7 Horror Actors Who Secretly Hate Horror Movies

Having starred in David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers (1988), Jeremy Irons is no stranger to the macabre. Yet, while he is happy to embrace the uncanny and the subtly creepy, he does his best to avoid anything out-and-out scary when choosing roles.

In fact, the actor was initially considered to play Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, but he declined the offer. Irons has noted that while he enjoys acting in "edgy" films, there are certain characters whom he is just not willing to bring to life on-screen.

Explaining why he turned down the opportunity to star in Jonathan Demme's acclaimed psychological horror, he said, "I thought I just can't do it; I'm already too far down this road. And when I saw what Tony Hopkins had done, I thought, thank Christ I didn't do it."

Overall, Irons likes his characters to possess a touch of moral ambiguity, something which horror films of the more brutal variety often lack. Considering his views on the matter, it makes sense that playing a cannibalistic serial killer was not an enticing prospect for the actor.