'X-Files' Star Gillian Anderson Heads to NBC's 'Hannibal'

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Gillian Anderson

Gillian Anderson is going from The X-Files to Hannibal.

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The actress is poised to return to broadcast television with a multiple-episode role in NBC's Bryan Fuller Hannibal drama, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Based the books by Thomas Harris, James Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen will play the psychiatrist-turned-serial killer in the 13-episode dramatic take from the creator of cult hit Pushing Daisies. Hugh Dancy (The Big C) stars as Will Graham, the criminal profiler who is on the hunt for a serial killer with the FBI and enlists Dr. Lecter's help with the case. Laurence Fishburne anad Wonderfalls' Caroline Dhavernas co-star.

As first reported by EW, Anderson will play Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, the therapist to Mads Mikkelsen's Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the drama set to debut in the first half of 2013. She'll appear in three episodes of the series.

"Every therapist needs their own head examined and we are ecstatic that Gillian Anderson has chosen Hannibal to mark her return to American television after 10 years to portray Dr. Lecter's (Mads Mikkelsen) personal psychiatrist," Fuller said in a statement. "Her intelligence and sophistication, not to mention her pedigree of ground-breaking TV, make her the perfect actress to match wits and psychological manipulations with one of the greatest villains of pop culture. I couldn't be more excited."

Since The X-Files ended its run in 2002, Anderson has been a regular on British television and most recently co-starred in Encore's Moby Dick miniseries.

She's repped by CAA and Untitled.

An exact premiere date for Hannibal, which NBC picked up straight to series in February, has yet to be determined.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit