‘Silence of the Lambs’ star Ted Levine slams role of fictional villain after transgender backlash

Ted Levine, who played Buffalo Bill in the film Silence of the Lambs, spoke about the criticism of transphobia the film has received since its release 35 years ago.

“There are certain aspects of the movie that don’t hold up well,” Levine told The Hollywood Reporter.

The portrayal of the character Buffalo Bill, also known as Jame Gumb, has been criticized for years by the transgender community as dangerous.

Buffalo Bill was a killer who killed women to harvest their skin for clothing.

Despite the character’s gender not being explicitly stated, he was seen as gender nonconforming in the film.

“We all know more, and I’m smarter about transgender issues,” he added to the outlet. “There are wrong lines in that script and the movie.”

“[It’s] over time and being aware of and working with trans folks, and understanding more about the culture and the reality of the meaning of gender,” Levine said.

“It’s unfortunate that the movie nailed that, and it’s wrong. And you can quote me on that,” Levine commented.

Despite that, Levin said of his performance as Buffalo Bill: “I didn’t play him as gay or trans.

In this film, Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter, who is touched by FBI trainer Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster.

Lecter is a serial killer who mentors Starling, to help capture Buffalo Bill.

The film, directed by Jonathan Demme, was released on Valentine’s Day in 1991, and became a worldwide hit.

It won five Oscars, including best actor, best actress, best screenplay, best director and best picture.

Demme’s co-producer, Edward Saxon, told the company: “We were really faithful to the book. As we were making the film, there was no doubt in our minds that Buffalo Bill was completely deviant – that he wasn’t gay or he wasn’t flawed.”

“He was sick. On that level, we missed it. In my opinion, we weren’t empathetic enough about the legacy of so many stereotypes and their ability to hurt,” he explained to THR.

“There is remorse, but it didn’t come from any place of malice. It actually came from a place of seeing this guy. We all had dear friends and family who were gay. We thought it would be very clear that Buffalo Bill was adapting to different things in society, from a place of incredibly sick pathology,” Saxon said.