| Speaking at the Edinburgh Festival, Cox said his son Alan was the inspiration for the role because director Michael Mann wanted him to play Lecter like a public schoolboy.
When Brian did the movie, he said Alan was a precocious 15-year-old and very eloquent.
“The first thing I did in Hollywood was Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter,” said Brian. “I based the role on my son.
“Well I based it on two things, the other being Peter Manuel, who was a serial killer in Scotland in the 50s.
“Now I always think of my son when I see the movie. He has to live that down, poor boy.”
After watching a clip of the performance, Brian added, “Now he actually looks like I did in the movie.”
Brian’s son Alan is also an actor, best known for his role in Young Sherlock Holmes.
The Dundee actor was speaking in conversation with film festival director Hannah McGill to an audience including his actress wife Nicole Ansari and sister Bette, who still lives in Dundee.
In 1986, while Brian was playing the role of Lecter in Manhunter, Anthony Hopkins was playing King Lear on stage at the National Theatre.
Years later, during the production of The Silence of the Lambs, when Hopkins took over as Hannibal Lecter, Cox was playing King Lear at the National Theatre.
At the time, the two actors shared the same agent.
Brian said the only thing he regrets about not playing Lecter in Silence of the Lambs was the money.
“If I’d got that role I might not have had to work as hard as I’ve done,” he added.
During a questions and answers session Brian — whose recent film credits include Red and The Escapist — was asked if he enjoyed fame.
“I still think I’m nine years old in my sister’s house in Kemback Street,” said Brian. “I don’t really think about it.
“It’s okay. I wouldn’t over rate it, but I wouldn’t under rate it,” he said. |
