My contractor employer and compadre insists that James Mason would have done the character of Hannibal Lechter better than Anthony Hopkins did, anytime someone makes a Hannibal the cannibal reference-as a kid, he liked creepy nice guy characters...
Your insight and info are very interesting-living in the rural Southwest, I’ve never been within 500 miles of a “real” actor-Jeremy Irons does look like Boris Karloff, who was the personification of sinister and scary to me as a kid-if he was in a movie, I wanted to see it and be scared half to death...
I was invited to a luncheon for the Tony Awards several years ago - when Jane Fonda was on B’way. Jeremy Irons hosted and he did an excellent job; very charming. But, as you and I have noticed, his darkness shows up on screen. Fonda spoke loudly to some friends at the dinner dais (is she deaf or just loud?) and when she got up to speak her first words were “This is really weird.” A growl went through the entire room - it was supposed to be a love feast and she introduced her peculiarly cold personality into the event. She must be lots of fun at home.