8 Nuances That Made Mads Mikkelsen's Hannibal So Great
2. The Central Relationship Is Genuine
Since the central relationship of Hannibal, between Lecter and his patient and friend Will Graham is so important, it certainly helped that Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy had been friends for so many years before Bryan Fuller cast them together. They first met on the set of the film King Arthur, a supposedly historically revisionist interpretation of the myth that ended up being unintentionally hilarious. Both men played knights of legend: Mikkelsen took on Tristan, Dancy Galahad. From all reports, the main actors developed a very strong bond together (the cast reads like a heavyweight whos-who Mikkelsen, Dancy, Ray Stevenson, Clive Owen, Ray Winstone, Ioan Gruffudd, Joel Edgerton) and Mikkesens close friendship of a decade with the man who would be cast opposite him in Hannibal helped the two to create an onscreen relationship that was totally believable as a friendship and even a kind of romance:
"It was a great gift for both of us, that we were able to spend so much time together on the show. We were kind of in a boat of insecurity from the beginning, but it was nice to have a friend there, if you go down or you stay up." - ClashMusic.com