Brian Cox's Lecter: Real-Life Horror & Subtle Menace

0:00What's up? I'm Cory with the story, and these are your entertainment and celebrity headlines. Brian Cox beat Anthony Hopkins to the role of Hannibal Lecter by five years, playing the Cannibal Killer in the 1986 thriller, Man Hunter. The movie came from Thomas Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon and Martin Lecter's big screen debut. In a recent chat, the 79-year-old actor opened up about his inspirations. He watched Ted Bundy trials from the 1970s and drew from a notorious Scottish killer from his childhood named Peter Manuel, who slew multiple victims and even defended himself in court. Fans remember Man Hunter for FBI agent Will Graham turning to the jailed Lecter to profile a vicious murderer called the Tooth Fairy. The film flopped at first, but grew a cult following thanks to Cox's low-key take on the character. Unlike Hopkins' dramatic style later on, Cox went for choir realism, stressing Lecter's polished charm and everyday vibe that hit his menace.

1:00He also pulled from Nuremberg trowel notes defining evil as a total lack of empathy. That blend of real-life horror and subtle menace is what lingers from Cox's Lecter, reminding us how the scariest threats often look just like. Everyone else.