Clarice M. Starling is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...
and
protagonist of the novels ''
The Silence of the Lambs'' (1988) and ''
Hannibal'' (1999) by
Thomas Harris
William Thomas Harris III (born 1940/1941) is an American writer, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, the most notab ...
.
In the 1991
film adaptation of ''The Silence of the Lambs'', she was played by
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the hono ...
, while in the 2001
film adaptation of ''Hannibal'', she was played by
Julianne Moore
Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, ...
. In the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
television series ''
Clarice'', she is played by
Rebecca Breeds
Rebecca Elizabeth Breeds (born 17 June 1987) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as Cassie Cometti in the third series of ''Blue Water High'', as series regular Ruby Buckton in the soap opera ''Home and Away,'' Aurora de Martel in '' ...
.
Clarice Starling, as portrayed by Foster, is ranked by the
American Film Institute as the
greatest heroine in film history. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' and ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' ranked Starling as one of the "50 Greatest Movie Protagonists" and "100 Greatest Movie Characters" respectively. Foster's interpretation of Starling is highly ranked amongst the greatest screen performances of all-time, receiving a multitude of accolades including the
Academy Award for Best Actress
The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...
in 1992.
''The Silence of the Lambs''
In ''The Silence of the Lambs'', Starling is a student at the
FBI Academy. Her mentor,
Behavioral Sciences Unit chief
Jack Crawford, sends her to interview Dr.
Hannibal Lecter
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a Character (arts), fictional character created by the novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who Human cannibalism, eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected Forensic psychiatry, forensic psychi ...
, a brilliant psychiatrist and
cannibalistic
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
serial killer. He is housed in a
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
mental institution
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
. Upon arriving at the asylum for her first interview with Lecter, the asylum manager
Frederick Chilton
Dr. Frederick Chilton is a fictional character appearing in Thomas Harris' novels '' Red Dragon'' (1981) and '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1988), along with the film and television adaptations of Harris's novels.
In the novels
''Red Dragon''
...
makes a crude pass at her, which she rebuffs; this helps her bond with Lecter, who despises Chilton. "Multiple" Miggs, the inmate in the cell next to Lecter, throws his
semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Sem ...
at her; this offends Lecter, who "influences" Miggs to commit suicide as a way of apologizing to her.
As time passes, Lecter gives Starling information about
Buffalo Bill, a currently active serial killer being hunted by the FBI, but only in exchange for personal information, which Crawford had specifically warned her to keep secret from Lecter.
Starling tells Lecter that she was raised in a small town in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
by her father, a night marshal. When she was a young child, her father was shot when responding to a robbery; he died a month after the incident. Her mother managed to keep the family together for more than two years after his death, working as a motel maid in the daytime and cooking at a café at night, but she was ultimately unable to support the entire family. When Starling was 10 years old, she was sent to live with her mother's cousin on a
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
sheep and horse ranch, but she ran away when she witnessed the spring lambs being
slaughtered, fleeing with a mare also destined for the slaughterhouse whom she named Hannah. Starling was caught, but her mother's cousin eventually agreed to let her go, and she and Hannah both went to a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or ab ...
, where she spent the rest of her childhood.
According to the novel, Starling attended the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
as a
double major
A double degree program, sometimes called a dual degree, combined degree, conjoint degree, joint degree or double graduation program, involves a student's working for two university degrees in parallel—either at the same institution or at diffe ...
in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
and
criminology. During that time, she spent two summers working as a counselor in a mental health center. Starling first met Crawford when he was a guest lecturer at UVA. His criminology seminars were a factor in her decision to join the FBI.
During the investigation, Starling is assigned to coax Lecter into revealing Buffalo Bill's identity. Lecter gives her clues in the form of cryptic, riddling information designed to help Starling figure it out for herself. The two grow to respect each other, so when Lecter escapes during a transfer to a state prison in
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, Starling does not fear that he will kill her, as he "would consider it rude".
Starling deduces from Lecter's hints that Buffalo Bill's first victim had a personal relationship with him, and so goes to the victim's home in
Belvedere, Ohio
Belvedere is an unincorporated community in Wayne Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. It is located between Bloomingdale and Wintersville along U.S. Route 22
U.S. Route 22 (US 22) is a west–east route and is one of the orig ...
, to interview people who knew her. She unknowingly stumbles onto the killer himself, Jame Gumb, who is living under the alias "Jack Gordon". When she sees a
Death's-head Moth
The name death's-head hawkmoth refers to any of three moth species of the genus ''Acherontia'' ('' Acherontia atropos'', ''Acherontia styx'' and ''Acherontia lachesis''). The former species is found in Europe and throughout Africa, the latter t ...
, the same rare kind that Buffalo Bill stuffs in the throats of each of his victims, flutter through the house, she knows that she has found her man and tries to arrest him. Gumb flees, and Starling follows him into his basement, where his latest victim is alive and screaming for help. Gumb turns off the electricity in the basement, and stalks Starling through the rooms wearing
night-vision goggles
A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD), night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The dev ...
. As Gumb readies to shoot Starling, Starling hears him cock the hammer of his revolver and opens fire towards the sound, killing him. She is lauded as a hero in the press, and graduates with honors from the FBI Academy, becoming a full-fledged agent.
Weeks later, Lecter writes Starling a letter from a hotel room somewhere in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
asking her if the lambs have stopped screaming.
The final scene of the novel has Starling sleeping peacefully at a friend's vacation house at the
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
seashore.
''Hannibal''
At the beginning of ''Hannibal'', Starling is in her early 30s and still working for the FBI, although her career has been held back by Paul Krendler, a
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
official who resents her because he is a
misogynist
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...
, because she rejected his sexual advances, and because he believes that she humiliated him. She takes part in a bungled drug raid, in which she returns fire after a drug 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
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
under an alias. One of Lecter's surviving victims, a
sadistic
Sadism may refer to:
* Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation
* Sadistic personality disorder, an obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the s ...
pedophile
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...
named
Mason Verger
Mason Verger is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Thomas Harris's 1999 novel ''Hannibal'', as well as its 2001 film adaptation and the second and third seasons of the TV series ''Hannibal''. In the film, he is portrayed by Gary Ol ...
, 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 Pazzi. As Starling predicted, Lecter knows about the plot to capture him and, as a result, he kills Pazzi. Lecter then flees to the United States and immediately starts to follow Starling. Starling, meanwhile, is being harassed at the FBI by various corrupt agents, especially by Krendler, who is secretly assisting Verger in his attempt to capture Lecter. Starling attempts to find Lecter first, not only to capture him but also to save him from Verger. Krendler attempts to frame Starling in a scheme planned by Verger, alleging she sent coded newspaper messages to Lecter; this only results in her being suspended, but she is now powerless to stop Verger's men. Lecter is captured by Verger, who plans to feed him to a pack of specially bred
wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
s.
Starling is aware that Lecter is being held by Verger, so she attempts to save him so she can bring him in to the authorities. Following Verger's death at the hands of his sister Margot, Starling uses the distraction to try to rescue Lecter. She is wounded in the ensuing gunfight with Verger's men, but Lecter rescues her and nurses her back to health. He then subjects her to a regimen of
psychoactive drugs in the course of therapy sessions to help her heal from her childhood trauma and her pent-up anger at the injustices of the world. He considers whether his long-dead younger sister Mischa may somehow be able to live again through Starling.
During this time, Lecter captures Krendler and performs a
craniotomy
A craniotomy is a surgical operation in which a bone flap is temporarily removed from the skull to access the brain. Craniotomies are often critical operations, performed on patients who are suffering from brain lesions, such as tumors, blood clot ...
on him while he is still alive. During an elaborate dinner, Lecter scoops spoonfuls of Krendler's
forebrain
In the anatomy of the brain of vertebrates, the forebrain or prosencephalon is the rostral (forward-most) portion of the brain. The forebrain (prosencephalon), the midbrain (mesencephalon), and hindbrain (rhombencephalon) are the three primary ...
to saute with lemon and
caper
''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers.
The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning ...
s. In the novel, he serves Krendler's brain to Starling, who finds it delicious.
Lecter's plan for Mischa to live again within Starling ultimately fails, as she refuses to have her own personality sublimated, and he only briefly entertains the idea of Mischa taking his place. Starling then opens her dress and offers her breasts to Lecter; he accepts her offer and the two become lovers. They disappear together, only to be sighted again three years later entering the
Teatro Colón
The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...
Opera House in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
by former orderly Barney, who had treated Lecter with respect while he was incarcerated in Baltimore. Fearing for his life, Barney leaves Buenos Aires immediately, never to return.
The reader then learns that Lecter and Starling are living together in an "exquisite"
Beaux Arts mansion, where they employ servants and engage in activities such as learning new languages and dancing together and building their own respective
memory palaces, and is told that "Sex is a splendid structure they add to every day", that the psychoactive drugs "have had no part in their lives for a long time", and that Lecter is "satisfied" with the fact that Mischa cannot return.
Films
In the film adaptation of ''
The Silence of the Lambs'', Starling's role remains relatively unchanged from the book. However, the film adaptation of ''
Hannibal'' significantly diverges from the novel's conclusion. In the film, Lecter neither attempts to brainwash Starling nor feeds her Krendler's brain (although he does feed portions of it to Krendler himself); instead, Starling tries to apprehend Lecter, but he overpowers her and she handcuffs both of them to the refrigerator in an attempt to keep him in the house before the imminent arrival of the police. Lecter then cuts off his own hand and escapes, leaving Starling to explain the situation to the police. He is later seen on a plane, apparently fleeing the country again.
Although she won the
Academy Award for Best Actress
The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...
for playing Starling in ''The Silence of the Lambs'',
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the hono ...
decided not to reprise her role in ''Hannibal''.
Julianne Moore
Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, ...
portrayed the character in the sequel, with
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
himself recommending her for the role after his previous experience working with her in the film ''
Surviving Picasso''.
Television
Lifetime
In May 2012,
Lifetime announced that they were developing a television series centered on Clarice Starling after her graduation from the FBI academy, titled ''Clarice'', which was to be produced by
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
. The project did not go forward.
NBC
Bryan Fuller, the creator of the TV series ''
Hannibal'', stated prior to the show's cancellation his desire to include Clarice Starling as a character in the fifth season, provided that he could get the rights from MGM. He said that he planned for the show's fifth season to cover the events of ''
The Silence of the Lambs'', and the sixth to cover the events of ''
Hannibal'', with the seventh to be an original storyline resolving ''Hannibal''s ending. Since the series' cancellation, Fuller has stated that should the series continue and should they obtain rights to adapt ''The Silence of the Lambs'', Elliot Page or a
person of color would be ideal casting for the role of Clarice Starling.
CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
developed the ''
Clarice'' TV series as a sequel to ''The Silence of the Lambs'' set in 1993, created by
Alex Kurtzman
Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the ''Star Trek'' franchise since 2009, co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers'' (2007), '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' and ...
and
Jenny Lumet
Jenny Lumet (born February 2, 1967) is an American actress and screenwriter. She is the daughter of director Sidney Lumet and granddaughter of Lena Horne. Lumet is perhaps most known for writing the original screenplay of the 2008 Jonathan Demme ...
. The series stars Rebecca Breeds as the titular character, along with Lucca De Oliveira,
Devyn A. Tyler,
Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...
,
Nick Sandow
Nick Sandow (born August 3, 1966) is an American actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in ''Orange Is the New Black''.
Early life
Of Italian descent, Sandow grew up in the Italian neighborhood of Van Nest ...
,
Michael Cudlitz
Michael Cudlitz (born December 29, 1964) is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/ TNT drama series '' Southland'' for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013 ...
, and
Marnee Carpenter, and premiered on February 11, 2021, on CBS. It was effectively cancelled in June after one season because of low ratings and the breakdown of talks concerning the series' planned move from CBS to
Paramount+
Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starling, Clarice
Hannibal Lecter characters
Characters in American novels of the 20th century
Female characters in literature
Female horror film characters
Fictional characters from West Virginia
Fictional Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel
Literary characters introduced in 1988
Orphan characters in literature
Female characters in film
American female characters in television