# Cast Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 24, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420 "2013-07-24T21:28:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/1 "2013-07-24T21:28:13Z")
So, American Gods has been given a [multi-season commitment](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1898069/news) from HBO. I don’t think it’s going to be fanatically close to the book- I don’t see how you could even get several seasons out of the novel- but surely some of the characters will be the same.
So, if you’ve read the book, who would you cast as the characters? If not, cast mythological beings in general.
Caveat for those who haven’t read the book: open spoilers are allowed.
---
### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/2 "2013-07-24T21:31:13Z")
My dream cast:
[Kenneth Branagh](http://i2.wp.com/nerdbastards.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/kenneth-branagh.jpg?resize=415%2C318) as Mr. Wednesday/Odin
[Giancarlo Esposito](http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/files/2011/09/giancarlo-esposito.jpg)as Mr. Jacquel/Anubis
Mel Brooks as Hinzelmann
Ed Asner as Czernobog
Michael Cera as Internet (or Computer in the novel)
---
### Author:  [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/3 "2014-02-04T20:43:27Z")
Saw this today:
[Could Tom Hiddleston And Anthony Hopkins End Up In ‘American Gods’?
We fantasy cast the back-on-track TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel.](http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1721746/could-tom-hiddleston-anthony-hopkins-end-up-american-gods.jhtml)
> [@](#):
>
> If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to road-trip across America with Thor’s dad riding shotgun, then good news: Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” is on its way to television, per a report from Deadline.
>
> For the uninitiated, “American Gods” is a fantasy novel published in 2001 that pits old-school folklore against modern vices in a fanciful, contemporary sort of fairytale. It tells the story of an ex-con named Shadow Moon who accepts a job as a bodyguard on a cross-country excursion with an odd, mysterious man named Mr. Wednesday — and unwittingly finds himself part of a nationwide recruitment effort for an otherworldly war.
Lance Reddick as Mr. Nancy
Sasha Baron Cohen as Mr. Jaquel
Jessica Chastain as Zorya Utrennyaya (the Morning Star)
Lupita Nyong’o as Zorya Polunochnaya (the Midnight Star)
Frieda Pinto as Zorya Vechernyaya (the Evening Star)
Andrew Scott as the leprechaun king (been a while since I’ve read the book, so I forget the exact character)
And
Anthony Hopkins as Mr. Wednesday
Tom Hiddleson as Low-Key Lyesmith
Familiar roles for them.
Who’s a good Shadow?
ETA: I guess I should add this is their fantasy casting to be clear
---
### Author:  [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/4 "2014-02-04T21:37:01Z")
Shadow is a tough one.
Maybe [Manu Bennett](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0071847/), [or Ben Mitchell?](http://www.nzonscreen.com/person/ben-mitchell)
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/5 "2014-02-04T21:50:39Z")
It would be a terrible, terrible mistake to recycle the castings from Thor. The characters are completely different-- They might be based on the same Norse gods, but the personalities are nothing at all alike.
And Sasha Baron Cohen, as _anything at all in this story_? No. Just, no.
---
### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/6 "2014-02-04T22:43:54Z")
Mr Nancy has to be Lenny Henry.
Tom Hiddleston might make a good Shadow
---
### Author:  [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/7 "2014-02-04T23:34:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> It would be a terrible, terrible mistake to recycle the castings from Thor. The characters are completely different-- They might be based on the same Norse gods, but the personalities are nothing at all alike.
>
> And Sasha Baron Cohen, as _anything at all in this story_? No. Just, no.
Actually, I could see Andrew Scott as Low-Key based on his Moriarty in _Sherlock_, but I haven’t read the book in a long time so I’m hazy on the character’s portrayal in the book.
---
### Author:  [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/8 "2014-02-04T23:37:39Z")
I will steal a crazy suggestion I read elsewhere: Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, as Shadow.
Just think about it for a while before you dismiss it.
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/9 "2014-02-04T23:39:19Z")
I think it’s funny how everyone is suggesting British actors to play gods in a story called “American Gods”.
Personally, It’s too bad Gene Hackman has retired. He’d make a perfect Wednesday. So would the late Jerry Orbach. Maybe Harvey Keitel?
---
### Author:  [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/10 "2014-02-04T23:45:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> It would be a terrible, terrible mistake to recycle the castings from Thor. The characters are completely different-- They might be based on the same Norse gods, but the personalities are nothing at all alike.
>
> And Sasha Baron Cohen, as _anything at all in this story_? No. Just, no.
Except Anthony Hopkins is more than capable of playing a different type of Odin. Odin himself took many guises.
---
### Author:  [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/11 "2014-02-05T00:16:16Z")
Well, Shadow is supposed to be multiracial, or at least of undetermined race with a dark complexion.
How about Wentworth Miller?
And good old Christoph Waltz for Odin. He’d probably love the role.
---
### Author:  [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/12 "2014-02-05T00:19:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> I think it’s funny how everyone is suggesting British actors to play gods in a story called “American Gods”.
>
> Personally, It’s too bad Gene Hackman has retired. He’d make a perfect Wednesday. So would the late Jerry Orbach. Maybe Harvey Keitel?
Every single one of the gods is supposed to be an immigrant, I seem to remember.
---
### Author:  [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/13 "2014-02-05T00:51:15Z")
> [@araminty](#):
>
> I will steal a crazy suggestion I read elsewhere: Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, as Shadow.
>
> Just think about it for a while before you dismiss it.
That…is not bad.
I agree that Hopkins and Hiddleston should be excluded. Too much baggage for the role. Sure, they could play the parts differently, but it would still be very distracting, and would tie together two very different unrelated fantasy universes.
---
### Author:  [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/14 "2014-02-05T01:15:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> I think it’s funny how everyone is suggesting British actors to play gods in a story called “American Gods”.
>
> Personally, It’s too bad Gene Hackman has retired. He’d make a perfect Wednesday. So would the late Jerry Orbach. Maybe Harvey Keitel?
I don’t think Hackman retired so much as , “No one has called me.”
---
### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/15 "2014-02-05T01:39:33Z")
> [@araminty](#):
>
> I will steal a crazy suggestion I read elsewhere: Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, as Shadow.
How about Vin Diesel?
---
### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/16 "2014-02-05T04:05:35Z")
I seem to remember Gaiman saying (well, writing) that he intended Mr Wednesday and Shadow Moon to be African American.
---
### Author:  [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/17 "2014-02-05T05:43:49Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#):
>
> Every single one of the gods is supposed to be an immigrant, I seem to remember.
In a sense, I think. They’re the immigrants version of them in America, aren’t they?. IIRC, the Norse Odin says of Mr.Wednesday “He is me, but I am not him.”
---
### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/18 "2014-02-05T08:35:48Z")
Wentworth Miller for Shadow gets my vote. Or…whoever the guy was that played his brother on _Prison Break_.
---
### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/19 "2014-02-05T09:16:35Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#):
>
> Every single one of the gods is supposed to be an immigrant, I seem to remember.
Aren’t all Americans immigrants, when you come right down to it? And isn’t that the whole point of the book?
---
### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2014, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420/20 "2014-02-05T09:21:32Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#):
>
> And good old Christoph Waltz for Odin. He’d probably love the role.
Hmm. I am really liking that. I can totally seeing him as both a god and a grifter.
_Anansi Boys_ is also in development. Morgan Freeman is just a tad too old to be the perfect Anansi. I wonder how Samuel Jackson would do; it’s a departure from his usual shtick, but he has presence and I think he’s less one note than he just keeps getting cast as loud-angry-scary-black-guy all the time and is capable of more. (Eddie Murphy is too old for Fat Charlie and too young for Anansi.)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-neil-gaimans-american-gods/664420.md?page=2)