Last week, I attended the Comic Con Hannibal panel, which benefited Operation Smile, at Nerd HQ with stars Hugh Dancy (Will Graham), Aaron Abrams (Brian Zeller), series director David Slade and creator Bryan Fuller. And they were all about sharing funny stories from the set, as well as divulging scoop about Season 2 of the crime drama!
photo: Getty Images
Obviously, food plays a huge role in the show. Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) is a gourmet chef who has a taste for human flesh. So, the first episode of season 2 begins with Dr. Lecter preparing human sushi! Other gastronomy-related tidbits included the use of the “food bucket,” placed out of the camera shot, in which actors can spit out the prop food once the scene is over. Hugh laughed about how things taste good up until the fourth take, but then he must spit. Not Mads. According to David, MM is not only always hungry on set, but that he is a “swallower, not a spitter” and rarely ever, if at all, does he use the bucket. Ha! And have you ever wondered what kind of meat they use to replicate the human body parts that Hannibal cooks on the show? It’s mostly red meat, and celebrity chef Jose Andres is a consultant making sure the edibles are prepared correctly.
photo: NBC
Another fun item is that Gillian Anderson, who plays Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, has requested more scenes with Hugh’s character, Will, in season 2. So, don’t count out a romance! And do they lift directly from the Hannibal book series? In some cases, like Will’s speech at the Chesapeake River in Season 1 Episode 7. And from where do the writers draw inspiration for the story? From Toronto, where the show is filmed. Are you a fan of Hannibal?
