiffer turned down Silence of the Lambs role because of this simple reason. Photo / File

With Silence of the Lambs turning 30 on Valentine's Day, actress Michelle Pfeiffer recently revealed that she turned down a lead role in the epic film.

While chatting to The New Yorker recently, Pfeiffer detailed how she was originally the top pick for the movie.

But she turned down the role because of its "evil" storyline.

"With Silence of the Lambs, I was trepidatious," she said. "There was such evil in that film."

Anthony Hopkins went global after Silence of the Lambs. Photo / File

When asked exactly what it was about the movie that made her turn it down, Pfeiffer said: "It was that evil won in the end; that at the end of that film evil ruled out. I was uncomfortable with that ending. I didn't want to put that out into the world."

Based on the book by Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs focuses on young FBI agent Clarice Starling, who must seek help from imprisoned cannibal psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to help catch "Buffalo Bill" (Ted Levine) – a serial killer who skins his female victims.

The role ended up going to Jodie Foster who won a Best Actress Oscar for the film. Silence of the Lambs also won the Oscar for Best Picture, among other coveted categories.

However, it wasn't the film's success that Pfeiffer regrets missing out on the most – it was the opportunity to work with director Jonathan Demme once more.

Demme died in 2017 due to cancer complications, but he and Pfeiffer had worked together on the 1988 film Married To The Mob.

"The thing I most regret is missing the opportunity to do another film with Jonathan," she said.

Silence of the Lambs cast and production winners hold their Oscars at the 64th annual Academy Awards. Photo / Getty Images

"It's so sad to me that he's no longer with us."

Of the late director, she said: "First of all, he is the nicest person, he is funny, and not only is he really funny but he's the easiest person to make laugh, so we just laugh all the time."

Silence of the Lambs isn't the only huge movie Pfeiffer has turned down previously.

In 2019, the star revealed that she said no to Pretty Woman, Basic Instinct and Thelma And Louise, while chatting to the Today show.

"The thing is, there are so many reasons that go into turning something down, and it's not necessarily because you don't want to do it," Pfeiffer said at the time. "There's a conflict, you're committed to something else. Typically, it was something like that."