Last week saw a shake-up on the set of Starz's series American Gods, based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name. The original DP was replaced after the shoot became delayed, and actor Sean Harris left the show for personal reasons. The series had already been shooting in Toronto for two weeks, so time was of the essence to find a replacement for Harris' role: the down-on-his-luck leprechaun Mad Sweeney.
Well, it has only been five days and that replacement has been found. Pablo Screiber will be stepping into Sweeney's tiny shoes. Schreiber is best known for playing "Pornstache" on Orange is the New Black, but he also stars in the Jack Black/Tim Robbins show The Brink. He's also had a solid slate of film roles, including VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA, 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI, and the 2004 remake of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Also, his half-brother is Liev Schreiber, if that helps.
The Canadian actor is certainly far less Irish than Mr. Harris, but he should nevertheless be a fun presence in the show's ensemble.
Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) and Michael Green (The River) are writing and serving as the showrunners. The plot centers on:
a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Its protagonist, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.
The series will star Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday / the Norse god Odin; Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon; Emily Browning as Shadow's wife, Laura Moon; Yetide Badaki as goddess of love Bilquis; Bruce Langley as New God Technical Boy; Crispin Glover as New Gods coalition leader Mr. World; and Jonathan Tucker as Shadow's confidante Low Key Lyesmith.
The newest additions are Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya, the eldest of three sisters who watch over the constellations; Peter Stormare as Slavic god of darkness and evil Czernobog; Chris Obi as Egyptian god of the death Anubis; and Mousa Kraish as The Jinn, a mythical creature of the fire who understands a person’s deepest desires better than they do.