Anthony Hopkins Reflects on Cannibal Role

Oct. 4 -- Many great actors are forever tied to their most famous role; Anthony Hopkins' just happens to be a gourmet cannibal.

Hopkins once again reprises his Oscar-winning role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Red Dragon, opening today. It's a prequel to the 1991 blockbuster Silence of the Lambs, giving horror fans one more glimpse of the brain-eating, Chianti-savoring psychiatrist.

You can't even mention the original in polite conversation without someone doing an impression of the good doctor, from the scene where he's first interviewed by fledgling FBI agent Clarice Starling, portrayed by Jodie Foster.

"A census taker once tried to test me," Lecter tells Starling through his high-tech prison cell. "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

And, of course, no impression is complete without hearing Lecter's unforgettably sinister slurping.

The Specter of LecterHopkins, 64, says Dr. Lecter's specter is always nearby, but it doesn't bother him.

"Am I creeped out by him? No," says Hopkins. "It's just a job. It's just a part I played."

Earlier this year, Hopkins paired up with Chris Rock in Bad Company, and the Welsh-born actor said he really enjoyed the shoot-'em-up aspects of a popcorn-munching summer action flick.

Bad Company might have been bad at the box office. But after appearing in more than 100 movies, Hopkins just appreciates the variety that his talent and fame affords him. In one turn, he's claiming his rightful place as a fine British actor in The Remains of the Day. In another, he's Oliver Stone's choice to play the president in Nixon.

Hopkins can also play quirky roles, as he did last summer as the mysterious upstairs neighbor who befriends a young boy in Hearts in Atlantis.

"I don't get excited by things because you're only going to be disappointed, so I guess I have a sort of fail-safe system built into me," Hopkins says.

"I've always been a bit like this, ever since I was a kid. And It's not cynicism, it's just an inability to actually get hysterical."