Horror Actressing: Jodie Foster in "The Silence of the Lambs"
Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 3:30PM by Jason Adams
When I think back on Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning turn playing Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 I tend to think of a overwhelmed young woman -- Demme is constantly framing Foster as the smallest person in the room -- but one who musters up unimaginable courage. She pushes deeper into that blacked-out basement as another young woman and an injured dog shriek from the bottom of a blood-streaked pit. And I tend to think of that same small and overwhelmed young woman standing in room after room after room of big dope-faced men staring down at her, eyes narrowed, disbelieving.
What I don't particularly tend to think of first is Clarice Starling smiling. And yet she does... Often and broadly!
Think of her flirting with the entomology nerds who give her the Death's-Head moths information, or working out clues with her best bud Ardelia (Kasi Lemmons) on their FBI dormitory beds after a shower -- they're practically bouncing on their mattresses together, so giddy are they with this work; with their calling actually answering back. You see it in her conversations with Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) -- for all his insidious whispers of sodomy Clarice just isn't that fucked up. Her secrets are of decency, bone deep.
And so for all of the dogged and serious-minded determination that she's known for Foster also lets us see, time and again, what a thrill this job is for Clarice, and how she can feel her own weirder personality traits snapping into place with the duties she's being handed. It clearly feels like destiny, like her story's provenance, a first chapter, and it feels good. Right. All the scary stuff, from this angle, becomes secondary -- she's silencing those screaming little lambs at last. How could she not be relieved? The Silence of the Lambs is a horror film for sure but it's also an origin story for a damned-good detective, a super capable hero of sorts -- a woman willing to stand between us and the darkness and shoot.
There are two smiles from Clarice in the film's final scene that stood out to me on this week's might-be-thousandth re-watch, and they come within seconds of each other. Clarice has just saved the day (and the girl) and we cut from her in shock being cradled by Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn), who pushes away a news-camera, to Clarice's FBI Academy graduation where the flashbulbs are going off. Clarice struts proudly across the stage, beaming down to Ardelia in the audience -- the suddenness of this transition wipes away not just what was a good passage of time but also the need for any emotional rehabilitation for Clarice. One minute she's in shock, the next she's beaming -- Clarice, in case you missed it, is gonna be just fine, you guys.
The second smile is a little more sphinx-like, and ends that toothy surety with a question mark appropriate for the genre we're in, coloring that happy ending a shade more red -- that legendary call from Lecter comes just as Clarice exits stage left, the one where he's "having an old friend for dinner." Hannibal tells her not to worry, that...
"I have no plans to call on you, Clarice. The world's more interesting with you in it."
And here Clarice smiles the world's most minutely observed smile, so small it's able to shift back to seriousness with barely a flicker off Foster's face. And yet it registers -- Clarice is flattered she's been deemed "interesting" by the hoity-toity cannibal in the warm-weather floppy hat.
That is the tension at the heart of the whole Lecter tale, whether it's the drug-induced romantic spree Julianne Moore gets handed in Ridley Scott's sequel or the three seasons worth of homoerotic flirtations in Bryan Fuller's Hannibal series. The darkness will find a way in, somehow. It will mark us, even if with smiles. And Jodie Foster just captured it, the whole of it, on her face one moment here and gone so fast.
Previously in "Great Moments in Horror Actressing"...
- Betty Gabriel, Get Out
- Marcia Gay Harden, The Mist
- Patty Mullen, Frankenhooker
- Rosario Dawson, Death Proof
- Glenda Farrell, Mystery of the Wax Museum
- Anjelica Huston, The Witches
- Rita Macedo, Curse of the Crying Woman
- Geena Davis, The Fly
- Eva Green, Dark Shadows
- Isabelle Adjani, Possession
- Janet Leigh, Psycho
Reader Comments (28)
This is one of my favorite performances of all time. She's just astonishing.
Didn't Michelle Pfeiffer turn this role down?
@Peggy Sue your right she did turn it down for being too dark.
Foster is quite great in this and if the voters had foresight wouldn't have had to reward her three years earlier for Accused.
I would vote won of the T&L women above Foster but I cannot deny she's brilliant and aside from Contact it's the best she's ever been
Peggy Sue & Eoin Daly-
I looked on Wikipedia and the 1st choice was indeed Michelle Pfeiffer.
Director's 2nd choice: Meg Ryan(!?!)
Director's 3rd choice: Laura Dern
Wow!
Pfeiffer was supposedly traumatized by the horror elements, from what I recall? She would've been terrific too, I'm sure, but it's hard to picture her Clarice. It's hard to picture anybody but Foster. I wish whomever they cast in the upcoming TV series the best of luck, they'll need it.
I love this movie and I love Foster as Clarice. Perhaps it’s an unpopular opinion but her Oscar is the one I most cherished among the ones won by The Silence.
I always pause when I read people who say Foster shouldn't have won her first Oscar for The Accused. AMPAS voters just needed to wait three years.
My response is that Foster was not the first choice for The Silence of the Lambs. Reportedly, Pfeiffer, Geena Davis, and Emma Thompson declined the role while Kim Basinger was considered but asked for too much money That Oscar win made Foster more marketable. Without the notoriety provided by the prize, Foster may not have been offered the role of Clarice Starling.
Jason, what a fresh and original take on Foster's acting in this film.
I think Foster gives one of the best performances of all time in this movie. I hope she finds her inspiration again, and we get to see her in another great role. When she's flying, there is nobody who can touch her.
I love Foster but my hearts with Louise in 91.
Mirko: I'm with you on that. Foster was the most deserving of Lambs's winners. Excellent film but she's its MVP.
This is a perfect movie- script. direction, cast
She's perfect in every scene, every single line. So minimalist, so subtle, but so strong!
Jason, a terrific writeup. A very deserved winner in a marvelous lineup. And the last time two nominees came from one film.
I didn't make that question.
i love how the two female fbi recruits went to direct
Jason, a thousand times, Yes. A brilliant performance, one for the ages.
Peggy Sue, you meant to say "I didn't ask that question."
One of my favourite performances ever. She’s so magnificent.
Foster and Hopkins have to be the strongest Best Actress/Best Actor pair. I can’t imagine anyone coming close.
A miracle of a performance. Sometimes I find Foster too cerebral, studied, stilted. As if she’s trying to make the characters shes portraying as smart and sophisticated as she is. But this is one of the most perfect examples of STAR + role meeting together and making movie magic. One of the greatest best actress winners ever IMO.
Some roles need the expression and visible horror you can only get from an alabaster canvas such as Jodie Foster in her prefect role.
Shmeebs, as much as I adore these two wins, I would put Dunaway and Finch for Network at the top.
She's amazing in this. She has a very specific presence as an actress, and, as Aaron said, this was the perfect mix of performer and role. She's especially good at playing driven, intense characters. Definitely one for the ages. I consider Thelma and Louise to feature career-best work from Davis and Sarandon, but I agree with Oscar's pick on this one.
It's so crazy to think of all of the stars who turned this down! I can imagine Pfeiffer doing quite well with the role, and I think Ryan would have been better than people might think. I can't quite wrap my head around Kim Basinger or Geena Davis, though ... Anyway, the role definitely went to the right person.
A little bit verbose but empty at times (Cláudio’s razor sharp insight and extraordinary elegance shouldn’t be attempted, even if one can’t help but be in awe and inspiration to be privileged enough to be named his peer) but still quite a good piece. Keep true to your voice, that’s when the Horror Actressing series is at it’s best and one of this site’s best features. :) Good stuff Jason!
In 1991, I would have said that Davis or Sarandon deserved the Oscar, but as time as progressed, I have thought Foster was just as good. It's now hard for me to choose between Sarandon and Foster, both at their all-time best. 1991 was such a great year in cinema.
Apparently Foster doggedly pursued this role... I believe she was self-aware and knew how it suited her.
I know I'm in the minority but I think Silence of the Lambs is an over-rated film. Anthony Hopkins was pretty good in it though.
The best Best Actor/Actress duo is Gable and Colbert, surely.
THE BEST LEADING ACTRESS WINNING PERFORMANCE EVAH
"Silence of the Lambs" is not a horror film to me. It''s a character study of sorts. This was Hopkins at his absolute peak. But Foster is the film. Everything she does works. Not false note. Yes, she a studied actress so this role fits her like an absolute glove. Mesmerizing.
I loved how this film ended. The sequel where Clarice is a lovelorn buffoon just made me angry. "Silence" is perfection in that it "gets" the relationship between Lecter and Clarice. The sequel completes bastardizes their relationship and does Clarice a complete and utter character disservice.
One of the all-time great performances.