Anthony Hopkins recognizes Hannibal Lecter as 'one of the best roles I've ever read' even after 30 years

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Anthony Hopkins admitted Hannibal Lecter is still “one of the best parts I’ve ever read," thirty years after 'making The Silence of the Lambs.'

The 86-year-old legend who won his first Best Actor Oscar for playing the psychiatrist and psychotic cannibal in the 1991 film based on Thomas Harris’s 1988 bestseller, revealed he hasn’t seen the movie in "years."

Hopkins recalled receiving the script from his agent when he was doing the play M Butterfly in London, "He said, ‘I want you to read this.’ I said, ‘Is it an offer?’ He said, 'It’s a film with Jodie Foster called The Silence of the Lambs.’”

Hopkins thought 'it was a children's story'

"I thought it was a children's story," remarked Hopkins, currently portraying Sigmund Freud in the film 'Freud’s Last Session,' reflecting on the title.

“So I opened it. I sat in the dressing room in the theater, and I read through the first scene of Lecter. I said, ‘Is this an offer?’ He said, ‘I'm not sure.’ I said, ‘I'm not going to read anymore because this is one of the best parts I've ever read,’” he revealed.

The director did want Hopkins for the role

Director Jonathan Demme expressed a strong desire for Hopkins to take on the role, even flying from New York to London to watch Hopkins perform in the play, as Hopkins revealed.

“We went out afterward and we had some dinner. And I said, ‘Why'd you cast me?’ He said, ‘Why? Have you got problems?’ I said, ‘No, no. Why did you cast me?’” recalled the actor, per People Magazine.

“So we talked, but I knew how to play the part,” continued Hopkins. “And I don't know. I do have an instinct about these roles. I could understand Lecter. I could understand the mystery of the man, the loner, the isolated voice in the dark, the man at the top of the stairs who's not really there.”

In the movie, his character, locked up in an institution for the criminally insane, is interviewed by FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Foster), who is hoping to gain insight into another serial killer known as Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), who kidnaps women and skins them.

The two develop a strange rapport and respect for each other, despite their glaring differences.

Hopkins said working with Foster was a joy. “She's lovely,” he said.

“What's wonderful about Jodie is that great actor that she is, she has no entourage. She just comes on the set and does it. Very laid back. Very cool. What I like about her, is she's very practical.”