CBS' upcoming TV show sequel to horror classic The Silence of the Lambs has cast Australian actress Rebecca Breeds as its Clarice Starling. When it was announced in January that a Silence of the Lambs sequel show, entitled simply Clarice, was in the works, the news made Hannibal fans really angry. After all, devotees of Bryan Fuller's critically acclaimed series have been waiting impatiently for nearly five years for a teased fourth season to materialize, after NBC opted to cancel the show.
It's well-known that Fuller's original plan for season 4 of Hannibal involved introducing Clarice Starling, but that legal issues needed to be worked out with MGM, who controls the screen rights to the character. Instead, MGM is behind this Clarice sequel series, having seemingly decided not to work with Fuller, and effectively telling Hannibal fans to give up on their season 4 dreams. While Fuller has said he could still make a season 4 without Clarice in it, it's still a disappointing development.
Yet, we can't keep dwelling forever on what Clarice isn't. Instead, it's time to focus on what it could be, and that's a quality drama in its own right. To that end, Deadline reports that Clarice, executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, has cast its title character.
Silence of the Lambs Sequel TV Show Casts Clarice Starling
Australian actress Rebecca Breeds is set to star as Clarice Starling on CBS' Silence of the Lambs sequel series, marking her first ever leading TV role. Clarice is set to film a pilot episode before the decision is made whether to pick it up for a full first season, but prior reports have said that CBS is very high on the project, meaning that a season 1 order probably would only not happen if the pilot ends up being completely awful. For now, it's not expected that Hannibal Lecter will ever appear on the Clarice series, which focuses on Clarice's return to normal FBI duties following her movie encounters with both Dr. Lecter and Buffalo Bill.
Breeds has a history with CBS, having recurred on its short-lived 2013 sitcom We Are Men, and having guest starred on the similarly short-lived legal drama The Code in 2019. One hopes that Clarice won't meet the same fate of a quick cancellation by the network. Breeds also played Nicole Gordon on Freeform's Pretty Little Liars, and Aurora de Martel on The CW vampire series The Originals. Now that's she been cast, Breeds becomes the third actress to play Clarice Starling, after Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning turn in Silence of the Lambs and Julianne Moore's outing in the 2001 Hannibal movie. Those are definitely some big shoes to fill.
Source: Deadline