NBC’s ‘Hannibal’ Recruits ‘Wonderfalls’ Actress For an Actual Cross-Over
Well, this is an odd play for NBC. Whenever a famed showrunner takes upon a new project, it's fairly commonplace for said producer to recruit actors from his former series, be they lead or supporting. NBC might be entering whole new territory, however, as 'Hannibal' showrunner Bryan Fuller seems not only to have recruited former 'Wonderfalls' star Chelan Simmons for his new series, but her character as well! What the what?
Okay, now this is thoroughly weird. We've known of and followed for some time the development of NBC's mid-season Bryan Fuller drama 'Hannibal,' tackling the early days of the partnership between the iconic serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and his young FBI partner Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), but its latest addition comes as a bit baffling. TVLine reports that current 'LA Complex' star Chelan Simmons will join her former 'Wonderfalls' co-star Caroline Dhavernas for the new NBC drama, but most curious of all is that Simmons will actually be playing her former 'Wonderfalls' character, former high school queen bee Gretchen Speck-Horowitz.
So... 'Hannibal' and Fuller's 2004 FOX cancelled cult hit 'Wonderfalls' take place in the same universe? Hurm. Fuller himself first tweeted out the news, saying "THRILLED to be working again with @ChelanLSimmons and TICKLED her character is crossing over to #Hannibal." Her former co-star Caroline Dhavernas, however, plays all-new character Dr. Alana "Al" Bloom, young protege to Dr. Lecter.
‘Hannibal’ also features Lara Jean Chorostecki as a female interpretation of ‘Red Dragon’ character Freddy Lounds, and Laurence Fishburne as Jack Crawford. Set in the early days of Graham and Lecter’s partnership, Fuller's envisioned series is “a love story” told across at least seven seasons. He has also specified the likelihood that the third or so season would cover the story of Thomas Harris’ novel ‘Red Dragon.’
Well, alright then. What say you? Do you think Fuller will make further cross-overs between his other work and 'Hannibal?' Are you interested to check out the new series? Sound off in the comments!