Overview
- Ted Levine, who played Buffalo Bill, told The Hollywood Reporter the film vilified gender identity and called that “f---ing wrong,” adding he portrayed the killer as a disturbed heterosexual man.
- Producer Edward Saxon said the filmmakers were not sensitive enough to the harm of entrenched stereotypes, even though they did not view the character as gay or trans, and he expressed regret.
- The portrayal has long drawn criticism from transgender communities, with recent coverage noting dialogue and depictions that commentators say no longer hold up.
- Anniversary reporting also revisits real‑crime roots: Thomas Harris’s account of a Monterrey prison “doctor” influencing Lecter and documented parallels for Buffalo Bill to Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, and Gary Heidnik, as cited by investigators and FBI agent John Douglas.
- The 1991 thriller remains a cultural landmark, returning to conversation on its 35th anniversary after a strong box office run and an Academy Awards sweep of the Big Five categories.