Recently, the true story of the perverted ogre that caused a sensation around the world in the last century was brought to the screen by the always bold Netflix and received a lot of attention. Since its launch in September, "Monsters: The Story of Jeffrey Damo" has been viewed by more than 200 million people, topping the Netflix ratings list for three consecutive weeks and ranking fifth in the history of premiere episode views.
The protagonist, Jeffrey Damo, comes from the bottom and seems harmless to humans and animals, but in the 13 years from 1978 to 1991, he murdered and dismembered a total of 17 people, including killing, adulterating corpses, making specimens, eating internal organs... In fact, Damo is the true prototype of the perverted murderer "Hannibal", who once nightmarished countless people.
Although this anti-human image is by no means worth pursuing, there is no doubt that as the theme of film and television works, it is definitely an eye-catching code for horror and crime themes. And for its actors, it is also full of tempting challenges.
"Monsters: The Story of Jeffrey Damo", starring Ivan Peters, successfully got rid of the youth of the "Quicksilver" period; And with the incarnation of an elegant "pervert" who relies on superb cooking skills and eats human flesh like a feast (drama version of "Hannibal"), Max Mikkelsen has been affectionately called "Uncle Ba" by fans since then.
And about the most classic and prestigious interpretation of this image, when pushing Anthony Hopkins in 1992's Oscar winner "The Silence of the Lambs", he played Dr. Hannibal, a high-IQ criminal who loves human flesh, to the slightest touch, and even a small movement will make people shudder.
And this role also changed Hopkins' fate - before "The Silence of the Lambs", he was just a frustrated British actor in Hollywood and in his fifties. The role of Hannibal brought him to the peak of his life, and he also won the actor for this film. The film was also the biggest winner of the Oscars that year, in addition to best picture, best actor, but also won the best director, best actress, best adapted screenplay awards, which can be described as an important award in one fell swoop.
However, before the filming, this sensational thriller story scared off many people. Initially, Jean Hackman, who became famous with "The Thief", planned to direct and star, but finally chose to give up due to concerns about his own image. In the end, the guide was in the hands of Jonathan Demy, who is good at directing crime comedies, but has been so-so at the box office before.
The heroine - the role of the FBI female agent, Demy originally wanted "Catwoman" Michelle Pfeiffer, but was declined by the latter, and only Jodie Foster, who is a child star, took the initiative to ask for it.
Hannibal's actor is even more difficult to find, Demy's first candidate is the "original 007" Sean Connelly who has both acting skills and box office guarantees, the latter also refused for fear that the film was too dark and violent, and other candidates include Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, etc., but Demi thought of Hopkins, whose performance in "The Elephant Man" directed by David Lynch made Demi miss - in that film, Hopkins also played a doctor, It's just a kind man, "What if he goes bad?" "Demi is full of expectations.
"The Elephant Man"
At that time, Hopkins was not very famous, and it could even be regarded as box office poison. He believes that his film career is over and has returned to his hometown in London to act in stage plays.
When he got the original script for "The Silence of the Lambs," Hopkins thought it was a children's film just by looking at the title, but after reading ten pages, he exclaimed: "This is the best script I've ever seen." However, the filmmaker Orian Pictures was not optimistic about Hopkins, and Demi was not satisfied with Jodie Foster, and finally the two sides reached an agreement: Don't oppose my choice, and I don't oppose your choice.
In order to play Hannibal well, in addition to reading the script, Hopkins also did a lot of research on serial killers and murderers, visited prisons, and sat several hearings on related crimes, and finally, he came to his own understanding of Hannibal: "He belongs to the classic villain, and the audacity can be deeply exciting and unsettling." He believed in what he did, so he was so crazy. Hopkins even cited the "killing" computer HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey" as one of his inspirations for shaping Hannibal.
Although Hopkins' performance is only more than 20 minutes, it is so realistic and terrifying. It is said that Martha Stewart, the American housekeeping queen who once dated him, broke up with Hopkins after watching "The Silence of the Lambs" because she can no longer look directly at her boyfriend.