Clarice Star Michael Cudlitz Breaks Down His Version of Paul Krendler

The new Clarice series on CBS follows the evolution of young FBI agent Clarice Starling after her meetings with Hannibal Lecter helped her catch the dangerous serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. Just like Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, Clarice is based on the novels of Thomas Harris, though this series shifts the focus from Lecter to Starling, finally giving her more time in the spotlight. In addition to offering Starling (played by Rebecca Breeds) a larger role, Clarice also brings Paul Krendler to the forefront.

Krendler briefly appeared in Silence of the Lambs before taking on one of the major antagonistic roles in the Hannibal film, where he was played by Ray Liotta. As we learned in the premiere of Clarice last week, this new version of Krendler — this time played by The Walking Dead alum Michael Cudlitz — isn't quite as villainous as his predecessors. Cudlitz recently sat down with ComicBook.com to chat about his role in the new series, and how his layered take on Krendler differs from the others that we've seen in the past.

"First thing I'll point out is that the real first big, big glimpse we get into Paul Krendler from the Thomas Harris world isn't until nine years [after Clarice]," Cudlitz explained. "So who knows what happens over that time? And that's what we're examining. What got Paul to that place? And I don't even know if we're necessarily going to be on that exact trajectory. Obviously there's rights issues with some of the characters, so we had to restructure our world, because the main story being told here is the story of Clarice Starling."

As Cudlitz mentioned, the rights to the various characters in the Thomas Harris books are complicated. Clarice can only mention certain characters from the novel, which puts Paul into a slightly different role than the one from the books and previous films.

"Now, we know who her boss was in the Silence of the Lambs. And that structure, the workplace structure would have obviously stayed the same or similar," Cudlitz continued. "And then some of those characters, we would know what they're still doing. That is not the case, just because we don't have the ability to use those characters. So that being said, we're moving slower. Like every other adaptation has since. They've used the characters, and their backstories as a jumping off point. And that's what we're doing. The history of Paul Krendler is what it was. Where he goes from here is yet to be discovered. And whether or not he does become the Paul Krendler that we see by the time we get to Hannibal is yet to be seen. But again, that's 10 years down the road. A lot can happen. People change over 10 years."

What did you think of the first episode of Clarice? Let us know in the comments!

New episodes of Clarice air on Thursday nights on CBS.