Exclusive Interview: Bryan Fuller on ‘Hannibal,’ Clarice Starling & Barney

CraveOnline: What about Barney? Do you have the rights to Barney?

Bryan Fuller: We don’t have the rights to Barney. We asked for them, and we do have a Barney-like character in Season 2, but we were denied the rights to Barney.

What about the actor? Can we get Frankie Faison in here?

Yeah, he’s played the character in… three films?

Yeah, and he played a different character in Manhunter, so it would be nice to see him in “Hannibal” at some point.

I would love to get Frankie Faison in this show in some capacity. But he’s actually on another show, and so we weren’t able to get him to play the Barney-like character.

Did you try? Was that the idea?

We looked into his availability.

That would have been awesome.

Yeah. Of course he was busy, so he was unavailable, and since we couldn’t get the rights to the Barney character we’re adjusting the character slightly, making him a little bit younger and perhaps a little more opportunistic.

I had heard that you once pitched a “Star Trek” television series. Is that true?

I haven’t pitched it, I just expressed interest that I would love to do a “Star Trek” TV show. Again, that was my very first start, on “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager.” That was my first job as a writer in Hollywood. So having spent four years on staff and another year of freelancing before that on “Star Trek,” it’s a very near and dear property to my heart, and also a philosophy. I would love to create a “Star Trek” show, so that’s on my dream docket.

Would want to set it in the new J.J. Abrams-verse, or would you want to set it in the old chronology?

I think there’s something very exciting about the new J.J. Abrams-verse, and there’s also kind of an interesting reinvention. How would “The Next Generation” evolve from that? Where would that be? Where would that go? But there’s also… “Star Trek” is such a big universe, and there are so many places to go with it. I have a very specific idea that I would love to do. We’ll see if I ever get the opportunity.

What should we be on the lookout for in “Hannibal: Season 2?” Is there an, “Whatever you do, don’t miss out on THIS episode…?”

[Laughs] We start off on a pretty big bang for the show, so I would say do not miss the opening of the show, and hopefully it will grab you and keep you. 

William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.