Bryan Fuller Offers David Bowie a Role in ‘Hannibal’ Season 2

It has been a week since Hannibal served up its delicious season finale, but news has continued to pour in regarding the direction showrunner Bryan Fuller is headed and the possible additions he’d like to make to the cast as the series moves forward. And although it may be hard for many die hard fans to imagine what could possibly make the superb serial killer drama any better, Fuller recently announced he has offered the legendary David Bowie a role in season 2.
As it turns out, the move would not only welcome Bowie to NBC, but it would also make him a part of the Lecter family, as the role Fuller has in mind is that of Count Robert Lecter, Hannibal’s uncle from the 2006 prequel novel Hannibal Rising.

According to E!, Fuller confirmed that the NBC drama has begun testing the waters to see whether or not the famed musician and actor has the time and inclination to make an appearance on the series.
Fuller said:

“We have reached out to David Bowie to see if he’s interested and available. We would love for him to play Hannibal’s uncle, who is a character from the literature and in the books…. since our timeline is a little more present, there’s a little bit of J.J. Abrams-style alternate universe storytelling where he could still be alive.”

But before anyone gets too excited, this bit of information should probably be filed under Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal Season 2 Wish List, as the creator was quick to point out, “We don’t have an answer yet.”

For those not familiar with the character, Robert Lecter is introduced in Hannibal Rising where he adopts a teenaged Hannibal shortly before being killed by the Nazis. Obviously, given the contemporary setting of Hannibal and taking Fuller’s “alternate universe” comments into consideration, there would have to be a substantial departure from the source material in order to bring Robert into the fold.
Perhaps even more interesting, however, is the way Fuller appears to have answered the question of whether or not Count Robert Lecter would exist in the present, or if his role would consist solely in flashback, before it had even been asked.
As fans (or Fannibals) have become deeply devoted to the series, it doesn’t seem like any deviation Fuller would want to make – especially one that could potentially bring in David Bowie – would be viewed negatively. Besides, as Fuller goes on to state, much of the season 2 plotline requires that he and his writers go off on a lengthy tangent, based on some backstory that was only briefly mentioned in Red Dragon.

“We’re going to see Will Graham institutionalized and what we know from ‘Red Dragon,’ the backstory that is given, which is very, very thin, explains that Will Graham was so psychologically compromised from investigating the Minnesota case that he had to be institutionalized. And that’s sort of one sentence that we can do quite a bit with.
“As you can see from the first season, we held true to that backstory in a very faithful way, but obviously we took huge liberties in how we interpreted that one sentence. So right now, for season 2, we are in fresh territory with a chapter that hasn’t even been written by Thomas Harris. It’s exciting.”

So far, Fuller has managed to put his own unique stamp on several of Harris’ characters, but putting Bowie alongside Mad Mikkelsen would be a truly remarkable achievement.

However, Robert Lecter wouldn’t be the only addition to season 2, as the plot would also introduce the role of Barney – the guard who works at the Baltimore State Hospital Will finds himself incarcerated in – a character Fuller believes would be perfect for well-known character actor Chi McBride.

“That will be some fun stunt casting. I would love to bring in Chi McBride, if he’s available. There are so many great actors I would love to work with.”

Sadly, like Fuller, we’ll all have to wait and see if Bowie (and maybe even McBride) finds the opportunity to appear on Hannibal tantalizing enough to pursue. As the series is preparing to begin production on season 2 in Toronto this August, we won’t have too long to wait.
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Screen Rant will keep you posted on all the Hannibal news and any developments regarding David Bowie’s potential involvement in the series.
Source: E! Online