Posted in: American Gods, Recent Updates, Starz, Trailer, TV | Tagged: american gods, bilquis, bleeding cool, bruce langley, cable, dean winters, devery jacobs, gillian anderson, Jesse Alexander, Kahyun Kim, mama ji, media, mr. town, neil gaiman, new media, ricky whittle, sakina jaffrey, sam black crow, season 2, Shadow Moon, starz, streaming, Tech Boy, television, tv, yetide badaki
American Gods Season 2: Is Door Still Open for Anderson Return? Cast Welcomes New 'Gods'
With Starz announcing more additions to American Gods' second-season casting "pantheon" on Monday, author and executive producer Neil Gaiman as well as several members of the returning cast took to social media to welcome their new cast mates to the series adaptation of Gaiman's celebrated novel. John Wick's Dean Winters is set for Mr. Town; while Devery Jacobs (Cardinal) has been cast as Sam Black Crow, and Kahyun Kim (Shameless) is on board as New Media. The trio join Timeless's Sakina Jaffrey, who was cast in May as Hindu war goddess Mama-Ji: a waitress at the Motel America, her necklace of skulls, acerbic wit and free spirit make her a match for any mighty god or man.
● Kim's character is replacing Gillian Anderson's Media, who decided to not return to the series after her work on the first season. But in a response to a tweet from an American Gods fan lamenting the loss of Anderson – and in what might admitedlly turn out to be a serious case of nothing more than wishful thinking/denial – Gaiman appears to be leaving the door open for a possible return by the actress:
● Gaiman also praised the casting of Jacobs, sharing with Twitter followers how the actress "clinched" her identification with the part:
● Ricky Whittle (Shadow Moon), Yetide Badaki (Bilquis) and Bruce Langley (Tech Boy) kept the lovefest flowing with welcomes all around to the newest members of the "God Squad":
With Hannibal's Jesse Alexander serving as its showrunner and an expected early/mid-2019 return, American Gods has some new players in play that will definitely complicate Shadow's journey of self and spiritual discovery. Winters's brutally efficient and precise Mr. Town is tasked by Mr. World (Crispin Glover) to learn what Shadow knows about Wednesday's (Ian McShane) plan. First Nations actor Jacobs is college student Sam Black Crow: a spiritually cynical young woman who lives her life with fierce confidence and openness, selling her chainsaw art by the roadside for extra money. Kim's New Media is the goddess of global content: a cyberspace chameleon who's also a master manipulator.
Winters is set to star opposite David Spade (P.C.U.) in Netflix film Graduate and indie film Shotgun, with Sasha Lane and Marisa Tomei. Born and raised in Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, Jacobs debuted in the 2013 film Aila and recently completed production on The Road Behind. South Korean actress Kim appeared in The Mysteries of Laura and Austin & Ally and can next be seen in Disney's upcoming Freaky Friday reboot.
Gaiman, Alexander, McShane, FMNA's Stefanie Berk, Craig Cegielski and Scott Hornbacher serve as series executive producers; with second-season premiere director Chris Byrne (Hannibal, Star Trek: Discovery) co-executive producing alongside Heather Bellson and Rodney Barnes. Lisa Kussner produces; with FremantleMedia North America as the studio.