Here's Why The Hannibal Lecter Trilogy Replaced Jodie Foster With Julianne Moore

As it was, producers didn't find a tone that worked for Oscar-winning The Silence of the Lambs helmer Jonathan Demme either, with Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) claiming the director's chair on Hannibal. With Foster being an official "no" for the sequel, Julianne Moore was tapped to step into the coveted role of Clarice Starling for the Hannibal. Though Moore proved a suitable enough fit for the role, critics were far from kind to the film overrall, with some lamenting the absence of Demme's more nuanced approach to the horrifying world of Dr. Lecter and the absence of Foster's commanding, understated screen presence.

To their credit, both Demme and Foster remained largely quiet about the state of Hannibal when it finally reached theaters. When pressed on her absence from the film in a revelatory 2005 interview with Total Film, Foster continued to take the high road, slyly claiming it was her desire to direct her long-gestating passion project Flora Plum that ultimately kept her away.

"You know, I don't think you can ever take away what Silence [of the Lambs] was ... The official reason I didn't do Hannibal is I was doing another movie, Flora Plum [a long-cherished project that has yet to be shot]," she said. "So I get to say, in a nice, dignified way, that I wasn't available when that movie was being shot. But Clarice meant so much to Jonathan and I, she really did, and I know it sounds kind of strange to say but there was no way that either of us could really trample on her."

When asked if she'd seen Hannibal in the same interview, Foster admitted she had before offering, "I won't comment."

Sometimes silence is the harshest of critics, and Foster's continued silence on the Hannibal front clearly speaks volumes.