'Hannibal' Star Says You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!

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Earlier this week, ETonline shared an exclusive sneak peek from tonight's all-new episode of Hannibal, where we called the show "TV's most unpredictable hour" -- and according to star Aaron Abrams, we'll be throwing around a whole lot more complimentary adjectives after actually watching the entire outing!


ETonline: What attracted you to this show?


Aaron Abrams: Besides just being awesome, it's exciting to see a character that everyone is familiar with get reinvented and feel new. It's suspenseful in a brand new way and an extra dimension of scary added to the world. Plus, when you see how vivid Bryan Fuller's previous work is, you have a sense of how visually spectacular it's going to be. He's not just a showrunner, he's a visionary. So to work and play in this world is extraordinary.


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ETonline: We're starting to see more from your character, Brian Zeller, tonight. How do you describe him?


Abrams: He's the medical specialist on the team, so he's digging around in the bodies more than anyone else. Perhaps, as a result of that medical background, he sees himself as the smartest guy in the room. Which you'll start to see because he begins butting heads with Will Graham quite a bit. His insane intuition just rubs Brian the wrong way, and he doesn't stay quiet about it. Brian believes himself to be the voice of reason and Will feels like a loose cannon to Brian, so he doesn't understand why we're following him blindly. In Brian's defense, Will is not a polite, sociable guy. So any conflict they have is escalated by Brian's arrogance and Will's antisocial tendencies.


ETonline: As the guy dealing with the viscera up close and personally, how realistic is it?


Abrams: Viscera is a great word. I would actually arrive at set a little early so I could just get comfortable with what I'd be looking at. The art department does such an amazing job that everything actually looks really real. It's tough for the actors because it's all really gross. And Bryan tries to top what he did last week. It's just more gruesome and there's more viscera week after week. But at the same time, it's not gore porn. It's backed up with excellent character development. The mental brutality is almost as bad as the physical brutality.


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ETonline: On a scale of 1-10 where does the mushroom garden fall on the spectrum of what's in store for fans this season?


Abrams: They're all kind of 10's -- for the actor who plays my partner on the show, the mushroom garden was the thing he had the toughest time with. For me, something comes later that's far freakier. It all depends on what your horror version of a funnybone reacts to. If the mushroom garden doesn't get you, something else will.


ETonline: As an actor what's stronger: you're desire to act opposite Mads Mikkelsen or your desire to stay employed and, therefore, not share a scene?


Abrams: You've hit the nail on the head. It's such a Catch-22 because I want, so badly, to do a scene with Mads, but I just know Brian would rub Hannibal the wrong way. Lecter has a thing about eating rude people and I'm just about as ill-mannered as it gets on the show.


Hannibal
airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.