6 Little Known Tics That Made Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal So Captivating

According to Hopkins, it was director Jonathan Demme’s idea that Hannibal have an ashen pallor and so convinced his star to stay out of the sun leading up to filming. A sun-kissed tan, after all, wouldn’t look right on a man who has been locked away in the deepest, darkest depths of the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane for several years.

Other aspects of Hannibal’s appearance, however, were Hopkins idea. His hair was styled neatly and slicked back at Hopkins suggestion to – in his words – seem almost rat-like and his ensemble was the brainchild of the actor too.

Originally, the wardrobe department had planned to have the cannibal killer clad in a baggy orange prison jumpsuit à la newbie prisoners in Orange Is the New Black until Hopkins insisted there shouldn’t be anything slovenly about Hannibal’s appearance and suggested he instead wear a uniform that was tight-waisted and form-fitting, almost tailored even – an outfit that suggested total control.

Contrast this with his fellow inmates with their standard issue, untailored jumpsuits and unkempt hair and it’s another clever tactic that subverts our expectations of what a killer like Hannibal should look like who despite his circumstances manages to look almost dapper somehow.