Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn; Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall; Woody Allen and Diane Keaton ... Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster? American cinema is crammed with great male/female screen partnerships, and the latter surely ranks among them despite the fact that they only appeared in one movie together, and the dynamic between their characters is somewhat darker than most others. Obviously, I'm talking about "The Silence of the Lambs" and the strange chemistry between young FBI trainee Clarice Starling and incarcerated serial killer Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter. A combination of powerhouse acting and an unmistakable frisson of sexual tension that elevates the movie, although Foster claims she never actually spoke to her co-star during the shoot.

Appearing on "The Graham Norton Show" in 2016, the host asked the double Oscar-winner about a rumor that she didn't interact with Hopkins on set. She responded:

"No, never spoke to him. He was scary! Because the scenes were so long, they'd kind of lock him in at the beginning of the day, and we got to the end of the movie and we'd really never had a conversation."

Foster doesn't seem to be the kind of person who would be afraid of anyone, but perhaps her wariness about the revered Welsh actor informed her performance in the film. When I first saw it, I recall sharing Starling's trepidation as she descends into the dungeon-like basement of the psychiatric hospital to interview the former psychiatrist in the hope he can help her catch Buffalo Bill, a new serial killer on the loose. We first glimpse Lecter standing erect and still in the middle of his cell, greeting Starling with an unnervingly steady gaze. But it wasn't just Hopkins' terrifying performance that kept him and Foster from bonding.