So it was a departure for me in terms of the work I had done, but it was also some kind of psychological completion for me. She knew some place in her heart that she had to save women. Instead of being the one who was trapped in the pit, I was the character who was compelled by her destiny in some ways. Having played a lot of victims in my life and wondering why that pattern had happened in my career, I sat back and looked at this piece and felt like it was a departure for me. Coming off an Oscar for Best Actress in The Accused, many people said she was humiliating herself, but Foster looked at it a different way.

She explained her pursuit of Starling in Jonathan Demme & Jodie Foster.

Foster really wanted the part though, so much so that she called and visited Demme personally in New York to push to be the director’s second choice. However, when Demme was brought on Foster knew his first choice was going to be Michelle Pfeiffer, who Demme worked with on Married to the Mob. But it had nothing to do with Demme as a director.įoster had read The Silence of the Lambs book and immediately wanted to play Clarice Starling. Jodie Foster was not happy when Jonathan Demme was hired as the director for The Silence of the Lambs. (Image credit: Orion Pictures) Jodie Foster’s Fight To Be Demme’s Second Choice They also shot from Starling’s point of view to put the audience more in her shoes and “constantly feel this sense of challenge that she is encountering,” Demme said. In Jonathan Demme & Jodie Foster, Demme explains casting tall actors around Jodie Foster to accentuate the idea of her being out of place. I think they’re better people, by and large.ĭemme and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto encapsulated that perspective in the look of The Silence of the Lambs. That brings a touch of the underdog to them, and I respond to that. Demme explained:įor women to achieve what they want is harder than for men to achieve what they want. In Film Comment’s January 1991 issue (via Diary of a Screenwriter), Demme said, as both a moviegoer and director, he was a sucker for a woman’s picture. Had Clarice Starling been Clark Starling, director Jonathan Demme may never have made The Silence of the Lambs. (Image credit: Orion Pictures) Silence Of The Lambs Interested Jonathan Demme More As A Woman’s Pic Than Thriller

Is silence of the lambs a cult classic