LECTER’S CAT AND MOUSE
Having kept viewers intrigued with his spine-chilling, cannibalistic deeds on the big screen, Dr Hannibal Lecter has moved to the small screen in a TV series that proves to be just as dark, twisted and riveting. Debashine Thangevelo caught up with Mads Mi
HUGH DANCY
Will Graham HAUNTED by images of the victims, viewers get to understand how deeply it affects Will Graham and how he is effortlessly able to get into the psyche of the killer – emotions that prove to be his Achilles heel.
His relationship with Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), the head of behavioural sciences at the FBI, isn’t easy – they tend to lock horns quite often; more so, with Crawford headstrong and, sometimes, linear in his thinking.
Shedding light on Graham’s unusual way of looking at a crime scene, Dancy says, “It’s a great way to further understand who he is and what he’s carrying around. As the show goes on, as the season goes on, he begins to find it harder and harder to do what he’s doing. There’s increasing tension between him and Jack because Hannibal is pushing the idea that Jack is really taking advantage of Will and is putting Will at risk.
“One of the ways that happens is that he has to keep going into these horrible scenarios and the cost becomes higher and higher.”
On getting into the mindset of his character, Dancy says, “First of all, as the series progresses, Will goes through some really extreme changes. He’s pushed into quite extreme places, partially by Hannibal, partially just by circumstance. And that’s hard because we’re filming quickly, as you always do.
“So I’m just trying to take big jumps and I’m hoping that my instincts are right. Then the other thing is that Will is a very isolated guy. He’s not the easiest person to be around. I mean, he’s not a particularly pleasant individual, so I was trying to find ways to soften that a bit. You don’t want the audience to just be saying, ‘Well, this guy’s just a huge pain. He’s incredibly depressing.’ So I’m trying to find some colour inside that. That’s been a good challenge and that’s the kind of thing I enjoy.”
There are times when viewers have little problem buying into Graham crossing over to the dark side.
Dancy says, “Yes, I think that without giving too much away about where we go, the idea is that Hannibal and Will could almost be two sides of a coin.
“When Hannibal meets me, something triggers his interest. He sees somebody who could be a friend. Will is fighting certain parts of himself. He’s worried about what he could do because he has such easy access to the minds of these very, very dark people. Hannibal sees that and he thinks, ‘Great, just like me’.
“As the season goes on, we see that we get much deeper and much darker, and Hannibal starts to manipulate the situation so that Will’s pushed much, much closer to the edge.”
Mind games are as much a part of the storyline as the gruesome murders and the twisted killers.
But how long will Lecter be able to dupe Graham into believing he is a friend and not a foe?
That’s perhaps one of the most intriguing things about this TV series and these two central characters. And so the cat and mouse game begins…
Hannibal is on Sony Entertainment Television (DStv Channel 127) on Tuesday nights at 8.55pm.