Hannibal (film) realized that Zaillian was "exorcising the 600 pages of the book. He was distilling through discussion what he was gonna finally do ... Frankly I could have just made it." It was unclear if Jodie Foster (Clarice Starling) and Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lecter) would reprise their respective roles for which they won Academy Awards in "The Silence of the Lambs" (best actress/actor). It became apparent that the producers and the studio could do without one of the original "stars" and would go on to find a replacement. The withdrawal of both Foster and Hopkins could possibly have been terminal for
Jodie Foster she had to be accompanied by bodyguards while she was on campus. Although Judge Barrington D. Parker confirmed that Foster was wholly innocent in the case and had been "unwittingly ensnared in a third party's alleged attempt to assassinate an American President", she was required to give a videotaped testimony, which was played at the trial. During her time at Yale, Foster also had other stalkers, including Edward Richardson, who initially planned to murder her but changed his mind after watching her perform in a college play. The experience was difficult for Foster, and she has rarely commented publicly about