This article is from the Hannibal Lecter FAQ, by Cory Compton Coleman cory@gladstone.uoregon.edu with numerous contributions by others.
Believe it or not, Jodie Foster wasn't the first pick for Clarice
Starling-- Michele Pfeiffer was! (gag)
More believable is that for the role of Hannibal Lecter, Anthony Hopkins
replaced veteran supervillian Gene Hackman.
Looking back, I can't think of a single actor who should have been replaced
in the movie. Maybe Hackman could have done a decent Lecter, but certainly
not the same one we all know and love. And Pfeiffer as West Virginia
Refugee Starling??? Come on!
 
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