Actors are typecast all the time but usually it’s by their fans, not other celebrities. But entertainment guru Martha Stewart is admitting that even she wasn’t immune to actor Anthony Hopkins playing his most famous role as cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs.” Hopkins was so convincing as that character that it wound up costing him a chance at love.
The 80-year-old “Martha Stewart Living” host revealed the story behind their breakup during a conversation on “The Ellen Show.” While participating in a variation of the game “Two Truths and a Lie” called, “Where’s the Lie, Martha?” Stewart gave the clue, “I dated Sir Anthony Hopkins but broke up with him because I couldn’t stop thinking of him as Hannibal Lecter.”
Ellen DeGeneres incorrectly guessed that the Hopkins clue was a lie. But Stewart surprised her by saying it was the truth.
“I have a big, scary house in Maine that’s way by itself on 100 acres in the forest, and I couldn’t even imagine taking Anthony Hopkins there,” Stewart explained to DeGeneres. “I couldn’t — all I could think of was him eating, you know…”
The talk show host asked Stewart if she broke up with Hopkins “because of that,” and she confirmed, “Yeah.”
Stewart didn’t elaborate on when she dated Hopkins or how serious the relationship was before she decided to move on. But it was likely prior to Hopkins marrying his third wife Stella Arroyave in 2003.
The “Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party” host got divorced from husband Andrew Stewart in 1990. According to CNN, she played coy about dating Hopkins in the past, saying they “went out to dinner” but “a girl should kiss and never tell.”
Meanwhile, Hopkins may have lost out on a potential romance, but he did earn accolades for his portrayal as a creepy cannibal. The Welsh actor earned an Academy Award in 1992 for playing the character Hannibal Lecter. Plus, he reprised his role in the 2001 film “Hannibal” and the 2003 prequel “Red Dragon.”
The actor revealed to Vanity Fair how he created the iconic Hannibal’s voice and demeanor. Hopkins told the publication he modeled the character after Christopher Fettes at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
“There was a teacher we had, a Stanislavsky method teacher, and he was lethal. He would just take you apart intellectually,” the actor said. “He’d just smirk, and he’d say, ‘No. Do it again’… I based it on him: ‘No, Clarice.'”
Hopkins said Fettes was a man with “a cutting voice” that could “slice you to pieces,” making him the ideal model for a cannibalistic psychopath. “His analysis of what you were doing was so precise; it’s a method that stayed with me for all of my life,” Hopkins said, according to Variety.
He made his physical appearance very deliberate as well. To portray Hannibal, Hopkins slicked back his hair, while director Jonathan Demme had the idea to make the character pale and advised the actor to stay out of the sun.
“After my first make-up session, I went to the mirror and thought – ‘this is it’,” Hopkins said.
The look was so convincing, it kept Stewart from dating him.