Silence of the Lambs Sequel Series Clarice Creators Detail Why They Won’t Focus on Hannibal Lecter

The upcoming CBS series Clarice will focus on Clarice Starling, made famous by the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, but audiences shouldn’t expect to see much mention of the famous villain Hannibal Lecter, as the series creators recently detailed that their aim was to focus on the hero of that story, given how many times we’ve seen the villain brought to life. Of course, this isn’t the only reason the series won’t feature the character, as different behind-the-scenes agreements and rights issues mean the series was prohibited from including the character, yet it doesn’t sound like the creators are at all disappointed by that fact.

“That character has been brought to life by extraordinarily talented artists. I can think of three extraordinary actors and at least three to four extraordinary directors,” co-creator Jenny Lumet shared during a panel for the Television Critics Association’s 2021 winter tour, per Decider. “Clarice has not been explored like that. Clarice has a depth and a mystery that we haven’t examined yet.”

It’s hard to argue with Lumet’s comments, as we’ve seen Hannibal Lecter in multiple feature films and the figure earned three seasons of his own series on NBC. Clarice Starling, however, would go on to appear in the film Hannibal, yet has largely been missing from the world of live-action.

“Obviously we’re crazy, we’re rabid fans of The Silence of the Lambs. It has been explored in great depth by so many people,” co-creator Alex Kurtzman continued. “As we were writing, it was that the tagline of the show kept pushing itself to the foreground, which is ‘The silence is over.’ I think that that meant she had not spoken in 30 years and it was her time to speak now. That was our compass. That’s what led us. That’s what we wanted to do. We really didn’t want to tread territory that had been done so well by so many others.”

Jodie Foster brought Clarice to life for The Silence of the Lambs, with the role ultimately earning her an Academy Award for Best Actress. While Julianne Moore would take over the role for Hannibal, this new series stars Rebecca Breeds as the titular investigator.

Clarice is set in 1993, a year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs. The series is a deep dive into the untold personal story of Clarice Starling, as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C. Brilliant and vulnerable, Clarice graduated Magna from UVA with a double major in Psych and Criminology. Her bravery gives her an inner light that draws monsters and madmen to her. Her complex psychological makeup comes from a challenging childhood, and her drive comes from her need to escape the burden of family secrets that have haunted her throughout her life.

Check out the series premiere of Clarice on CBS on February 11, 2021.

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