8 Nuances That Made Mads Mikkelsen's Hannibal So Great
5. A Man Of Few Words
Mads Mikkelsen is well known by his peers for his ability to convey important information to an audience without any form of dialogue at all. Again, it's a facet of the dancers art, which is all about articulating ideas and emotions without speech, through movement and expression alone.
"I try to eliminate words as much as possible. There is a tendency to underestimate the power of what we can do without words. Sometimes you can make a scene even more powerful and precise without dialogue." - Rolling Stone
One of Hannibal's directors, David Slade, points out that Mikkelsen has an incredible sense of what his face can do with micro-movements. He has the ability to do practically nothing and still scare the sh*t out of you. With the feel of the show having more in common with hyperreal grand guignol theatre like Shakespeares Titus Andronicus or Websters Duchess Of Malfi, having the actor at the beating heart of the drama capable of such nuance makes for some seriously compelling television.