The Dino De Laurentiis Company
Seems like the perfect day to visit WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center. You might even run into a familiar friend. If he invites you to dinner, think twice. Hannibal arrives in 5 days! #FeedYourFear
Saturday, March 30, 2013
IGN: Hannibal: "Apéritif" Review by Eric Goldman
"Hannibal is terrific. It’s not really a surprise, given the considerable talents of Hannibal's
executive producer and showrunner, Bryan Fuller, whose highly creative
mind has given us wonderfully eccentric shows like Pushing Daisies and
Wonderfalls, and who solidified just how strong he could be working with
more serious-minded genre stories via his episodes of Heroes in Season
1, especially the standout “Company Man.”"
"The casting is key in Hannibal, starting with Mads Mikkelsen in the
title role. The Danish actor, best known for Casino Royale, captures the
combination of brilliance, arrogance and creepiness we equate with
Hannibal, while not feeling like he’s copying Hopkins."
"Also excellent is Hugh Dancy as Graham, who, despite the title, is
the true lead character. Hannibal takes Harris’ ideas about Graham and
expands them in really well thought out ways."
"The pilot was directed by David Slade, who also does a tremendous job of
creating the world this series will exist in and making it feel
distinct and evocative. There is a certain visual manner in which we see
the way Will sees a crime scene – how he, mentally, takes himself back
in time through the crime. This visual is very cool, involving stylistic
wipes across the screen that sweep away what is currently happening and
reveal what happened before."
FearNet.com: Hugh Dancy Talks 'Hannibal' by Bryan Cairns
Fearnet.com: Just to start, what was your
interest in stepping into a television series? Obviously, Homeland has
been a very successful endeavor for your wife, Claire Danes. Did that
open a window for you?
Hugh Dancy: I suppose it was there in the background. That wasn’t really part of the process for me, though. I had also worked on a TV show, one season of the Big C, a couple of years before. It wasn’t like a big light bulb went on and I thought, “Oh, I’ve got to find a TV show.” It just came up. I was doing a play in New York last year and the year before and sometimes that serves as…. People can come and see it. They think about casting TV shows and suddenly these offers started to come in, frankly is what happened. Why that would be the case, I don’t know. This particular one (Hannibal), on its own merits, seemed very interesting.
Fearnet.com: Will has an uncanny ability when it comes to piecing together crime scenes. Is he psychic at all?Hugh Dancy: I suppose it was there in the background. That wasn’t really part of the process for me, though. I had also worked on a TV show, one season of the Big C, a couple of years before. It wasn’t like a big light bulb went on and I thought, “Oh, I’ve got to find a TV show.” It just came up. I was doing a play in New York last year and the year before and sometimes that serves as…. People can come and see it. They think about casting TV shows and suddenly these offers started to come in, frankly is what happened. Why that would be the case, I don’t know. This particular one (Hannibal), on its own merits, seemed very interesting.
Hugh Dancy: I don’t think he’s psychic. He’s a detective, but a lot of it is instinctive. In the same way there’s a spectrum that we’re on, and some people further down can’t receive information from other people, there are others who are just more open to all sorts of information that is flying around that most don’t pick up on.
Hugh Dancy: No, I don’t. The justification for the scenes is that they get us inside Will’s mind. Bryan Fuller is quite artful at using the different instances as the season progresses, other crimes and criminals, to further our understanding of Will’s state of mind, to further the relationship between Will and Hannibal, and Will and Jack and so on. I never felt that I’m just here because, “Oh, now I’m coming to stab someone so we can talk about fingerprints.” That doesn’t really hold any interest for me and I think I would have a problem with that.
With that said, there are obviously days when we are filming horrific crimes. Those are usually very technical days and that’s kind of fun. It’s a bit like filming a love scene. Any passion goes out the window because you are thinking about camera angles and props and prosthetics and special effects.
Hugh Dancy: Yes, I think all of those things. In the same way that Will is part empathic and part detective, he’s very good at his job. He’s smart in a rational way, as well as being able to pluck things out of the air. They have the same purpose, that they instruct the audience what happened and are specific to the development of the plot. But I also hope they give a sense of what Will has to carry around, what his burden is. I always felt Will would be a very difficult character to portray on screen, if you didn’t have those sequences and also if you don’t see him at home with his dogs. The two give a full balance of who he is, that he has something he holds very dear to him, which is really quite loveable and heart breaking. Will is so lonely and protects himself with his fishing rods and his dogs and his whiskey and his little house. Then he goes to work and has to deal with these absolutely horrific situations.
Hugh Dancy: Jack is a sledgehammer. He will do anything to catch these criminals and do his job. It’s very personal for him. It’s personal for all of us. The dynamic between them as it develops is a feeling from Will that he’s in danger of being broken. There’s a genuine risk to Will in what he does. He’s already taken himself out of it (consulting) to teach. Jack asks him to come back in and the next thing you know, Will is killing a man in his kitchen. And it gets worse from there. One thing that happens is Hannibal starts to lean on Will’s sense that Jack is not protecting him.
Hugh Dancy: Obviously, Mads has to do his dance. He has a special dance he does before every scene. That’s not true. There are big differences in the characters we are playing. Mads has to think very carefully about what he gives away as Hannibal. He can’t be too, obviously, rubbing his hands together, because I’d see it. It’s very internal and incredibly subtle, which is one of the things Mads is so good at. Will is going through a fairly tumultuous experience, including when he is in here with Hannibal. We just figure out how to make the scene work together. Bryan’s writing is so rich and complicated and you can’t just expect to come in and (say), “I’ll do my thing and you do yours.”
Hugh Dancy: There’s some quite extreme ones. I enjoy it when I feel they are tied into the rest of the show, which I think they are, by and large very well, either thematically or because Hannibal gets involved and it gets tied into the bigger stories.
Hugh Dancy: There’s an episode later on where Will is starting to have hallucinations. I’m hearing things. There’s somebody, who as we learn later, has a connection to Hannibal via one of his patients, who has killed, in a very specific way, a member of the Baltimore Philharmonic Orchestra and used his vocal chords to create music. That obviously ties into what Will is starting to experience, this disintegration of his own mind. It ties into the plot with Hannibal and we begin to see a bit more of what Hannibal is capable of. It’s also rather disturbing and brilliant.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Variety: NBC delivers a bloody good meal TV by Brian Lowry
"...it’s clear that showrunner Bryan Fuller has brought a
semi-hypnotic quality to this prequel adaptation of Thomas Harris’
Hannibal Lecter character..."
"...visually
arresting, and thanks in large part to the central trio of Mads
Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy and Laurence Fishburne, quite interesting. Bon
appetit."
Thursday, March 28, 2013
EW: Hannibal Review by Jeff Jensen
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Denver Post: “Hannibal” a savory new entree on NBC By Joanne Ostrow
With mushrooms growing out of the bodies of buried but still living victims, a pair of lungs prepared gourmet-style by the famously cannibalistic doctor, and with enough spurting blood to rival a premium cable series, “Hannibal” is off to a strong start as one of the grisliest dramas on broadcast TV.
The characters are so compelling, however, that you may give in to the gore-fest. Hugh Dancy as Special Agent Will Graham, Laurence Fishburne as Agent Jack Crawford and Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter are a strong triangle at the heart of the story. Each inhabits his character with authority, making the twisted minds seem credibly skewed. The soundtrack is wonderfully eerie, suggesting the damaged inner lives.
Bryan Fuller (“Pushing Daisies”) has created an effective backstory for one of the great villains of modern crime fiction. The premise: Before “Silence of the Lambs,” before “Red Dragon,” Hannibal Lecter (Mikkelsen of “Casino Royale”) was a brilliant psychiatrist in the employ of the FBI. He was recruited by FBI boss Jack Crawford (Fishburne, “Man Of Steel”), the head of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, to crack the tough cases. Now Lecter must help a sensitive but gifted criminal profiler, Will Graham (Hugh Dancy, “The Big C”), who is haunted by his ability to see into the minds of serial killers. Will, the hunter of psychopaths, finds himself seated opposite Hannibal, the biggest psychopath with the biggest secret, discussing dark feelings and precarious mental states.
Fuller’s series is based on characters from the book “Red Dragon” by Thomas Harris. While this level of violent imagery is not my cup of tea, I was drawn in by the characterizations. Consider that a warning, and bon apetit.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Pastiches: Sangharsh
Sangharsh (Hindi: सँघर्ष) is a 1999 Bollywood adaption of "The Silence of the Lambs" starring Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta and Ashutosh Rana in the lead role.
ShockTillYouDrop Review of the first five episodes of Hannibal by Paul Doro
"While Fishburne and Mikkelsen are very good, Dancy is the star, both
literally and in terms of performance quality. He does an outstanding
job of subtlety conveying how painful human interaction is for him, and
despite being abrasive and unpleasant, you are always in his corner and
really feel for the guy. His gift, which is so useful and important,
causes him enormous anguish. He also has a wicked sense of humor,
generating a few much-needed laughs amid all the darkness."
AWESOME, this is great news, having seen Hugh Dancy in several roles in the past, I know he is a magnificent actor. For Season 4 ("Red Dragon") a very subtle performance is required. I've read the book "Red Dragon" many, many times over the past twenty years, and for me the emotional heart of the book is the small scene where Will Graham is explaining to his stepson, Willy, why he had to spend time in hospital after shooting Garrett Hobbs. I know Hugh Dancy has the skill and craft to give the performance required for that scene and for the character of Will.
Pastiches: MacGyver's Dr. Zito
MacGyver twice crossed foils with a brilliant serial killer imprisoned in psychiatric hospital named Dr. Zito. In their first encounter Zito was using a fellow prisoner to target Lt. Kate Murphy, the police officer who arrested him. Two years later Dr. Zito escapes from court during his sanity hearing, and MacGyver and
Murphy become victims of Zito's sadistic games.
Dr. Zito was portrayed by the brilliant W(illiam) Morgan Sheppard, one of the finest actors ever to grace any television series or movie.
Deadly Dreams (1989)
Lesson In Evil (1990)
Monday, March 25, 2013
Pastiches: Miami Vice's "Shadow In The Dark"
At the same time Michael Mann was directing the 1986 movie Manhunter, he was also executive producer on TV's Miami Vice. He was a key contributor to that show, focusing on the aesthetic and visual look of the show.
In the third season of the show in 1986 an episode entitled "Shadow In The Dark" appeared, which many have noted has strong similarities in plot and look to "Manhunter" (and therefore "Red Dragon"), with "Sonny" Crockett becoming Will Graham, struggling to retain his own sanity whilst delving into the disturbed mind of cat burglar "The Shadow" (somewhat like "The Tooth Fairy").
Fangoria: Exclusive: Director David Slade talks “HANNIBAL” by Chris Alexander
With that solid cast and high-caliber creative pedigree, the icing on the HANNIBAL cake is the presence of HARD CANDY and 30 DAYS OF NIGHT director David Slade, who directed the pilot as well as subsequent episodes and stayed on to maintain stylistic continuity (he’ll helm the season finale as well). Slade’s mark is most evident in just how dark and downbeat the show is, evidenced by a nightmarish score and sound design that is the most visceral and affecting on TV since Angelo Badalementi’s ambient work for TWIN PEAKS. FANGORIA was on set, and had the chance to briefly chat with Slade.
FANGORIA: Most of the world thinks of Anthony Hopkins as the face of Hannibal Lecter. Even Brian Cox in MANHUNTER has his fans. What do you think Mikkelsen adds to the Lecter legacy?
DAVID SLADE: A terrifying subtlety. And as the episodes go on, you will see this progress. He’s an astonishingly subtle performer with an incredibly keen sense of timing and what he has to do; he has a kind of mission in his acting. I can’t spoil it, but there is a moment in the third episode when the scene just becomes terrifying for reasons it shouldn’t, and that’s all Mads. He can be charming, and then turn on a dime slowly and scare the shit out of you. No one can do what Mads does, and I firmly believe he’ll end up being the definitive face of Hannibal Lecter.
FANGORIA: We know how much music and sound plays a part in your work. How much of the immersive audioscape in HANNIBAL is your doing?
DAVID SLADE I met with composer Brian Reitzel when I was doing 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. That movie was very similar in its tone in that there were no melodies, no big stings. It was psychological composing, and that’s what this is too. When I brought him in for this, we wanted to have pulses, and for you to hear the neurons pop. Brian took violin bows and scraped them against skulls, mixed in with electronic instruments. It’s not traditional scoring—he doesn’t do that—but what he’s done for HANNIBAL is fantastic. A lot of work went into this music, and it’s a very subjective sound.
FANGORIA: HANNIBAL is an incredibly dark show, and it’s very unusual for music and sound to be such a character on a network TV show.
DAVID SLADE You’re right; it is a character here. It’s very different from what’s happening on network television. We’re pretending it’s not television, in fact. It becomes tricky when you’re editing, of course, but this is why I’m on it all the time. It’s why I stayed with the show. See, the usual process with a TV pilot is that the producers hire a director, he works on the show, they kick him out and he gets a royalty check, maybe an executive-producer credit. Hell, most directors want this; they want to get in and get out. But here, I stayed on. They embraced my ideas and we created a look, and they’ve kept me on to maintain it.
Pick up a copy of FANGORIA #323, on sale next month, for an exclusive sit-down with Mikkelsen as well as some exclusive bloody photos.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
The DailyQuirk: Interview with ‘Hannibal’ star Lara Jean Chorostecki
http://thedailyquirk.com/2013/03/23/an-interview-with-hannibal-star-lara-jean-chorostecki/
The Daily Quirk: Next, we’re going to see you as Freddie Lounds in NBC’s Hannibal. What attracted you to the role?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: She is quite something. People who are fans of the Thomas Harris books, or even the movies, will know that she was a he. And they know how Stephan Lang and Philip Seymour Hoffman played the character before, but she is very, very different from those interpretations. Bryan Fuller, who is the creator of the show, sat down with me when we first were starting to shoot back in August. And he showed me a picture of Rebekah Brooks. I don’t know if you’ve heard of her but she ran news at the World (News of the World) and The Sun and News International, and she has now arrested currently under suspicion of a phone hacking scandal in the UK. And if you see a picture of Rebekah Brooks, you’ll notice that she has this massive, beautiful mane of red, curly hair. So he showed me this picture and said ‘This is who you’re based on.’ So we had a little chat about that and one of the great anecdotes said about her was that ‘She’s the type of woman who can get you fired, yet have you send her thank you flowers.’ And I went home after this meeting and read a great Vanity Fair article about Rebekah Brooks by Suzanna Andrews called ‘Untangling Rebekah Brooks.’ So I read it before shooting Episode 2 and it was a great kind of insight into who Freddie might be. She’s a younger version and I call her spirited. She’s unflappable and she ignores the rules at every point possible, if she needs to. And she’s really good at her job, so I think that’s something. She sometimes fails, but she always manages to find her way around things.
The Daily Quirk: Because this role has been portrayed twice before by Stephan Lang and Philip Seymour Hoffman, were you ever hesitant in taking on the part?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: No, not really. I think the gender switch always gives so much freedom and Bryan has a brilliant way of inspiring his actors to, first of all, want to work really hard for him, and also to feel very confident in your ability to create a character that is entirely your own. So I loved both interpretations and I actually rewatched Red Dragon right before I started, but they’re so different. And the interpretations are so different down to even the costumes that I’m wearing. Our costume designer is amazing and has Freddie outfitted as fresh and central and so high fashion, she always looks her best. So everything is so different about it that I think I felt really confident about making her my own without having to worry about comparing. And that would be a really scary comparison because they are amazing!
The Daily Quirk: Now, are you anything like Freddie in real life?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: I like to think not, because she doesn’t have much of a moral compass. So I like to think that I have a little more of a moral compass but it makes her like Sybil in that she’s so much fun to play, because I have these little parts of myself that don’t get to come out very often but I now get to bring out and kind of fan the flames of these personality traits that I don’t think I really have. But I certainly am a passionate person and I certainly can be a go-getter, so in that sense sure, there are parts of myself that I’ve been able to explode and make them so much bigger to be able to explore her. When people see her and her personality, I’d like to think I’m a lot nicer. At least I hope.
The Daily Quirk: You could say that you have one thing in common with Freddie, in that you’re both writers. Your poem “Casa Loma at Midnight” was just recently published in the Great Lakes Review and Freddie is a journalist. What inspires you as a writer?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: I’ve been writing poetry since I was really little. My parents took me camping a lot and every summer we’d go to a different provincial park in Ontario and since then I’ve continued that tradition. My partner, he and I love to go camping, so we go to provincial parks and national parks and that is where I’d say I draw most of my inspiration, from the outdoors. That particular poem is actually about Toronto, but it’s still about outdoors Toronto. So yeah, my main inspiration is outdoors, experiential kind of stuff. So nothing like Freddie, she’s a criminal justice journalist.
The Daily Quirk: You could say that you have one thing in common with Freddie, in that you’re both writers. Your poem “Casa Loma at Midnight” was just recently published in the Great Lakes Review and Freddie is a journalist. What inspires you as a writer?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: I’ve been writing poetry since I was really little. My parents took me camping a lot and every summer we’d go to a different provincial park in Ontario and since then I’ve continued that tradition. My partner, he and I love to go camping, so we go to provincial parks and national parks and that is where I’d say I draw most of my inspiration, from the outdoors. That particular poem is actually about Toronto, but it’s still about outdoors Toronto. So yeah, my main inspiration is outdoors, experiential kind of stuff. So nothing like Freddie, she’s a criminal justice journalist.
The Daily Quirk: So you’d never give journalism a try?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: Well I am enrolled in university right now getting my certificate in English Literature and I did my Master’s in Shakespeare, so I certainly have a passion for words. But no, I’ve never done journalism.
The Daily Quirk: What scoop can you give us about the show without risking a Hannibal Lecter-style wrath from producers?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: I like that, a Hannibal Lecter-style wrath. I think Bryan would come down on me with a Lecter-style wrath if I gave away too much. What can you expect? It’s hard because I think there are so many twists and turns that I think the audience will be excited about, so it’s hard to not give too much away. The interaction between Mads (Mikkelson) and Hugh (Dancy) who play Hannibal and Will Graham is something to really look forward to. And the beginning of their relationship is something that the audience has never really seen before, so being able to know, as an audience, where we’re going to end up is really exciting. Because we all know what Hannibal does, and we’re going to know that from Episode 1, but nobody else knows what Hannibal does. So there’s a lot of tension and suspense which is really exciting. I can say we start off four or five years before Red Dragon, so it’s pre-Hannibal being caught and it revolves around the cop story where we start off. So people can look forward to seeing that at the very beginning and all the consequences that happen afterwards. And that’s as safe as I can talk. Freddie gets to interact with a lot or really exciting people, too. So, it’s been a fantastic ride.
The Daily Quirk: It is a big change to go from the period pieces to a show that’s really modern like Hannibal?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: Yeah, it’s fun to be able to switch. This is a new territory and it’s so much en vogue right now to do these kind of darker, modern pieces and it’s exciting to be in this realm of dramatic modern stuff. I mean, Freddie, as she is a journalist, still gives me the great fun of being able to utilize my love of words because Bryan writes a lot of great vocabulary for her. So in that sense, period pieces have that kind of rich vocabulary so it’s familiar in that way. But it’s nice to take off the corsets and stop walking around cobblestone streets. I’m only 5’2″ so I always have to be in heels or on apple boxes so it’s nice to be in heels and on apple boxes on flat surfaces rather than cobblestone and dirt.
Lara Jean Chorostecki: She is quite something. People who are fans of the Thomas Harris books, or even the movies, will know that she was a he. And they know how Stephan Lang and Philip Seymour Hoffman played the character before, but she is very, very different from those interpretations. Bryan Fuller, who is the creator of the show, sat down with me when we first were starting to shoot back in August. And he showed me a picture of Rebekah Brooks. I don’t know if you’ve heard of her but she ran news at the World (News of the World) and The Sun and News International, and she has now arrested currently under suspicion of a phone hacking scandal in the UK. And if you see a picture of Rebekah Brooks, you’ll notice that she has this massive, beautiful mane of red, curly hair. So he showed me this picture and said ‘This is who you’re based on.’ So we had a little chat about that and one of the great anecdotes said about her was that ‘She’s the type of woman who can get you fired, yet have you send her thank you flowers.’ And I went home after this meeting and read a great Vanity Fair article about Rebekah Brooks by Suzanna Andrews called ‘Untangling Rebekah Brooks.’ So I read it before shooting Episode 2 and it was a great kind of insight into who Freddie might be. She’s a younger version and I call her spirited. She’s unflappable and she ignores the rules at every point possible, if she needs to. And she’s really good at her job, so I think that’s something. She sometimes fails, but she always manages to find her way around things.
The Daily Quirk: Because this role has been portrayed twice before by Stephan Lang and Philip Seymour Hoffman, were you ever hesitant in taking on the part?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: No, not really. I think the gender switch always gives so much freedom and Bryan has a brilliant way of inspiring his actors to, first of all, want to work really hard for him, and also to feel very confident in your ability to create a character that is entirely your own. So I loved both interpretations and I actually rewatched Red Dragon right before I started, but they’re so different. And the interpretations are so different down to even the costumes that I’m wearing. Our costume designer is amazing and has Freddie outfitted as fresh and central and so high fashion, she always looks her best. So everything is so different about it that I think I felt really confident about making her my own without having to worry about comparing. And that would be a really scary comparison because they are amazing!
The Daily Quirk: Now, are you anything like Freddie in real life?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: I like to think not, because she doesn’t have much of a moral compass. So I like to think that I have a little more of a moral compass but it makes her like Sybil in that she’s so much fun to play, because I have these little parts of myself that don’t get to come out very often but I now get to bring out and kind of fan the flames of these personality traits that I don’t think I really have. But I certainly am a passionate person and I certainly can be a go-getter, so in that sense sure, there are parts of myself that I’ve been able to explode and make them so much bigger to be able to explore her. When people see her and her personality, I’d like to think I’m a lot nicer. At least I hope.
The Daily Quirk: You could say that you have one thing in common with Freddie, in that you’re both writers. Your poem “Casa Loma at Midnight” was just recently published in the Great Lakes Review and Freddie is a journalist. What inspires you as a writer?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: I’ve been writing poetry since I was really little. My parents took me camping a lot and every summer we’d go to a different provincial park in Ontario and since then I’ve continued that tradition. My partner, he and I love to go camping, so we go to provincial parks and national parks and that is where I’d say I draw most of my inspiration, from the outdoors. That particular poem is actually about Toronto, but it’s still about outdoors Toronto. So yeah, my main inspiration is outdoors, experiential kind of stuff. So nothing like Freddie, she’s a criminal justice journalist.
The Daily Quirk: You could say that you have one thing in common with Freddie, in that you’re both writers. Your poem “Casa Loma at Midnight” was just recently published in the Great Lakes Review and Freddie is a journalist. What inspires you as a writer?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: I’ve been writing poetry since I was really little. My parents took me camping a lot and every summer we’d go to a different provincial park in Ontario and since then I’ve continued that tradition. My partner, he and I love to go camping, so we go to provincial parks and national parks and that is where I’d say I draw most of my inspiration, from the outdoors. That particular poem is actually about Toronto, but it’s still about outdoors Toronto. So yeah, my main inspiration is outdoors, experiential kind of stuff. So nothing like Freddie, she’s a criminal justice journalist.
The Daily Quirk: So you’d never give journalism a try?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: Well I am enrolled in university right now getting my certificate in English Literature and I did my Master’s in Shakespeare, so I certainly have a passion for words. But no, I’ve never done journalism.
The Daily Quirk: What scoop can you give us about the show without risking a Hannibal Lecter-style wrath from producers?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: I like that, a Hannibal Lecter-style wrath. I think Bryan would come down on me with a Lecter-style wrath if I gave away too much. What can you expect? It’s hard because I think there are so many twists and turns that I think the audience will be excited about, so it’s hard to not give too much away. The interaction between Mads (Mikkelson) and Hugh (Dancy) who play Hannibal and Will Graham is something to really look forward to. And the beginning of their relationship is something that the audience has never really seen before, so being able to know, as an audience, where we’re going to end up is really exciting. Because we all know what Hannibal does, and we’re going to know that from Episode 1, but nobody else knows what Hannibal does. So there’s a lot of tension and suspense which is really exciting. I can say we start off four or five years before Red Dragon, so it’s pre-Hannibal being caught and it revolves around the cop story where we start off. So people can look forward to seeing that at the very beginning and all the consequences that happen afterwards. And that’s as safe as I can talk. Freddie gets to interact with a lot or really exciting people, too. So, it’s been a fantastic ride.
The Daily Quirk: It is a big change to go from the period pieces to a show that’s really modern like Hannibal?
Lara Jean Chorostecki: Yeah, it’s fun to be able to switch. This is a new territory and it’s so much en vogue right now to do these kind of darker, modern pieces and it’s exciting to be in this realm of dramatic modern stuff. I mean, Freddie, as she is a journalist, still gives me the great fun of being able to utilize my love of words because Bryan writes a lot of great vocabulary for her. So in that sense, period pieces have that kind of rich vocabulary so it’s familiar in that way. But it’s nice to take off the corsets and stop walking around cobblestone streets. I’m only 5’2″ so I always have to be in heels or on apple boxes so it’s nice to be in heels and on apple boxes on flat surfaces rather than cobblestone and dirt.
AXN: Meet the Cast - Crawford, Will, and Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Jack Crawford
Will Graham
Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Will Graham
Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Friday, March 22, 2013
Video: Hannibal (AXN) "What Scares You?"
Mads Mikkelsen: "I don't like big lines to the restrooms when I just had four beers. It scares me, really."
Hahaha, oh, Mads. Now that, folks, is how you strike fear into the heart of a Danish steak. ;D
- Lila
The Wall Street Journal: My Lunch with Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Mr. Mikkelsen, the Danish star perhaps best known to American audiences as Bond villain Le Chiffre in 2006′s “Casino Royale,” is relishing his work on NBC’s new “Hannibal” (10 p.m. Thursdays, starting April 4), which focuses on the time the good doctor was free and getting acquainted with FBI agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy). “I’m having great fun,” he said over a juicy steak yesterday in midtown Manhattan, mere hours after he concluded some pickup shots for the show. No, liver and fava beans were not on the menu.
Playing Hannibal, of course, involves a lot of eating on set, but it’s good, gourmet food, even if it is supposed to be–for fiction’s sake–human flesh. “I like it,” Mr. Mikkelsen said, explaining that he actually does eat the food without spitting any of it out. With this much munching, though, how does he keep the weight off? “I have a great metabolism,” he said, adding that he’s learned over the years to take smaller bites when he’s performing a scene over many takes.
And while the role demands that Mr. Mikkelsen savor each morsel with the kind of evil satisfaction you can only expect from Hannibal Lecter, it doesn’t necessarily mean he has to go deep enough into character to believe he’s eating people. “I just treat it as something I like,” he said. Something, he added, Hannibal would do.
MetroNiews: Prequel show to Hannibal Lecter movies portrays serial killer in most likable way possible By Chris Alexander
http://metronews.ca/scene/605747/prequel-show-to-hannibal-lecter-movies-portrays-serial-killer-in-most-likable-way-possible/
Now, Hannibal, the television series, the brainchild of beloved
writer Bryan Fuller (Heroes) and producer Martha DeLaurentiis (widow of
the late mogul Dino DeLaurentiis), plays out as a prequel to the events
in Harris’ Red Dragon. FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is assigned
by bureau chief Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) to seek council with
the brilliant Dr. Lecter (Danish superstar Mads Mikkelsen) a respected
psychotherapist. Each week the trio become closer, teaming up to stop a
cavalcade of serial killers. Of course, no one knows that Lecter is in
fact the most deranged of them all.
“That’s the thing we have to be most careful with,” Fishburne, whose extensive credits include films like Just Cause, Deep Cover and The Matrix trilogy, told us on set in Toronto.
“I’m not supposed to know. Nobody’s supposed to know. The audience knows so it allows them to play along. The tension comes in waiting for me and Will to catch up. I have no reason to suspect Hannibal … after all, I hired him.”
Mikkelsen’s Hannibal is a radically different beast than previous screen incarnations. His cards are hidden, yes, but as personified by the iconic Danish actor, he’s leaner, more sensual and more mysterious. A true wolf in sheep’s clothing, who uses his refined veneer to worm his way into many lives.
“This is a universe we’ve created,” Mikkelsen says.
“The audience knows he’s a killer and you might think, ‘C’mon guys, its right there in a three piece suit. He even has the funny accent!’ He has Jack Crawford sitting here, at his dining room table and that’s his game, all the clues as to who he is are right there. It amuses him. Hopefully there’s something interesting and charming in him though and I’m trying to make him likeable, though he is most certainly a monster.”
“That’s the thing we have to be most careful with,” Fishburne, whose extensive credits include films like Just Cause, Deep Cover and The Matrix trilogy, told us on set in Toronto.
“I’m not supposed to know. Nobody’s supposed to know. The audience knows so it allows them to play along. The tension comes in waiting for me and Will to catch up. I have no reason to suspect Hannibal … after all, I hired him.”
Mikkelsen’s Hannibal is a radically different beast than previous screen incarnations. His cards are hidden, yes, but as personified by the iconic Danish actor, he’s leaner, more sensual and more mysterious. A true wolf in sheep’s clothing, who uses his refined veneer to worm his way into many lives.
“This is a universe we’ve created,” Mikkelsen says.
“The audience knows he’s a killer and you might think, ‘C’mon guys, its right there in a three piece suit. He even has the funny accent!’ He has Jack Crawford sitting here, at his dining room table and that’s his game, all the clues as to who he is are right there. It amuses him. Hopefully there’s something interesting and charming in him though and I’m trying to make him likeable, though he is most certainly a monster.”
Hunger Relief Concert Screengrab from "Hannibal - First Look"
I thought I would share something I found quite amusing. This was taken from the First Look video. The question we must ask now is, "Whose?" ^_~
- Lila
Thursday, March 21, 2013
TVLine: NBC's Hannibal: 10 Tasty Morsels, Including Scoop on Gillian Anderson's 'Kinky' Guest Arc
THE BROMANCE BEGINS… | As previously reported, Hannibal deals with the relationship between Lecter and FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy, The Big C), characters introduced in Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon novel. (Lecter, of course, later became the centerpiece of Harris’ Silence of the Lambs and its big-screen adaptation.) Mikkelsen says the interaction between the two men, though a bit rocky in the beginning, is rooted in true affection – at least, on Hannibal’s part. “When he sees Will, he recognizes himself to a degree,” the actor says.
Both men have a knack for knowing how other people feel; the difference is, Hannibal can turn the ability on and off. Will “has a lot of empathy, but he has no idea of what to do with it,” Mikkelsen adds. “And that’s a nice opportunity: ‘I will help this young man to open his eyes and see his real potential eventually’… And he also sees an opportunity for a friend, which he’s probably not had too many of.” Despite whatever manipulation may take place, Mikkelsen asserts,”Hannibal really, really loves Will.”
… OR, MORE ACCURATELY, CONTINUES | In real life, Mikkelsen and Dancy have been friends since they both appeared in Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 King Arthur. “We did not have a lot of scenes together. We were basically just sitting on a horse for six months and killing people,” the actor recalls. “I think we all need to feel comfortable when we’re working on the ground that is, as you say, ‘iconic.’ We need to be comfortable around each other. And Hugh is definitely somebody who does that for other people.”
CHOW DOWN | Chef Jose Andres serves as the series’ culinary advisor – which means he tells Fuller & Co. exactly what preparation of human liver goes best with fava beans and a nice chianti. It also means he’s behind the dishes on which Lecter dines. “The [prop] food is [real] food, obviously not human – as far as I know!” Mikkelsen says with a laugh – and dealing with that aspect of shooting hasn’t been as hard to swallow as you might think. “I’ve always been really good at eating anything,” he says. Also helpful: “I have a great metabolism.”
THE ULTIMATE BIG BAD | Mikkelsen has read Harris’ work and seen Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Lecter, but his Hannibal is based on the devilish daddy of them all. “The closest thing I could come to was the Fallen Angel… [who] believes in the beauty of the darkness. That’s so incomprehensible for us. We can’t understand it,” Mikkelsen says. “So was not reading textbooks about mental diseases, I was imagining how it was to be Satan.”
BE ON THE LOOKOUT | Fuller has populated the first season with faces (such as Wonderfalls‘ Caroline Dhavernas, pictured at right) that will be familiar to fans of his other shows, as well as nods to the universe in which Harris’ books take place. Some of these references, Mikkelsen says, are easier to spot than others. “I think Bryan is doing that constantly. If you are a big fan, you will notice something in the set, something in the decoration, a little picture… He’s definitely playing with that idea.”
LADY KILLER | Though he doesn’t have a significant other in the pilot, there’s a good chance women will play a bigger role in Lecter’s life as the story progresses. “He finds them delicious,” Mikkelsen says, laughing, but maintains, “It’s very complicated for him to be in a relationship.”
PAGING AGENT SCULLY | X-Files alum Gillian Anderson will show up later in the season as Lecter’s own therapist. Mikkelsen jokingly characterizes their interaction as “very kinky, but very interesting.” He continues, “There is a strange chemistry going on there. And there is definitely something that has happened between those two that we will know later… we’re not really dealing with it yet, but you know it’s there.”
A CLOSET TO DIE FOR |
Turns out, this Hannibal has a killer sartorial sense; his fashion
choices lean toward colorful, patterned, high-end pieces that are far
from the film character’s jail jumpsuit. “It’s great, and it’s part of
the character,” says Mikkelsen, a self-identified “man of Adidas.” The
good doctor’s wardrobe is “a very big change for me. You put it on,
something happens.”
A RETURN TO FORMAT | Mikkelsen played Allan Fischer in the Danish cop drama Unit 1 in the early 2000s, a gig he says was a little too “politically correct” for his taste. “It was always, we wanted everyone to see us, people who are 8 and 95. And that became really frustrating sometimes, if you wanted to do something more radical.” He’s quick to say that he’s not trying to berate the popular series. “I don’t mind those kind of TV shows. But the corners are round. They are not corners.”
MASKED MAN | Mikkelsen will gladly don the killer’s iconic facemask, if and when that day comes. “I would love to,” he says. “I think that would be fun.”
ET: Dine with Mads Mikkelsen, TV's New 'Hannibal' By JARETT WIESELMAN
Dine with Mads Mikkelsen, TV's New 'Hannibal By JARETT WIESELMAN
ETonline: This is an iconic role, were you hesitant to say yes?
ETonline: This is an iconic role, were you hesitant to say yes?
Mads Mikkelsen: I was extremely reluctant to do it. I read it, I liked it, but as you say, these are giant shoes to step into. This was done a couple of times before, once to perfection. What convinced me was Bryan. He was pitching the story for me. He had 10 minutes, but after 2 hours he was still rattling off ideas about season 48 [laughs]. Also, this takes place before the films, before he was captured, so we get the chance to show something else.
ETonline: How is your Lecter different than Sir Anthony Hopkins incarnation?
ETonline: How is your Lecter different than Sir Anthony Hopkins incarnation?
Mads Mikkelsen: This is a man who needs to make friends, he cannot show all his cards -- Anthony Hopkins could do that, but I have to hide it. So [this version of Lecter is] an actor. He's quite emotional, but he can control his emotions. If I want to be sad, I will be sad, but the emotions will never surprise Hannibal. For that reason, I think we have a chance to do something that's slightly different, but still Hannibal.
ETonline: Is an eventual prison stint part of that masterplan Bryan laid out for you?
ETonline: Is an eventual prison stint part of that masterplan Bryan laid out for you?
Mads Mikkelsen: If I said that, I would reveal what happens this season. I could, but my hands are bound. And you never know about Bryan, he can call you and change everything.
ETonline: With what you can say, what did Bryan tell you in that first meeting?
ETonline: With what you can say, what did Bryan tell you in that first meeting?
Mads Mikkelsen: He pitched [up to] season three, but we're taking it one season as a time. It's interesting to see what can happen. The tables can turn, the hunted can become the hunter.
ETonline: You and Hugh worked on 2004's King Arthur, had you stayed in touch?
ETonline: You and Hugh worked on 2004's King Arthur, had you stayed in touch?
Mads Mikkelsen: We did not have a lot of scenes together; we were basically sitting on a horse for 6 months while killing people. But we became really good, close friends. It was a gift that we knew each other [because] we all need to feel comfortable if we're working on ground that, as you said, is iconic.
ETonline: What intrigues you about Lecter's relationship with Will as you tell it?
ETonline: What intrigues you about Lecter's relationship with Will as you tell it?
Mads Mikkelsen: Lecter is a man of opportunity, he sees opportunities everywhere. When he sees Will, he recognizes himself to a degree. Lecter has a lot of empathy but he uses it as a tool, Will has a lot of empathy but has no idea what to do with it. That's a nice opportunity; [he] will help this young man open his eyes to his real potential. That's what Hannibal is hoping for. But he also sees an opportunity for a friend, which he's probably not had too many of. Even though I'm the puppeteer, Hannibal really, really loves Will.
ETonline: What kind of research did you do for this role?
ETonline: What kind of research did you do for this role?
Mads Mikkelsen: I've seen the [films] and was a big fan, and I read the books to see if there was anything in there I could use as inspiration. But we're really working off the scripts. I knew quite a lot about serial killers before, don't ask me why I was reading those books, but [Hannibal is] not one of those. He's very special. He's an invention. The closest thing I could find to that was the fallen angel. The fallen angel believes in the beauty of the darkness. That is so incomprehensible to us, we can't understand it, and so we're attracted to it. So I wasn't reading textbooks about mental disease, I was imagining how it was to be Satan. [But] Satan isn't necessarily a man with the horns; we've seen him come to life in many movies or books, but it's dark.
ETonline: Have you reached out to Anthony Hopkins or heard from him?
ETonline: Have you reached out to Anthony Hopkins or heard from him?
Mads Mikkelsen: No, I have not. I've never met him. I would love to, one day when this is all over. I did read one piece of advice he gave where he said I shouldn't play [Hannibal] as evil and I agree. I think that's one of the keys to humanizing him.
ETonline: What are you excited for fans to see over the course of Hannibal's first season?
ETonline: What are you excited for fans to see over the course of Hannibal's first season?
Mads Mikkelsen: The fascination with this iconic character. Obviously it's not all about him, it's actually more about Will. Bryan said it early on that this is like a bromance, and it's true -- they like each other. Hopefully we will bring that, hand in hand with a terrific horror story.
ETonline: Will the show include winks to the film series?
ETonline: Will the show include winks to the film series?
Mads Mikkelsen: Yes, definitely. No fava beans, but I've had some Chianti.
Hannibal premieres April 4 at 10 p.m. on NBC.
Twitter: Penultimate day of Production
Twitter: Bryan Fuller
@BryanFuller
The penultimate day of Production on Season One of #Hannibal #NBCHannibal #AXNHannibal #FeedYourFear http://lockerz.com/s/287686294
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Winston
Facebook: The Dino De Laurentiis Company
We've treated you to photos of Hugh, Mads and Laurence ... but how about our other leading man: Winston! Winston, a rescue, stars as Will Graham's best bud and grounding influence. We caught him hard at work on set for Episode 13, entitled Savoureux (the season finale)! Admit it ... you're in love.
Facebook: Producers Pre-Wrap Dinner
Facebook: The Dino De Laurentiis Company
Feeding our fear ... in Toronto, Ontario at a little pre-wrap party dinner for Hannibal. In the photo from left to right are: Producer Carol Dunn Trussell, Executive Producer Chris Brancato, Supervising Producer Scott Nimerfo, Isaac Benitah, Debby Benitah, Executive Producer Martha De Laurentiis, Associate Producer Loretta Ramos, and Associate Producer Michael Kessler.
Facebook: The Dino De Laurentiis Company
Monday, March 18, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
NBC Screening Hannibal at Wondercon
NBC will be screening the first two episodes of the new Hannibal series before the air date at Wondercon later this month on March 30th. This is the only public screening of the show. Wondercon is located in Anaheim, California, for those who are interested in checking it out.
Visit the link below for details.
http://www.comic-con.org/wca/saturday
I actually am contemplating whether I should go or not. It would be cool to go to Wondercon in general anyway. If anyone plans to go see the screening, I'd love to tag along, so shoot me a message!
- Lila
Visit the link below for details.
http://www.comic-con.org/wca/saturday
I actually am contemplating whether I should go or not. It would be cool to go to Wondercon in general anyway. If anyone plans to go see the screening, I'd love to tag along, so shoot me a message!
- Lila
Episode 2 titled "Amuse-bouche"
I'm making a guess here:
Episode 2 might be entitled "AMUSE-BOUCHE"
A Note on "Amuse-bouche"
A the start of the "Red Dragon" movie the following exchange takes place:
Dinner Guest: Hannibal, confess ... What is this divine-looking amuse-bouche?
Hannibal: If I tell you ... I'm afraid you won't even try it.
Episode 2 might be entitled "AMUSE-BOUCHE"
Since we know the titles to all of the first seven episodes except Episode 3,
I'm going to assume it's that one.
A the start of the "Red Dragon" movie the following exchange takes place:
Hannibal: If I tell you ... I'm afraid you won't even try it.
An Amuse-bouche is a small appetizer, usually just one or two bites,
and preselected by the chef and offered free of charge to all present at the table.
and preselected by the chef and offered free of charge to all present at the table.
Twitter: Day 7 (of 8) of Season Finale Completed
Completed Day 7 of HANNIBAL finale. Mad Mads in the doctor's chair #Hannibal http://instagr.am/p/W7nbqvBXAc/
Saturday, March 16, 2013
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