Mads Mikkelsen: "One thing's for sure, Hannibal really really loves Will."

Mads Mikkelsen: "Will Graham is the most precious thing he has. The thing he loves most in the world."

Interviewer: "Do you see Hannibal as a love story about these two guys?"

Fuller: "Absolutely. (...) Hannibal has had a traumatic break-up with another person who he felt understood him in a way that no-one else could, yet betrayed him to his very core. Who can't relate to that?"

Dancy: "When Season 3 picks up, we're both pining for each other. What I've found is that when people start talking about the show on set, trying to work out a scene, pretty soon everyone starts talking about the worst relationship they were ever in. It is a love story, but obviously not a very functional one."

Mikkelsen: "I recently watched the whole second season back to back, and I was really impressed by how what is basically a horror show becomes a romance. Yes, it starts platonic, but the further we've gone, the more graphic and symbolic it's become. He broke my heart. So I stabbed him with a knife in his stomach."

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Mads Mikkelsen on Hannibal's relationship with Will: "I mean, let's put it frankly, it's a fucked up relationship. The thing is, I know that he knows, and I also know that he plays me, and he knows that I know. There's something about that that is so kinky and weird, right? Hannibal would be extremely disappointed if Will did not use his intelligence to try to nail me. That would disappoint him a lot. But at a certain point he gives in. He does believe that they can walk hand-in-hand down the path, with Abigail Hobbs, into the future. At a certain point he does believe it, and that breaks his heart - that he was weak enough to believe something that he didn't see was a lie."

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Bryan Fuller: "When he smells Freddie Lounds on Will Graham, Mad's performance is so struck in that moment because Hannibal was convinced. Will's plan succeeded, he absolutely seduced Hannibal Lecter. That's part of it for Hannibal. You tricked me, and I allowed myself to be tricked. The other part was just the devastating loss of the relationship."

Bryan Fuller: "Will now, of clear mind, is beginning his own seduction of Hannibal Lecter. Hannibal has been working very hard to seduce Will, and now, it's up to Will to seduce Hannibal and perhaps lull him into a false sense of security, so he can ultimately be exposed."

Hugh Dancy: "One man is slowly but surely manipulating another man to, maybe the breaking point."

Bryan Fuller: "Mads and Hugh, there were a lot of takes where they got very intimate, and lips were hovering over lips. I definitely had the footage to go there, because Mads and Hugh were so game. They called me and warned me: We really went for it!"

Bryan Fuller: "Will Graham is covered in Hannibal's bodily fluids, gayagenda."