Ted Levine just torched his most famous role. The actor behind Buffalo Bill in “Silence of the Lambs” is now publicly trashing the 1991 thriller, calling his portrayal of the skin-wearing serial killer “f*cking wrong” and expressing deep regret over the character’s impact on transgender perceptions.
In a brutally honest interview with Hollywood Reporter, Levine didn’t hold back. “There are certain aspects of the movie that don’t hold up too well,” he declared, admitting he’s become “a lot wiser about transgender issues” since playing the crossdressing murderer who killed women to wear their skin. The actor specifically called out problematic dialogue in the script, saying the film “vilified” gender identity issues in ways that now make him cringe.
Here’s where it gets interesting: Levine insists he never played Buffalo Bill as gay or transgender, describing him instead as “a f*cked-up heterosexual man.” This aligns with director Jonathan Demme’s 2014 explanation that the character’s obsession with becoming a woman was just “another way to escape” his self-loathing, not genuine gender dysphoria. But that nuance clearly got lost in translation for audiences over the decades.
The timing of Levine’s mea culpa couldn’t be more loaded. As Hollywood grapples with representation issues and cultural sensitivity, actors are increasingly distancing themselves from past roles that haven’t aged well. Levine credits his work with transgender individuals for opening his eyes to how the film’s portrayal could cause real harm to an already marginalized community.
This isn’t just another Hollywood apology tour—it’s a veteran actor acknowledging that iconic doesn’t always mean right. Whether this confession helps heal old wounds or simply draws more attention to the film’s problematic elements remains to be seen. But one thing’s certain: Levine’s willingness to call out his own work shows how dramatically the conversation around gender and representation has shifted since the early ’90s.
Source: mediaite.com