Rebecca Breeds Reveals Her Trick to Nailing Clarice Starling's Accent

Clarice star Rebecca Breeds appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night to promote the premiere of her new show, set a year after the eents of The Silence of the Lambs. Colbert complimented her on nailing Clarice Starling's famous West Virginia accent originated by Jodie Foster 30 years ago in Jonathan Demme's film, especially since Breeds is Australian. 

"You want to know my trick?" Breeds asked. "If I'm having a tricky day and I really need to get into the accent, I walk around and I just say to myself 'Doctor Lecter. Doctor Lecter! Doctor Lecter!' You just say 'Doctor Lecter' enough times and it comes out. Even you could do it, for sure."

Colbert gamely gave it a shot, and the trick seemed to work for him, too. Of course, the notorious Hannibal Lecter will not be a part of Clarice, but it's fitting that the character is still affecting Clarice and the actor portraying her. 

"If you want, you can add to it, 'Doctor Lecter, I'm Clarice Starling,'" Breeds noted. "You just add the end onto it, and then boom, you know? Appalachian accent! It's as easy as that!"

Clarice premeires on CBS Thursday, February 11 at 10:00 PM ET.

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Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.