[elee0228]

Thomas Harris, author of great books like Black Sunday and Silence of the Lambs, writes some great sections about a female bodybuilder named Margot Verger in Hannibal.  Most people will be more familiar with the movie adaptations of his books.  Unfortunately, Margot was not included in the movie adaptation of Hannibal, despite being an important character to the plot.  Harris has a tendency to portray her negatively in terms of her steroid abuse, but she ultimately is one of the good guys in the end.  If any of this interests you, pick up the book.

Margot Verger is introduced in Chapter 9 where Thomas Harris describes her in some detail:

A broad-shouldered person with short blond hair swung down from the saddle, handed the reins to the valet without looking at him. "Walk him back," the rider said in a deep scratchy voice.  "I'm Margot Verger."  At close inspection, she was a woman, holding out her hand, arm extended straight from the shoulder.  Clearly Margot Verger was a bodybuilder.  Beneath her corded neck, her massive shoulders and arms stretched the mesh of her tennis shirt.  Her eyes had a dry glitter and looked irritated, as though she suffered from a shortage of tears.  She wore twill riding breeches and boots with no spurs.

The twill riding breeches whistled on Margot Verger's big thighs as she climbed the stairs.  Her cornsilk hair had receded enough to make Starling wonder if she took steroids and had to tape her clitoris down

She doesn't appear again until later in the book.  In Chapter 41 we get a nice tidbit about her:

He tried to torment his sister, Margot, but she retired to the workout room and for hours ignored his pages.  She was the only person at Muskrat Farm who dared to ignore Mason.

And in Chapter 45, she confides to her brother:

"I've messed myself up, Mason.  I've shriveled my ovaries with all the stuff I took."

In Chapter 50, Margot comments a bit on Clarice Starling and starts by saying:

"Starling looks pretty tasty, if you like whole wheat," Margot offered.

Chapter 51 introduces Barney to Margot:

Mason spoke into his intercom and a tall figure came into the room.  He was as muscular as Margot and dressed in whites.  "This is Barney," Mason said.

There's a nice scene in Chapter 56 of Barney and Margot in the gym together.  It starts out like this:

She looked at his arms, looked at hers.  They were about the same.  "How much can you bench-press?" she said.

Chapter 61 is the best part of the book in my opinion because of a shower scene between Margot and Barney.  It's a bit too steamy so I'll only include this snippet:

Barney took as deep a breath as he could and held it…  he could feel himself developing a problem.  She was shining like a horse, pumped to the limit from the hard workout.  As Barney's interest grew more apparent, he turned his back to her.  Maybe he could just ignore her until she left.

[Lingster]

Yeah, they left her out of the movie.  The portrayal isn't particularly flattering and the obvious implication is that she's put on all that muscle to give her some sense of power, that she's the flip side of her brother.

[elee0228]

I think it started out as unflattering, but I quickly warmed up to the character near the end of the book.  Chapter 61 was enough for me to wonder whether Harris is a fan of female bodybuilders.

[BlackKusanagi]

If they did put her in though…who do you think coulda done it?

[elee0228]

Not sure why, but Alina Popa was who I pictured when I was reading the story.  Weird, huh?

[CaptMalcomReynolds]

One of the three main characters in Michael Crichton's book the "Sphere" is a bodybuilder too. There's a passage in there where she appears to become more beautiful every day. The book is MUCH better than the movie and I've never been quite sure who ended up keeping the power of the sphere in the end. It would be an interesting sequel if she had.

[AlexG]

Aside from Cory Everson (whose since lost any semblance of her Ms O caliber physique from her days on the Herc series, etal) the supply of FBBrs with any degree of acting talent is all but slim and none.

More likely, they'd go the Linda Hamilton / T2 route – not so much buff up the actress as shed the suet to get her ripped looking.

If they did put her in though…who do you think coulda done it?

Interesting – Crichton, also had a "strong woman" character in his other novel, State of Fear, too.  If I recall right, she was able to (w/ a deadlift-like move) lift a man far heavier then herself out of car wreck.

One of the three main characters in Michael Crichton's book the "Sphere" is a bodybuilder too. There's a passage in there where she appears to become more beautiful every day. The book is MUCH better than the movie and I've never been quite sure who ended up keeping the power of the sphere in the end. It would be an interesting sequel if she had.

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[Bane Dorrance]

well Hollywood answered the question of how they would handle live-action in tv show that written by a Gay chubby man
Homosexuals really don’t like a female bodybuilder aesthetic it has been made clear 
but it’s another tirade for another day 
https://www.bustle.com/articles/23799-margot-vergers-hannibal-storyline-has-really-angered-lgbtq-fans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8roiKnSaig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5VFKJQmtRY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDiJm9m1cuw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvfbAlKse6c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58wUyEysLN0

Now I am super on Team Katherine Isabelle since 2000 but I would’ve cast athletic woman but she captured the minds&hearts of bisexual /lesbian women and that is all which will need to matter

[Author]

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