So Starz has finally greenlit the production of American Gods and has started considering casting choices.
They have actually asked people on Twitter to suggest actors for Shadow, although I’m assuming this is purely a publicity stunt. That said, Jason Momoaseems to be the favorite of the Twitterati at the moment (the people suggesting Idris Elba are a vocal minority and IMO way off base). I’m not familiar with his work but he certainly looks close enough to the character to work.
Any thoughts on who should get what role? Personally I’m still pushing for Danny John-Jules as Mr Nancy but have no firm feelings for the other roles. Maybe Brendan Gleeson for Wednesday…
Wentworth Miller for Shadow. Or the guy who played his brother on Prison Break…
Gary Oldman would make a good Wednesday. Maybe Robert Carlysle.
If Oldman is Wednesday, Tim Roth would make a good Low Key. Or how about William Macy.
Watching Orphan Black, I decided Matt Frewer would make a great Hinzelmann
And somehow I picture Laura as Joanne Kelly and Lynn Collins as Margie Olsen, but I have no idea for Sam Black Crow and that’s possibly too many brunettes for most producers’ tastes.
On consideration, the downside of having Gleeson play Wednesday is that it invites comparison with his Mad-Eye Moody role (complete with fake eye). Oh well.
When reading the book I always picture Hinzelmann as Jack Nancein Twin Peaks, who is out of the running by virtue of having died two decades ago. That said, I suppose Richard Dreyfuss could do just as well.
Did you really read Shadow as actually being black? I had him as either some sort of indeterminate ethnicity, or possibly part black, but never so dark as Page Kennedy or Idris Elba. Jason Momoa’s about right, as would Wentworth Miller.
Tom Hardy’s not really dark enough, but he certainly has the intensity and gravitas to be Shadow.
Oh, yeah. One of the first things we learn about him is that he was mostly bored during his time in prison, because nobody would mess with someone who looked like him.
Physically, he’s basically a younger Jack Reacher. Doesn’t mean you can cast a younger Tom Cruise, though.
He’s supposed to be physically big and strong and capable of fighting (indeed, he’s in jail at the beginning for beating up two other men) but he’s not aggressive or extroverted by nature. It’s kind of a key point.
I read as American Black/biracial/multiracial, which is of course often somewhat light. His mother is portrayed implied to be Black (not Wednesday’s usual type and having had under-treated sickle cell crises) and his father of course a Norse God. Yes huge enough that strangers often comment on his size (like he does not know it) and that no one would mess with him in prison. Momoa sure, but physical type not Wentworth. Bigger than Elba, maybe Kennedy hits it but more biracial would be better.