Cast This: Clarice Starling

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Hannibal quickly became one of my favourite TV shows of all-time, and although it was a bit of a blow when the series was cancelled after three seasons, it certainly lasted longer than I expected. Over the past several years there have occasionally been rumblings of a revival of Hannibal, either as a fourth season or a film, and Mads Mikkelsen revealed earlier this year that he thinks "there's always new hope" for a revival of Hannibal. The actor also teased that creator Bryan Fuller is still working on way to bring it back. "I haven’t heard anything specific. I know Bryan is still working on some ideas where we can find a new home for this," Mikkelsen said. "I also have a strong feeling that everybody who was involved in it would gladly pick up the glove again if that happens. I don’t know where they looked. That is above my paycheck, but I know they’ve been talking to different studios."

If the series does return, Mikkelsen confirmed that it will likely dive into "The Silence of the Lambs" story. "I know that [Fuller] was working to get the rights to Silence of the Lambs so he could get in there and use some of those characters for his own universe," Mikkelsen said. "I have a hunch that might be where we’re going." As Hugh Dancy's character of Will Graham doesn't have much of a presence in that particular Hannibal tale, the story might not unfold exactly as we would expect, but Dancy has previously said that Fuller had "envisioned taking some elements of that novel and reworking it through the Will-Hannibal relationship." Although it would be possible to explore "The Silence of the Lambs" story with just Will Graham and Hannibal Lector, Bryan Fuller is still hoping to get the rights to use iconic characters from the novel, such as Clarice Starling.

In "The Silence of the Lambs," Clarice Starling is a trainee at the FBI Academy who is sent by her mentor, Behavioral Sciences Unit chief Jack Crawford, to interview Hannibal Lector at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Lector is able to give Starling some helfpful information about Buffalo Bill, a serial killer who kidnaps women and skins them, but wants some information about Starling in return. Jodie Foster played the role in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and took home the award for Best Actress at the Oscars, but she declined to return for HANNIBAL and was replaced by Julianne Moore.

While I'm not about to hold my breath for a revival of Hannibal which tackles "The Silence of the Lambs," Bryan Fuller has already stated that he has an actress in mind for the role should the day arrive. "I love Ellen Page," Fuller revealed several years ago. "I think she would be a great Clarice." However, Fuller also said that he was toying with "the idea of casting somebody who's not white in that role. Having race play a factor in Clarice's background, in a way that race plays a factor in everybody's background, I think that would be an interesting exploration of the character." Now, who can follow in the footsteps of Jodie Foster and Julianne Moore to play Clarice Starling? I'll toss out a few suggestions to get you started. After being blown away with her performance(s) in Orphan Black, I'm now a fan of Tatiana Maslany for life, and she could do wonderous things with Clarice Starling. Zazie Beetz (JOKER) would be another fine choice for the role, and for my final suggestion, I'll go Britt Robertson (TOMORROWLAND).

Remember, you're free to suggest anyone in the comments, so let your inner casting director run wild!

Previously on Cast This, you were asked to fill the role of Skeletor for the upcoming MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE film. The suggestion of Willem Dafoe (AQUAMAN) proved to be a popular one, but you came through with plenty of great picks yourselves, including Nicolas Cage (MANDY), who I'm ashamed to admit I didn't even think of at the time, and John Malkovich (BIRD BOX).