Clarice Starling Clarice Starling Clarice M. Starling is a fictional character who appears in the novels "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal" by Thomas Harris. In the film adaptation of "The Silence of the Lambs", she was played by Jodie Foster, while in the film adaptation of "Hannibal", she was played by Julianne Moore. Clarice Starling, as portrayed by Foster, was ranked the sixth greatest protagonist in film history on AFI's "100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains", making her the highest-ranking heroine. In 1991, for her portrayal of Starling she also received the Academy Award for Best Actress. In "The Silence of
Clarice Starling kingpin fires at her, using an infant as a human shield; her superiors blame her for the resulting mess, and she is removed from active duty, mostly at Krendler's instigation. She receives a supportive letter from Lecter, who is (unknown to her at the time) residing in Florence, Italy. One of Lecter's surviving victims, a sadistic pedophile named Mason Verger, is searching for Lecter and has offered a huge reward, which corrupt Florentine police inspector Rinaldo Pazzi tries to claim when he deduces Lecter's true identity in Florence. Starling finds out that Lecter is in Florence and attempts to warn