--- title: Anthony Hopkins on Scaring Silence of the Lambs Fans VIDEO description: Anthony Hopkins tells Jimmy Kimmel about the time he scared the fava beans out of fans watching Silence of the Lambs canonical: https://time.com/4830270/anthony-hopkins-scared-silence-of-the-lambs-fans/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-23T17:21:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:44:50.126Z og:title: Anthony Hopkins Scared Fans Watching 'Silence of the Lambs' og:description: Hannibal Lecter doesn't seem too sorry about it either og:url: https://time.com/4830270/anthony-hopkins-scared-silence-of-the-lambs-fans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c7f2dd31869f7a4/6988d30ee76ad2f8f562e0e8/gettyimages-699010304.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: "Transformers: The Last Knight" US Premiere og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Anthony Hopkins Scared Fans Watching 'Silence of the Lambs' twitter:description: Hannibal Lecter doesn't seem too sorry about it either twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c7f2dd31869f7a4/6988d30ee76ad2f8f562e0e8/gettyimages-699010304.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Anthony Hopkins Scared the Fava Beans Out of Fans Watching _Silence of the Lambs_ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 23, 2017 5:21 PM UTC  CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 20: (L-R) Josh Duhamel, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Michael Bay, and Isabela Moner speak onstage at the US premiere of "Transformers: The Last Knight" at the Civic Opera House on June 20, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures) CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 20: (L-R) Josh Duhamel, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Michael Bay, and Isabela Moner speak onstage at the US premiere of "Transformers: The Last Knight" at the Civic Opera House on June 20, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)Timothy Hiatt&Getty Images for Paramount Pictures by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 23, 2017 5:21 PM UTC _The Silence of the Lambs_ was one of the most frightening movies ever made, but it wasn’t the serial killer Buffalo Bill who the FBI was hunting over the course of the movie that was the scariest part of the film. That honor went to the intense, creepy fava-bean-and-[chianti](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/07/05/this-exists-silence-of-the-lambs-chianti/?iid=sr-link2) loving [Hannibal Lecter,](http://time.com/4145858/uzo-aduba-eerie-performance-of-hannibal-lecter-in-the-silence-of-the-lambs/?iid=sr-link1) played notoriously by Sir Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins is currently starring in the latest addition to the _Transformers_ franchise and stopped by _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ on Thursday to discuss the film where he stars opposite Mark Wahlberg and a whole bunch of CGI robot cars. One of the perks of being a movie star is always getting to see the movie for free, either at screenings or at home, so Jimmy Kimmel asked him the last time he had paid to go see a movie. Turns out the last movie he remembers paying to see in the theater was a screening of [_Silence of the Lambs_,](http://entertainment.time.com/2012/02/21/which-is-the-better-best-picture-the-silence-of-the-lambs-or-casablanca/?iid=sr-link5) which, of course, scared the pants off of everyone in the theater, especially because a black-out happened to roll through in the middle of the film. “The lights went out. There was a big storm and someone in front of me said, ‘It’s a blackout. I think Hannibal Lecter must be in the theater,’” said Hopkins, laughing. “She turned around and said, ‘oh my God, he is.’” Hopkins didn’t sound particularly apologetic about possibly costing that woman years of her life for having [Hannibal Lecter ](http://entertainment.time.com/2011/11/22/top-10-movie-shrinks/?iid=sr-link7)himself sneak up behind her. Watch below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4830270/anthony-hopkins-scared-silence-of-the-lambs-fans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4830270/anthony-hopkins-scared-silence-of-the-lambs-fans/"},"headline":"Anthony Hopkins Scared the Fava Beans Out of Fans Watching Silence of the Lambs","datePublished":"2017-06-23T17:21:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:44:50.126Z","description":"You'd be scared if Hannibal Lecter showed up, too","url":"https://time.com/4830270/anthony-hopkins-scared-silence-of-the-lambs-fans/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","jimmy kimmel live","Late Night Comedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c7f2dd31869f7a4/6988d30ee76ad2f8f562e0e8/gettyimages-699010304.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c7f2dd31869f7a4/6988d30ee76ad2f8f562e0e8/gettyimages-699010304.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Transformers: The Last Knight\" US Premiere","caption":"\"Transformers: The Last Knight\" US Premiere","creditText":"Timothy Hiatt&Getty Images for Paramount Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4830270/anthony-hopkins-scared-silence-of-the-lambs-fans/","name":"Anthony Hopkins Scared the Fava Beans Out of Fans Watching Silence of the Lambs"}}]}] ```