‘I’m a tofu pie’: Hannibal’s Gillian Anderson

SINGAPORE — If she was turned into a dish, Gillian Anderson prefers to be something on the sweet end.

“Maybe some kind of pudding. They’d have to figure out some kind of way to turn my meat into some type of dessert. Kind of like a tofu pie. A Bedelia pie,” she said on the phone.

It’s par for the course when you’re in a show where every episode sees characters unwittingly eating artfully-plated dishes of human meat.

After carving a name for herself in the pop culture lexicon as the X-Files’ Agent Dana Scully, Anderson is now helping flesh out one of the most infamous cult characters of all time in the TV show Hannibal.

Based on characters in the books by Thomas Harris, the series focuses on the lives of troubled FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and the eponymous doctor Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), in the days before he was captured.

And the audience is in on the series’ cannibalistic secret — creator Bryan Fuller enthusiastically tweets the provenance of the dishes as episodes air, and the answer is that everything is made of people. Even the beer.

Anderson plays Bedelia du Maurier, Hannibal’s psychologist. It was an unusual role for her to take, she noted, mostly because she doesn’t do much American network TV these days.

“Ultimately (Bryan Fuller) convinced me that it would be really cool to come and join them, and have a chance to play Hannibal’s psychiatrist. And I realise that, actually, he was right, it’s a really fun thing to get to be able to do, to get to have some fun with some really, really quality actors.”

To prepare for the role, she sampled her many years of experience in therapy, and focused on the character. “The question was more about what kind of woman, professional woman, would Hannibal choose to be his psychiatrist.”

Like many of the show’s cast and crew, she heaped words of praise for Mikkelsen, whose layered performance manages to humanise a character primarily known for murdering people and eating them. “He’s incredible, he’s amazing to work with. So many emotions just at his fingertips and it’s really fascinating to watch.”

When asked, she was quick to disassociate her current work with her role on the X-Files: “Their characters are very different,” she said. “Each role requires a different amount of preparation, a different kind of thinking.”

Will we see her in the lead for another series anytime soon? Probably not, as she wants to keep enough space on her plate to spend time with her family. “It’s an interesting balance between finding material that I really like, and finding material that doesn’t mean I abandon my kids for too long.”

But no fear: NBC has already ordered a second helping of Hannibal, and Anderson’s promised that she’ll still be at the table. “If they do continue to make it, I will continue to be on it.” She pauses, and prudently adds: “Until he eats me.”

Catch Hannibal every Tuesday, 10pm, on AXN (Starhub TV Ch 511).