The two co-stars Edward Norton called “the best of both worlds”

Posted On September 22, 2024September 22, 2024

Fans of the beloved TV show Hannibal will know the name Will Graham. Though the character isn’t featured in The Silence of the Lambs, he has now found a place in pop culture, mostly thanks to Hugh Dancy’s portrayal of him as opposite Mads Mikkelsen’s intellectual cannibal. 

For many, the most famous actor to portray Will Graham is undoubtedly Edward Norton, who brought the character to life in the 2002 film Red Dragon. Set between the events of Silence of the Lambs and Ridley Scott’s Hannibal, the film follows Graham and Dr Hannibal Lecter as they attempt to catch a serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy. Though not as renowned as the 1991 masterpiece, Red Dragon is still widely considered a solid film. It also gave Norton the opportunity to work alongside two individuals he held in high regard: Anthony Hopkins and director Brett Ratner.

While speaking to the BBC to promote the film, Norton was incredibly complimentary towards Anthony Hopkins, who was on his third go-around as Dr Lecter. “Tony Hopkins is a consummate professional,” he said, clearly feeling comfortable enough to use a nickname. “He’s really, really low-key, very understated, very confident in his understatement. He’s intensely prepared and just very easy to work with.”

Norton’s love for acclaimed British actors wasn’t just limited to “Tony”. Ralph Fiennes, who played The Tooth Fairy, also came in for some praise. “[He] is such a tremendous actor, and he remains, I think, an enigma for a lot of people,” pondered his co-star. “I think he’s still very capable of filling up the blank slate of himself with anything, and it was exciting.” He called working with Fiennes “the best of both worlds”, as he was able to deliver such a captivating performance whilst still finding his feet.

The interview commented on the strength of the Red Dragon cast, which Norton credited to the project’s director. “Brett Ratner’s enthusiasm and persuasiveness… got all of us on board – even Anthony Hopkins, who, I think, like most of us, initially wondered about doing a third instalment of the Hannibal Lecter series.” He was also a fan of the movie’s script, which was written by Silence of the Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally, commenting on its “forcefulness”.

When asked what drew him to the role, Norton referred to Graham’s complicated and often treacherous relationship with his murderous partner. “What’s intriguing to me is how Hannibal Lecter is simultaneously insane, filled with rage and desire to do harm to my character,” he said. “And yet is also the one who’s offering him counsel on how to get over the wounds that he, Lecter, gave him.” This dynamic is what drives the plot of the film and is explored in more detail in the aforementioned TV series, which ran from 2013 to 2015.

Red Dragon was the fourth in a series of films based on Thomas Harris’s novels, which Dino De Laurentiis produced. The first two were The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and the often-overlooked first film outing for Hannibal Lecter, Michael Mann’s Manhunter, in which he was played by Brian Cox. Hopkins was not featured in 2007’s Hannibal Rising, a prequel. The character was instead played by the late French actor Gaspard Ulliel.

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