Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins reunite to celebrate 'Silence of the Lambs' turning 30

Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins reunited virtually to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie that netted them both Oscar trophies: "The Silence of the Lambs," Jonathan Demme's film adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel.

The conversation was part of Variety's "Actors on Actors" series.

Hopkins, who played cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter, admitted to being confused by the film's title at first. "My agent sent a script. He said, 'Why don't you read this? It's called "Silence of the Lambs."' I said, 'Is it a children’s story?'"

For all of Lecter's icy menace -- modeled after an old acting teacher of Hopkins', he revealed -- it was he who was at first intimidated by Foster, who played newbie FBI recruit Clarice Starling. "I was scared to speak to you. I thought, 'She just won an Oscar [for 'The Accused']."

Calling the Best Picture-winning film "a life-changing adventure ... for both of us," Foster recalled the pair's first read-through of the script, which had them sitting opposite each other at a table. "And as you launched into Hannibal Lecter, I felt a chill come over the room."

Foster also wondered if people "still ask [Hopkins] if [he] would like a nice chianti," to which Hopkins replied, "All the time."

As fans would hope, Hopkins ended the conversation with an in-character "Goodbye, Clarice," to which Foster laughed and responded, "Bye, Dr. Lecter."