Hannibal: Every Actor Who's Played Will Graham | Screen Rant
With the possible exception of Clarice Starling, Dr. Hannibal Lecter's nemesis is Will Graham, and here's the actors who've brought him to life. Depending on the portrayal, Will and Hannibal have a very complex relationship to say the least. Will is at his core a good man, but the more he's exposed to Hannibal's manipulation, and the actions of other horrific serial killers like The Tooth Fairy, the more his mental defenses drop and he becomes vulnerable to losing control.
In all versions of the Will and Hannibal story, it's Will that first discovers Dr. Lecter is leading a double life as a cannibal serial killer, and sets out to bring him down. Of course, Hannibal is by no means willing to be locked up without a fight, and Will's revelation leads to him suffering deep scars of both a mental and physical nature. At the same time, Hannibal always seems to have an odd respect for Will seeing through his facade, as most people never do.
Of course, in Bryan Fuller's Hannibal TV show, Will and Hannibal's relationship evolved into what most fans and Fuller himself agree was a romance. Thomas Harris probably never imagined that when he originally wrote Red Dragon, but creativity is a wonderful thing. Here's every actor to play Will Graham onscreen.
Amusingly, the reason this first adaptation of the Red Dragon novel is called Manhunter is that producer Dino De Laurentiis had recently made another film with the word dragon in the title that bombed. Hollywood can be a strange place. William Petersen, future star of CSI, plays Will Graham in Manhunter, directed by Miami Vice creator Michael Mann. In many ways, Manhunter is like a more disturbing version of Miami Vice, full of synth music, striking colors, and other stylish 1980s trappings. Petersen does really well with the role, and really should've been a bigger movie star.
As one might expect from an actor as highly acclaimed as Edward Norton, he does quite well with the Will Graham role too, appearing in 2003's Red Dragon, another adaptation of Harris' book. While Anthony Hopkins looking much older here than he did in Silence of the Lambs - set later in the timeline - is distracting, he and Norton do have an engaging chemistry. Norton's trademark intensity is a perfect fit for the Graham character. Red Dragon is also pretty easily the best movie ever directed by Brett Ratner.
While fans continue to debate whether Hugh Dancy's Will Graham was better than Petersen or Norton's versions, there's no question that thanks to being part of a TV show, Dancy's Will got more development than the other two. Hannibal adapted many elements of Thomas Harris' novels, including adapting Red Dragon in season 3, but also brought so many new aspects to Will Graham's characterization that somehow felt organic within the universe of the show. Dancy proved more than game for the challenge, and most fans hope he gets another shot at the role.