'Silence of the Lambs' actress will return to Buffalo Bill's House

Sep. 14—Brooke Smith hasn't been back to the unassuming house on Circle Street in Perryopolis since her "rescue" there by the FBI in the early '90s.

OK, technically it was the fictional Catherine Martin rescued from a well in the horrifying basement of serial killer Buffalo Bill, during the seminal 1991 horror film "The Silence of the Lambs."

But Smith, who portrayed Martin, is still a little freaked out at the prospect of going back this month.

"I feel like this would be a really good set-up for a new film — you ask the former horror actress to go back to the house one more time, and then bam — you get her again!" Smith said with a laugh.

Smith will take part in a weekend of VIP photo opportunities and house tours Sept. 22-24 at Buffalo Bill's House, bought by New York City art director and prop stylist Chris Rowan and transformed into an overnight experience and a tribute to the film over the past few years.

As a young actor out of New York City in the late 1980s, Smith was overjoyed at being cast by director Jonathan Demme. She was a little less excited to find out that Buffalo Bill was picking plus-size victims.

"It was 1990, and you were supposed to be thin as an actress, so I'd just lost a bunch of weight and, of course, the first major role I get, I had to gain 25 pounds," she said.

Smith would go on to play Catherine Martin, the plucky daughter of a U.S. senator who is kidnapped by Buffalo Bill and held hostage at his Ohio home. The actual house, a beautiful 1910 Victorian, is in Fayette County, and it's got some features that were missing the last time Smith was on set.

Scenes involving Bill's basement — where he kept Catherine Martin at the bottom of a well — were filmed on a Pittsburgh-area soundstage. But Rowan wasn't going to have Buffalo Bill's house without a well. Working with legendary Pittsburgh make-up and special-effects artist Tom Savini, Rowan set out to create Bill's basement workshop and all its creepy accoutrements, including the well, where Smith will don her Catherine Martin costume to meet fans and snap photos.

"I think it'll be really cool to go back and revisit it all," she said.

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Related:

—From 2022: 'Silence of the Lambs' house in Fayette County offers special tours on Mother's Day

—From 2021: 'Silence of the Lambs' turns 30 — celebrate by spending the night in 'Buffalo Bill's house'

—From 2021: Buffalo Bill's House among unique spooky season spots in Western Pa.

—From 2021: 'Silence of the Lambs' house in Fayette County sells again

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In addition to her breakout role in the film, Smith has more than 80 film and television credits on her resume. But most of her co-stars have a tough time comparing with Buffalo Bill. Smith said that despite the character's uniquely scary nature, she wasn't frightened at all by actor Ted Levine's portrayal of a psychopathic man who is sewing himself a dress made of real women's skin.

"I spent all my time with him, and I think maybe it was overcompensation for the intense scenes we did together," Smith said. "I remember Jodie Foster saying that as well."

Foster had recently starred in "The Accused," in which she is sexually assaulted by a group of men.

"You have to be comfortable with the people you do those types of scenes with," Smith said, adding that the intensity of the script and the overall experience was quite a crash course in acting as her career was starting.

"I didn't know anything at the time," she said. "For me, acting is the best when I lose myself and have no self-awareness of 'Brooke,' and in 'Silence' there were a lot of those moments. That's part of the nature of what it was. You couldn't hold back."

Fans hoping to attend the late-September weekend can purchase opportunities for a meet-and-greet, signed autographs an a VIP experience at the well.

Rowan said he can't wait.

"It is a film enthusiast's dream come true to have Brooke Smith return to Buffalo Bill's House for the very first time since shooting the film on location over 30 years ago," he said. "As huge cinephiles ourselves, we know this ultra-exclusive, intimate experience is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Smith is pretty sure she is looking forward to it, but wasn't certain what might happen when she sees the well for the first time.

"Hopefully, I won't get triggered," she said with a laugh. "I'm also curious to see if the neighborhood still looks the way I remember."

For more on the special events as well as upcoming Halloween tours at the Buffalo Bill House, see BuffaloBillsHouse.com/upcoming-events.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .