# American Gods is go! Casting begins... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736 "2015-06-17T12:26:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/1 "2015-06-17T12:26:19Z")
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 Momoa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Momoa)seems 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… ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/2 "2015-06-17T12:31:18Z")
Michelle Duggar for the goddess who swallows men whole in her cavernous vagina. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/3 "2015-06-17T12:32:29Z")
I will give you a stern dressing down for hijacking my thread just as soon as I stop giggling. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/4 "2015-06-17T12:59:30Z")
Tom Hardy, I think, would be a terrific Shadow. Brendan Gleeson would make a good Wednesday. I’d also like Walton Goggins to play Low-Key, but then I want Walton Goggins in everything. Oh, and Stephen Merchant as Mad Sweeney. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/5 "2015-06-17T13:04:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/6 "2015-06-17T13:18:12Z")
Lessee, dark-skinned, convict, reasonably intelligent, brooding… a young Denzel Washington type… I vote for [Page Kennedy](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1191866/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t29), who played a really scary drug dealer on _Weeds_. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/7 "2015-06-17T13:21:10Z")
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 Nance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Nance)in _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. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/8 "2015-06-17T13:54:59Z")
I keep picturing Wednesday as Brian Cox. The actor, that is, not the physicist. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/9 "2015-06-17T14:00:30Z")
Ron Perlman for Czernobog. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/10 "2015-06-17T14:10:42Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Lessee, dark-skinned, convict, reasonably intelligent, brooding… a young Denzel Washington type… > > I vote for [Page Kennedy](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1191866/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t29), who played a really scary drug dealer on _Weeds_. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/11 "2015-06-17T14:15:53Z")
> [@bump](#): > > 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. Although he’s wrong for the role, ethnically speaking, Viggo Mortensen is a perfect match: Scandinavian father, Italian mother. Of course, if we’re talking about big guys with an indeterminate racial background, there’s always Vin Diesel… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/12 "2015-06-17T14:23:28Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Of course, if we’re talking about big guys with an indeterminate racial background, there’s always Vin Diesel… Or Dwayne “Stop calling me ‘The Rock’” Johnson, but I can’t see either playing the quiet, reserved Shadow. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/13 "2015-06-17T14:41:10Z")
Shadow is supposed to be a big tough guy type? I had no idea. I skim way too much. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/14 "2015-06-17T14:44:35Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Shadow is supposed to be a big tough guy type? > > I had no idea. > > I skim way too much. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/15 "2015-06-17T14:46:01Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Shadow is supposed to be a big tough guy type? > > I had no idea. > > I skim way too much. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/16 "2015-06-17T14:53:39Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > 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. Haha I had him imaged as an average-to-skinny guy, albeit very scrappy and brooding. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/17 "2015-06-17T17:47:13Z")
Wednesday= Ian McShane ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/18 "2015-06-18T01:12:57Z")
Low Key = Paul Bettany ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/19 "2015-06-18T01:49:06Z")
Am I the only one who thinks Joe Mangiello would make a great Shadow? Or if you want someone less bulky Oded Fehr? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736/20 "2015-06-18T01:49:57Z")
> [@bump](#): > > 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. 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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-gods-is-go-casting-begins/722736.md?page=2)