What happened when GLAMOUR met American Gods star Ricky Whittle
Neil Gaiman’s award-winning fantasy novel American Gods has finally hit the small screen. We caught up with leading man Ricky Whittle...
“My character, Shadow Moon, is released from prison two days early because his wife is killed in a tragic accident. She’s his world and he’s completely broken, but he’s taken under the wing of mysterious con man Mr Wednesday [Ian McShane]. The creators [Bryan Fuller and Michael Green] told me not to read the book before filming. In it, Shadow is very stoic and there’s a lot of internal monologue, but no one wants to watch a show where the main guy just sits there thinking. We’ve made him vibrant and outspoken.”
“In the UK, we know Ian McShane as Lovejoy. In America, he’s known for Deadwood, and now he’s our Mr Wednesday. We’re both from Manchester and support Man United, so we hit it off straight away. That bromance spilled over into our characters on screen.”
“I watched Legend [the East-End-set Kray brothers biopic] the week before Emily Browning was cast as my wife and I didn’t know she was Australian. She was incredible alongside Tom Hardy. She’s quiet and sweet, but hilarious. Her sense of humour can be seriously dark.”
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“When Kristin Chenoweth arrived, I plastered her trailer with headshots of myself and signed her mirror in lipstick. It was a ‘welcome to the family’ kind of thing. When she finished filming, I found my trailer covered in her album covers.”
American Gods is available on Amazon Prime now.
The Book
American Gods was written in 2001 by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is a 100% total legend in the literary world – he’s been writing comic books, short stories, novels and children’s books since 1986. His most popular works include the comic book Sandman, The Graveyard Book, Good Omens and American Gods.
GettyThe Author
Neil Gaiman wrote the short story Coraline which was adapted into the (Tim Burton produced) animated film. He also wrote Stardust again adapted into a film starring Claire Danes and one of our favourites. His most recent book is called Norse Mythology and is a retelling of the traditional Norse gods that we have more recently come to know as ‘the latest Marvel film’. This excellent read sheds some much needed light on characters such as Thor, Loki, Odin and the gang. Ever wondered how Thor got his hammer?
The TV Show
Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) developed the novel for TV for the Starz network which is streaming on Amazon as of May 1 in the UK.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayThe Plot
Shadow Moon is released from prison three days early from his six-year sentence with the news his beloved wife Laura has been killed in a car accident. As he tries to make his way back to Eagle Point (his hometown) he meets a man known as Mr Wednesday who offers him a job;
“You work for me now. You protect me. You transport me from place to place. You run errands. In an emergency, but only in an emergency, you hurt people who need to be hurt. In the unlikely event of my death, you will hold my vigil. And in return I shall make sure that your needs are adequately taken care of."
From here on in things take a strange turn. Cue gods, leprechauns, ancient kings and queens, Vikings, mythical beasts but all appearing in guises that can only be described as, well, American.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayThe Characters - Shadow Moon
Shadow Moon is the ex-con who finds himself embroiled in a world beyond ours – where gods battle for existence in the minds of humans. Shadow is an intelligent man of few words and uses his (impressive) muscle only when necessary. Shadow is played by Ricky Whittle. Where have you seen Ricky before? Ricky is an English actor who appeared in the soap opera Hollyoaks in the early 2000s and went on to compete in Strictly Come Dancing. He had to put on 2 ½ stone and embark on intensive bodybuilding for the role of Shadow. Shadow is big, hot and buff. Swoon.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayMr Wednesday
Mr Wednesday is Shadow’s employer and it’s very unlikely he lives within this mortal coil. He’s played by Ian McShane. Where have you seen Ian before? Most likely on a wet Sunday afternoon on catch-up episodes of the parental favourite TV show Lovejoy where McShane plays a charming antique dealer who’s forever getting into scrapes. So – a far cry from Mr Wednesday… He also played a character from Dallas who finally managed to whisk Sue-Ellen Ewing away from the evil JR Ewing.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayLaura Moon
Laura Moon is Shadow’s now deceased wife, played by Emily Browning who first appeared in movies as Violet Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayBilquis
Bilquis is the Goddess of Love. She wants to be adored… She has a kinky sex trick we suggest you don’t try at home. Yetide Badaki plays Bilquis - possibly our favourite character so far.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayMr World
Mr World is the newest of the all the gods and represents our ‘bad guy’. He identity is revealed further along in the story. He is played by 80s legend Crispin Glover. Where have you seen Glover? He was Marty McFly’s dad in Back To The Future.
Czernbog
Czernbog is a Slavic god whose origins are murky in more ways than one. In American Gods he’s a old, sickly man who once wielded a hammer with which is used to kill cows in one crushing blow. He is played by Peter Stormare.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayTechnical Boy
Technical Boy is the god of, yes, you guessed it – technology. He’s vile. In the book, he’s grossly over-weight but in the TV show he looks uncannily like Jedwood from the X Factor twins. He smokes toadskins and has an army of faceless killers he refers to as his ‘children’. He’s played by relative newcomer Bruce Langley.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayMad Sweeney
Mad Sweeney the Leprechaun is a bat shit crazy, violent alcoholic and drug addict. He can make coins appear from thin air (natch). He’s played by Canadian actor Pablo Schreiber and he’s very, very tall.
Shadow Moon: Who are you?
Mad Sweeney: I'm a leprechaun.
Shadow Moon: You're a little tall for a leprechaun.
Mad Sweeney: That's a stereotype. It represents a very narrow view of the world.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayMedia
Media is the Goddess of Media and has the power to communicate via famous TV characters. She particularly likes I Love Lucy. Media is played by Gillian Anderson who you know very well from the XFilesand The Fall.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayMr Nancy
Mr Nancy is the African trickster god Anansi who according to folklore could take the form of a spider. Anansi loved to spin a yarn as well as a web as seen in many our childhood story books. He’s played by Orlando Jones, an American comedian and actor who’s appeared in many sitcoms and comedy shows over the last few decades.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayZorya Vechernyaya
Zorya Vechernyaya is one of three sisters who guard over the stars. Here she is played by Cloris Leachman.
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayEaster
Easter as we know it is a Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ. You may be forgiven for thinking it’s a celebration of chocolate, but in fact, Easter was the Germanic goddess of dawn. She’s played by Kristin Chenoweth who is foremost an American theatre singer. Will there be singing further down the line?
Amazon Original series American Gods premieres on Amazon Prime Video 1st MayJesus
There's a fleeting mention of this fella in the book and TV show.
AlamyThe Gods
You’ll need quick access to Wikipedia or a good book on ancient mythology for both the book and the TV show of American Gods. Some gods are easy to identify but you may find yourself going into some very deep, interesting online searches. Swot up on Odin, Loki, Anansi, The Queen of Sheba, Czernbog and Leprechauns for extra points.
