''Clarice'' is a 2021 American
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
television series created by
Alex Kurtzman
Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the ''Star Trek'' franchise since 2009, co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers (film), Transformers'' (2007), ''Transformers: Revenge ...
and
Jenny Lumet
Jenny Lumet (born February 2, 1967) is an American actress and screenwriter. She is the daughter of director Sidney Lumet and granddaughter of Lena Horne. Lumet is perhaps most known for writing the original screenplay of the 2008 Jonathan Demme ...
and produced by
CBS Studios
CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...
,
MGM Television
MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/dis ...
, and
Secret Hideout
Secret Hideout is a film and television production company founded in 2014 by Alex Kurtzman. It is notable for the recent incarnations of the '' Star Trek'' franchise with Roddenberry Entertainment.
History
In 2014, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto ...
. It is based on the best-selling novel ''
The Silence of the Lambs'' by
Thomas Harris
William Thomas Harris III (born 1940/1941) is an American writer, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, the most notab ...
and set between the events of the
1991 film and ''
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, đ¤đ¤đ¤đ¤đ¤, ''ḤannibaĘżl''; 247 â between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
'' (2001). The series stars
Rebecca Breeds
Rebecca Elizabeth Breeds (born 17 June 1987) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as Cassie Cometti in the third series of ''Blue Water High'', as series regular Ruby Buckton in the soap opera ''Home and Away,'' Aurora de Martel in '' ...
as the titular character, along with Lucca De Oliveira,
Devyn A. Tyler,
Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...
,
Nick Sandow
Nick Sandow (born August 3, 1966) is an American actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in ''Orange Is the New Black''.
Early life
Of Italian descent, Sandow grew up in the Italian neighborhood of Van Nest i ...
,
Michael Cudlitz
Michael Cudlitz (born December 29, 1964) is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/ TNT drama series '' Southland'' for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013 ...
, and
Marnee Carpenter. The series premiered on February 11, 2021, on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
.
In May 2021, CBS entered negotiations to relocate the series to
Paramount+
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
for its second season.
By June, the relocation became "unlikely" to happen.
Cast
Main
*
Rebecca Breeds
Rebecca Elizabeth Breeds (born 17 June 1987) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as Cassie Cometti in the third series of ''Blue Water High'', as series regular Ruby Buckton in the soap opera ''Home and Away,'' Aurora de Martel in '' ...
as
Clarice Starling
Clarice M. Starling is a fictional character and protagonist of the novels '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1988) and '' Hannibal'' (1999) by Thomas Harris.
In the 1991 film adaptation of ''The Silence of the Lambs'', she was played by Jodie Fost ...
*
Michael Cudlitz
Michael Cudlitz (born December 29, 1964) is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/ TNT drama series '' Southland'' for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013 ...
as Paul Krendler
* Lucca De Oliveira as Tomas Esquivel
*
Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...
as Shaan Tripathi
*
Nick Sandow
Nick Sandow (born August 3, 1966) is an American actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in ''Orange Is the New Black''.
Early life
Of Italian descent, Sandow grew up in the Italian neighborhood of Van Nest i ...
as Murray Clarke
*
Devyn A. Tyler as Ardelia Mapp
*
Marnee Carpenter as Catherine Martin
Recurring
*
Shawn Doyle
Shawn Doyle (born September 19, 1968) is a Canadian actor known for his roles in ''The Expanse'', '' The Eleventh Hour'', ''Big Love'', '' 24'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and '' Star Trek: Discovery''.
Early life and education
Doyle was born an ...
as Clarice's original therapist
*
Jayne Atkinson
Jayne Atkinson (born 18 February 1959) is a British-American actress. She is best known for the role of Karen Hayes on '' 24'', as well as her Tony Awardânominated roles in '' The Rainmaker'' and '' Enchanted April''. She has also appeared in ...
as
United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
Ruth Martin
*
K. C. Collins as Agent Garrett
*
Tim Guinee
Timothy S. Guinee (born November 18, 1962) is an American stage, television, and feature-film actor. Primarily known for his roles as Tomin in the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997â2007) and railroad entrepreneur Collis Huntington AMC' ...
as Novak
*
Peter McRobbie
Peter McRobbie (born 31 January 1943) is a Scottish-born American character actor, best known for his roles as John C. Twist in the 2005 romantic drama film ''Brokeback Mountain'', Mike Sheenan in the 2006 action film '' 16 Blocks'', Pop Pop Ja ...
as Nils Hagen
*
Douglas Smith as Tyson Conway
* Simon Northwood as
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb
Episodes
Production
Development
In January 2020,
CBS Studios
CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...
hired
Alex Kurtzman
Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the ''Star Trek'' franchise since 2009, co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers (film), Transformers'' (2007), ''Transformers: Revenge ...
and
Jenny Lumet
Jenny Lumet (born February 2, 1967) is an American actress and screenwriter. She is the daughter of director Sidney Lumet and granddaughter of Lena Horne. Lumet is perhaps most known for writing the original screenplay of the 2008 Jonathan Demme ...
to create a sequel series to the 1991 film ''
The Silence of the Lambs''.
The series was among the 14 pilot episodes ordered by CBS in February and was fast-tracked to series the following March, as CBS was shut down and unable to film pilot episodes because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
CBS picked up the series on May 8
and announced in December a premiere of February 11, 2021, alongside a trailer release.
Due to complicated rights issues of franchise characters between
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
and the
Dino de Laurentiis Company
Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 â 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...
, the series cannot feature or make reference to
Hannibal Lecter
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a Character (arts), fictional character created by the novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who Human cannibalism, eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected Forensic psychiatry, forensic psychi ...
.
Kurtzman explained, "I'm still trying to understand how the rights are divided. But it's been quite liberating because we have no interest in writing about Hannibalânot because we didn't love
the films and the show, but because it was done so well by so many people that it didn't feel fresh for us."
In May 2021, CBS entered negotiations to relocate the series to
Paramount+
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
for its second season.
By June, the relocation became "unlikely" to happen, despite it never being officially cancelled.
Casting
Rebecca Breeds
Rebecca Elizabeth Breeds (born 17 June 1987) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as Cassie Cometti in the third series of ''Blue Water High'', as series regular Ruby Buckton in the soap opera ''Home and Away,'' Aurora de Martel in '' ...
was cast as
Clarice Starling
Clarice M. Starling is a fictional character and protagonist of the novels '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1988) and '' Hannibal'' (1999) by Thomas Harris.
In the 1991 film adaptation of ''The Silence of the Lambs'', she was played by Jodie Fost ...
in February 2020.
Lucca De Oliveira and
Devyn A. Tyler were cast in starring roles.
Kal Penn
Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...
,
Nick Sandow
Nick Sandow (born August 3, 1966) is an American actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in ''Orange Is the New Black''.
Early life
Of Italian descent, Sandow grew up in the Italian neighborhood of Van Nest i ...
, and
Michael Cudlitz
Michael Cudlitz (born December 29, 1964) is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/ TNT drama series '' Southland'' for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013 ...
joined the main cast.
Marnee Carpenter was cast as a series regular while
Jayne Atkinson
Jayne Atkinson (born 18 February 1959) is a British-American actress. She is best known for the role of Karen Hayes on '' 24'', as well as her Tony Awardânominated roles in '' The Rainmaker'' and '' Enchanted April''. She has also appeared in ...
,
Shawn Doyle
Shawn Doyle (born September 19, 1968) is a Canadian actor known for his roles in ''The Expanse'', '' The Eleventh Hour'', ''Big Love'', '' 24'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and '' Star Trek: Discovery''.
Early life and education
Doyle was born an ...
, and
Tim Guinee
Timothy S. Guinee (born November 18, 1962) is an American stage, television, and feature-film actor. Primarily known for his roles as Tomin in the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997â2007) and railroad entrepreneur Collis Huntington AMC' ...
were cast in recurring roles.
Douglas Smith joined the cast in a recurring capacity.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
for the series began on September 21, 2020, in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada.
Filming of the first season concluded on March 23, 2021.
Reception
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the series has an approval rating of 37% based on reviews from 43 critics, with an average rating of 6.11/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Effectively grim, but narratively bland, ''Clarice'' is a disturbingly safe procedural that lets down both its talented cast and source material."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
gave the series a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 32 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Ratings
References
External links
*
*
{{Alex Kurtzman
2020s American crime drama television series
2020s American horror television series
2020s American mystery television series
2020s American police procedural television series
2021 American television series debuts
2021 American television series endings
American sequel television series
American prequel television series
American television spin-offs
Cannibalism in fiction
CBS original programming
English-language television shows
Fiction about familicide
Hannibal Lecter mass media
Psychological horror
Serial drama television series
Interquel television series
Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Television series about fictional serial killers
Television series about the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Television series by CBS Studios
Television series by MGM Television
Television series created by Alex Kurtzman
Television shows filmed in Toronto
Television series set in 1993
Television shows about diseases and disorders
Television shows based on American novels
Television shows set in Washington, D.C.
Works about psychoanalysis