23. Playing Catherine—the factor that, no, we will not assist you fill your chair into your van during the night, Strange Man—was a substantial break for Smith, who regardless of a respected profession is at peace with permanently being called “the girl in the pit” from The Silence of the Lambs.
But Demme, who didn’t even make her read for the part, picked up that she belonged because pit.
“Those were the days when they trusted the director enough that there wasn’t a whole committee that approved me,” Smith informed Vulture. “He consulted with me, talked with me, informed me what it was gonna be. I remember him asking me, ‘Why do you wanna do this?’ Which is a great concern. I remember it was due to the fact that I believed I could not. I simply believed, I do not believe I can do this. So he provided me the part. I needed to acquire 25 pounds, which was truly enjoyable. I was likewise simply coming out of my life in hard rock, and entering my life as a starlet.’
Not shut off by the dark product at all, she remembered, “I resembled, ‘Let’s go all out.’ There were specific representatives at the time who informed me not to do it, which I believe is humorous now. I kinda did then, too. I resembled, ‘I’m gonna state no?!’ They idea I’d be stereotyped, locked into the fat-girl classification. [Though she was hardly fat, Buffalo Bill’s victims were supposed to be “roomy,” using Lecter’s word, so that he could loosen their skin by starving them.] They stated it would be extremely difficult to leave. Which is not entirely incorrect. But there was no chance I wasn’t going to do it.”
To prepare herself for being stuck in a pit in a psychopath’s dungeon, she locked herself in her moms and dads’ basement closet to simulate the close, dark boundaries. Before shooting, she had headaches about remaining in that scenario and panicking over whether she’d attempt to get away (Catherine does put a strategy into movement including Bill’s precious canine, Precious) or simply accept her fate and pass away.
“I’m not gonna lie,” she stated, “I had some issues going on, and I remember thinking that was the difference between Catherine and myself. I didn’t have as much self-worth back then. It wasn’t the most obvious thing for me to do. And that made me sort of examine, ‘Okay, wait a minute, why don’t I wanna live?’ I’m making it sound a little more than it was, but, I just remember going, ‘Oh, okay, so what’s going on here?’ And it led me into years of therapy.”
