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Hannibal - Season 3 - Conference Call with Bryan Fuller - A Character-Driven Story

May 21, 2015

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I had the pleasure of sitting in on a conference call with Bryan Fuller. What follows is a quick summary. A complete transcript of the call can be found here.

Bryan first talked about the decision to make Bedelia Du Maurier an accomplice. Much of her interaction with Hannibal is centered around the idea of self-identification.

But there's a genuine feeling between them, different from Hannibal's relationship with Will, which is more passionate. But it definitely goes beyond the relationship of a patient and a psychiatrist.

The most important element to their story however is control.

Bryan also elaborated on his favorite scene and explained how season 3 is a very character-driven story that elevates each character.

Bryan: "There's a dinner scene in episode 7." Mason Verger is hosting and Gillian Anderson brings something funny into it. He calls it the best dinner scene ever!

Delving deeper into the relationship between Hannibal and Will, Bryan also talked about characters being broken and eventually being reborn. This applies to everyone. But in Will's and Hannibal's case it's also a dynamic process.
It's about a bromance, a nasty breakup. And in the end both of them need to find a "point of closure." They realize what they have lost.

Beyond that, Jack also plays a role in an incredibly intimate storyline. He has to deal with losing Will, recruiting him and then losing him again.

Moving further, Bryan also talked about Richard Armitage's performance and how much "gravity and earnestness" he brings into his role.
We are dealing with a triangle, because Dolarhyde's madness also serves as a reflection of Will and Hannibal's relationship, the corruption of a soul. And it also challenges the audience with a serial killer story that goes beyond what we typically expect. Richard has done "an amazing job" at that.

As for the setting in season 3, Bryan explained that the first episodes are essentially a combination of Hannibal and Hannibal Rising. The second chapter however, starting in episode 8, is all about the events told in Red Dragon.

Bryan wants to shake up the sense of familiarity we as audience have with the source material. There's also an adult element to the story, which breaks boundaries and sets a statement to the backward world we live in.

There will be a lesbian love scene involving Alana and Margot Verger. It's described as erotic and sensual and completely unusual for network TV shows. It tells a story that people usually refuse to tell, which I think was the highlight for me.

In fact, Bryan talked about his love for the ladies, especially for Alana, who will undergo perhaps the "greatest change". He elaborated on Hannibal's influence on all these strong female characters and how they assert themselves, how they deal with the corruption they are faced with. And how Hannibal's story isn't just driven by Will and Hannibal, but the ensemble that enriches their characters and vice versa.

He also talked about a lady we know too well. Clarice Starling. Bryan hoped for a different portrayal and considered what it would mean if she were portrayed as non-white. It would give us her "view of the world" in relation to race, which opens up new possibilities in terms of storytelling.

There were many interesting discussions about the human body, aesthetics and a potential exhibition. At some point, I actually did get hungry...which was just creepy.

NBC Hannibal returns Thursday, June, 4.




14 comments:

  1. Thanks veronika. Hope you enjoyed the call.

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  2. It was great. :) Everybody kept stealing my questions, but it was still awesome.

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  3. It was. He could go on and on about the human body, the psychology and how you can break all these boundaries on the show. It was pretty interesting :)

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  4. "Bryan: "There's a dinner scene in episode 7." Mason Verger is hosting and Gillian Anderson brings something funny into it. He calls it the best dinner scene ever! "

    Oh, going with what we know, episode 7 should be the transition into the beginning of Red Dragon, but this scene reminds me of Barney bringing something of Hannibal's to Verger in the film version of Hannibal, so I will assume, it is something personal belonging to him! But what could she bring that would possibly be "funny"? A pair of underwear? His fragrance collection? LOL!

    "Delving deeper into the relationship between Hannibal and Will, Bryan also talked about characters being broken and eventually getting reborn. This applies to everyone. But in Will's and Hannibal's case it's also a dynamic process.
    It's about a bromance, a nasty breakup. And in the end both of them need to find a "point of closure." They realize what they have lost."


    Good! This should be a beginning of a transition, especially for Hannibal should we adventure to Starling...

    "He also talked about a lady we know too well. Clarice Starling. Bryan hoped for a different portrayal and considered what it would mean if she were portrayed as non-white. It would give us her "view of the world" in relation to race, which opens up new possibilities in terms of storytelling.",/i>

    I'm very concerned about this now, because it might be very hard to make the associations that IMO needs to made in order to understand his love and "design" for this character, especially because he has already done such a fantastic job to pre-building towards it with Abigail, Margot, Alana, and Bedelia...

    I am not saying I'm completely against it, but I would rather they would just make either Ardelia Mapp and/or Evelda Drumgo a more significant African America character(s) with more meaning for Clarice than change that aspect of her. Although maybe as an Asian character it might be really interesting.



    Anyways, Thank You SO VERY MUCH, Veronika! Looking forward to your reviews!

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  5. Just means you had questions everyone wants answers to, which is not a bad thing!

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  6. Omg I can't believe we're going to get some canon bisexual representation---on tv!! FEMALE bisexual representation, no less! Holy crap, I literally don't think that has EVER been done before on any show!

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  7. Please ban the account "Rene" - the profile pic with a girl with red hair in it. She's been trolling everyone on your threadson this site. - something has to be done

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  8. Tonya PapanikolasJune 2, 2015 at 6:03 AM

    Fun to read all this insight on season 3, Veronika. Thanks!

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  9. Hey, question. I looked at the full transcript and never saw Fuller mention that the lesbian love scene was between Alana and Margot. Are you sure it's between them? How do you know?

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  10. We are shown part of it in one of the promos, Alana and Margot making out.

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  11. I saw that. But I couldn't tell for sure if it was really Margot. It goes so quickly, you can't really see. (Lol... I watched it numerous times trying to tell for sure but the face is hidden.)

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  12. Yeah he said in another interview the two have a lesbian scene he called 'very sensual'.

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