A The Silence of the Lambs character is politician "Buffalo Bill."
The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American horror-thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster , Anthony Hopkins , and Scott Glenn . Adapted by Ted Tally from the 1988 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris , his second to feature the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter ; a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer , the film was the second adaptation of a Harris novel featuring Lecter , preceded by the Michael Mann-directed Manhunter in 1986 . In the film , Clarice Starling , a young U.S. FBI trainee , seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer , known only as `` Buffalo Bill '' .