'Clarice' Actress Rebecca Breeds: What to Know

Clarice actress Rebecca Breeds may be familiar to viewers of the new Silence of the Lambs spinoff, [...]

By Stephen Andrew

Clarice actress Rebecca Breeds may be familiar to viewers of the new Silence of the Lambs spinoff, and we have all the details on what fans want to know about the star. Breeds is a 33-year-old actress from Sydney, Australia, where she got her start in show-business. Her first big role came when she was cast in the Australian soap opera, Home and Away. She starred as Ruby Buckton in that series for about four years, and then later transitioned to U.S. television.

In 2015, Breeds joined Pretty Little Liars in a recurring role, playing Nicole Gordon. That same year, she also joined The Originals, playing Aurora de Martel during Season 3 of the vampire drama. In addition to her time on the hit teen shows, Breeds also starred in the short-lived sitcom We Are Men, alongside Tony Shalhoub, Jerry O'Connell, and Kal Penn. More recently, Breeds had small guest roles on both The Brave and The Code. She has also done a few feature films, the last one being 2018s Slam, an Australian drama about the disappearance of a young slam poet.

Now, Breeds has landed the role of a lifetime, playing a young Clarice Starling, a role originated by Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs, and taken on by Julianne Moore in 2001s Hannibal. Notably, Foster earned the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1992 for her portrayal of the character. During a conversation with PEOPLE, Breeds revealed that she landed the title role in the new spinoff series after enduring a series of very intense four-hour auditions, but says it was completely worth it.

As for how she found out that she got the lead role, Breeds shared the hilarious story, recalling, "My husband and I drove to Malibu and we were sitting at a café and within about two minutes, I got a phone call from [co-creaters] Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet." She continued, "I pick up the phone and I just hear silence. And then all I hear is ... 'Hello, Clarice.' That's how they told me I got the role and I absolutely lost it. Just could not believe it."

Breeds also shared a little about what her favorite parts of playing Clarice Starling are, saying that the character's iconic West Virginia accident is easily near the top of the list. "I love how it feels in my mouth. I love how it completely creates a different character," she said. "And it's funny, I can't give anyone a lot of science to how I did it. I just listened to it and then I just kind of did it and it works. Sometimes it's just a bit of magic."

In addition to Breeds, Clarice also stars Lucca De Oliveira, Devyn A. Tyler, and Marnee Carpenter. Designated Survivor and House actor Kal Penn also co-stars, as does former Walking Dead cast member Michael Cudlitz and Orange is the New Black's Nick Sandow. Joining the show in recurring roles are Jayne Atkinson (24), Shawn Doyle (The Comey Rule), Tim Guinee (Homeland), Douglas Smith (Big Love), and Simon Northwood, who plays "Buffalo Bill," the secondary antagonist from Silence of the Lambs as portrayed by Ted Levine. Clarice airs Thursdays at 10pm ET, only on CBS.

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