Hannibal mastermind and pescatarian Bryan Fuller—a guy who knows a thing or two about the visceral thrills and disgusts offered by the wonderful world of meat—has contributed his talents to a new campaign supporting People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals. Teaming up with his old star Gillian Anderson, Fuller has put together a new, Hannibal-themed ad for PETA, apparently to remind people of the relatively minor differences between eating steak and engaging in lavishly photographed cannibalism.
Hannibal fans will note that the PSA is lifted almost shot for shot from the series’ final scene, in which a decked-out-to-the-nines Anderson patiently waits to be served her own, perfectly prepared leg. (And while it seems like kind of a weird tactic to discourage meat-eating by showing off such a delicious-looking leg of person, we’re not going to be the ones to tell Bryan Fuller how to horrify and/or tantalize his viewers.)
Fuller apparently gave up meat during the filming of Hannibal’s first season, telling Entertainment Weekly, “Mostly I am a pescatarian as a result of not only writing about cannibalism for the last three years, but also doing considerable research on the psychology of animals, and how sophisticated cows and pigs and the animals that we eat actually are.”
Anyway: New Hannibal! Sure, it’s only, like, two seconds of new footage, in service of a nebulous political message, but… New Hannibal! Hooray!