10 HUGE Movie Roles Actors Were Too Scared To Take On

4. Clarice Starling (Silence Of The Lambs) - Michelle Pfeiffer

It should come as no surprise that many actors ran from Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of Thomas Harris’ psychological thriller. Whilst Anthony Hopkins' Oscar winning turn as Hannibal Lecter may have gone on to fuel a revival of the grimy serial-killer-procedural-thriller which would spawn everything from The Cell, to Se7en, to well, Copycat, at first glance many felt the intensely dark nature of the project would turn audiences off.

The film initially struggled to gain big studio support, and its tough time finding a cast only served to convince the backers that the project was too creepy and insular for mainstream viewers. Imagine, a big interest from audiences in Criminal Minds and the Mindhunters who catch them…

So it was that the director’s first choice, his former collaborator and then-recent Catwoman Michelle Pfeiffer, chose against playing the role of agent Clarice Starling. Citing the dark and gruesome nature of the project, Pfeiffer instead stuck to lighter fare.

It was a decision which would lead the casting agents to Jodie Foster, reigniting her career with an astounding and roundly praised turn as the newbie agent.