Overview
- Ted Levine said the film's treatment of transgender people was wrong and offered an apology for the harm he believes it caused.
- Levine maintained he played Jame Gumb as a disturbed heterosexual man rather than as a gay or transgender character.
- Producer Edward Saxon said the team viewed Buffalo Bill as an aberrant, sick personality, not representative of gay or trans identity.
- Saxon admitted the production missed the harmful legacy of certain stereotypes and lacked sufficient sensitivity at the time.
- The reflections were published in new reporting tied to the film’s 35th anniversary, prompting fresh discussion of its legacy.