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

Emmy winner Brian Cox ( Succession ) has a long and storied career in film and television. He’s done Shakespeare and been in an X-Men movie. He also holds the distinction of being the first actor to portray genius cannibal Hannibal Lecter in Michael Mann’s Manhunter (or Lecktor in that movie). He’s good in the movie, but he unfortunately doesn’t have nearly the iconic, terrifying presence of Anthony Hopkins in Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs . Hopkins won Best Actor for his performance and made audiences fear fava beans and chianti. But Hopkins almost didn’t get the part. Instead, producers wanted to cast—and I can’t believe this is true—American acting legend, Gene Hackman. WHAAAAAAAAT?

As part of a piece on Slashfilm , the original rights holder of Thomas Harris’