6 Directors Who Were Lumbered With Actors They Didn’t Even Want

5. Jonathan Demme Had No Faith In Jodie Foster, Was "Persuaded" By Producers (The Silence Of The Lambs)

Though it might seem absurd today, director Jonathan Demme had enormous reservations about casting Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, after being unconvinced by her Boston accent for her Oscar-winning role in 1988's The Accused. Before his recent death, Demme said, "I saw her 'acting' all over the place and I wasn’t impressed."

Demme exhausted numerous other options before Foster was eventually cast: Michelle Pfeiffer found the material too dark, Meg Ryan was "slightly offended" by the offer and Orion Pictures rejected Laura Dern because she wasn't famous enough.

The movie's producers firmly nudged Demme towards Foster, and with his other enthusiastic options depleted, he didn't have much of a choice but to cast her. It all worked out in the end of course, with both Demme and Foster winning Oscars for their work on the film.

Demme said, "And look what happened...I fell madly in love with her…I named our production company Strong Heart Productions after Jodie’s sense of character."