A ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Alum Nabbed The Lead In ‘Silence Of The Lambs’ Spinoff Series

Back in January, CBS announced Clarice, a spinoff TV series that takes place one year after the events of The Silence of The Lambs, which saw fledgling young FBI agent Clarice Starling team up with the murderous psychiatrist Hannibal Lector to stop a serial killer. Finding an actress to fill the shoes of Jodie Foster, who originally played the role of Starling in the 1991 film, would be no easy task, but according to Deadline, CBS has landed on Australian actress Rebecca Breeds (Pretty Little Liars, The Originals) who won the role in a “competitive situation” with several young actresses.

The series is a deep dive into the untold personal story of Clarice Starling (Breeds), as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C.

Brilliant and vulnerable, Clarice (Breeds) graduated Magna from UVA with a double major in Psych and Criminology. Her bravery gives her an inner light that draws monsters and madmen to her. Her complex psychological makeup comes from a challenging childhood, and her drive comes from her need to escape the burden of family secrets that have haunted her throughout her life.

However, fans of the NBC series Hannibal, which starred Mads Mikkelsen as the cannibal serial killer slash world’s most meticulous culinary expert, should know that Clarice is an entirely separate project that will not feature Hannibal Lecter. The exclusion of the diabolical serial killer will be an interesting needle for the showrunners to thread considering his involvement in Clarice’s most high profile arrest, but CBS appears to have considerable faith in the show.

Clarice will still have to shoot a pilot, which has been written by executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, but the show has already a set up a writers room and a “big series commitment” is on the line should everything proceed as planned.