During “Hannibal” Season 2, former “Boardwalk Empire” star Michael Pitts turned in a riveting performance as Mason Verger, the insane heir to a meat-packing empire who ran afoul of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen).
After being drugged and manipulated into maiming himself, Mason expressed his hope that he could “help” Hannibal the way that he had been helped. Next season, Mason will get his chance… except there will be someone new taking over the role.
TVLine is reporting that Pitt has left “Hannibal,” with Joe Anderson set to take over the role of Mason Verger in the upcoming third season. Anderson was the star of the short lived found-footage horror series, “The River” on ABC.
The events of “Hannibal” Season 3 are partially inspired by Hannibal, the third Hannibal Lecter novel written by Thomas Harris. In the original book and its subsequent film adaptation, Verger put a price on Hannibal’s head to capture him alive and feed him to his wild pigs.
Anderson later confirmed the news by posting a picture of himself in his Mason Verger makeup on Instagram.
“Hannibal” Season 3 will return to NBC in 2015.
