American Gods is a story that is massive in scope as it explores a war brewing between old gods and new for control of America, but it tells that story through a centralized focus: the journey of a recently released ex-con named Shadow Moon with a capricious, mysterious man named Mr. Wednesday.
The relationship between Shadow and Wednesday is at the core of Bryan Fuller and Michael Green's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel, which means there needed to be great chemistry between the two actors who play them. Fortunately sparks fly between Ricky Whittle and Ian McShane from the first moment they share screen time together in American Gods' pilot, and their dynamic is much of what makes the series so interesting. Make sure to read our full spoiler-free review of the series premiere.
To preview the Starz series' debut, I sat down with Whittle and McShane to discuss how they developed their chemistry with one another and how they think the themes American Gods touches on are so relevant and interesting today.
IGN: In American Gods' pilot, everything sort of clicks into place when Shadow Moon and Mr. Wednesday meet. Your relationship on the screen is so important, and is what grounds the show. How did you two develop that?
Whittle: It's a huge part of the book. It's about, you know, yeah, there's so many huge, massive, sensitive, controversial topics, like religion and faith and sexism and homophobia and all these things, immigration, but at the bones of it, it's a buddy-buddy road story. And that chemistry was very important. And fortunately we're from the same area, you know, we're both from Manchester in England. We both follow Manchester United, so we don't fight over our football teams. So we hit it off from the very beginning, and I've been a huge fan of Ian's, you know, since I could remember. So it's, to have the honor of working with him. For him as a person to exceed my expectations, it's just a perfect job for me. I get to kind of bounce off this legend of the game. ... So even if you're not into the fantasy elements of fantasy novels and books, and film and TV shows, it's these very kind of human moments.
McShane: Yeah but, it's also sexy. Not between you and me, thankfully.
Whittle: I mean, Season 2. Season 2 we could have some sexy.
McShane: But, above all it is an interesting show, and when they talk about it, it's about coming to America, it's about immigration, it's about faith, it's about all those big things in life that you talk about. But it's a television show too, so it entertains you too. It just happens to be coming out at a time when everybody, all the eyes of the world are focused on America. And all the subjects that he talked about. Because he says, they all came to America. Everybody still comes to America. ... It's still the most amazing country in the world. We talked about it, it still is. But it's just this heightened situation now, because of America, because of the government you have, whatever. But the show is not, the show never took advantage of that. It wasn't written that way. Just the book is about America.
IGN: It is really interesting, too, how the fight between the old gods and the new gods and who has ownership of America does very much mirror the fight that people are having now about immigration.
McShane: Well, Wednesday says, you lose touch with what it used to mean to have religion or faith. If you have no faith, you're sort of frustrated. You know, you're missing out on a few things. That's his opinion. He also thinks that they've lost touch with what it meant on a personal basis. You know, when they used to have pagan gods, nothing wrong in that. And Wednesday bangs on about, you know, even formalized religion is being ignored now. It's all down to, you know, look at your iPhone, you get a picture of Jesus holding a dinosaur. You know, you stick your five dollars in, and that's the end of it. Thank you very much indeed. It's paying lip service, you know.
Whittle: Can we go back to Jesus holding a dinosaur? That's amazing.
McShane: Well, there are certain religions that do believe the world is two thousand years old, so.
Whittle: Yeah, that was perfect.
McShane: The dinosaurs -- why did they have those big teeth? To eat grass? You know, I don't think so. Anyway, that's another story, but it's, but it doesn't matter what you believe in. You believe in something, it makes you a happier person. And he's thought that the people have lost that sort of personal touch, the happiness, whatever. They've lost it or sold it for the next iPhone coming out. Too much to talk about. Nothing wrong with iPhones. There's nothing wrong with certain -- but it's just, when it takes over everything. As this shouldn't take over Twitter and all that conversation. Which is not a bad thing in itself, it's good. All, the more the merrier. You know, everybody has their opinion. Fine. I don't have to read it.
IGN: The show does an interesting job, too, of showing that gods are powerful. They aren't necessarily inherently good or inherently evil, and we see both.
McShane: Oh, no, absolutely. Because, you know, even my character. He's just as capricious and as willful as a god, except he thinks he's right. He thinks he's right. He believes he's right, because he's more fun than anybody else.
IGN: Ricky, you have probably the most challenging job in the show, which is being the eyes of the audience, being the straight man versus some of the more colorful side characters in this show. What was that experience like?
Whittle: Yeah. It's very tough to pull it in, you know. My personality, I'm very outgoing. To kind of bring it in is very tough because, you know, we have to keep Shadow grounded, and he's framed by all these wonderful, colorful gods. But by kind of being grounded, I allow the audience to feel what they're supposed to. So I have to be constantly engaged with everything that everyone says. As an actor, sometimes you allow your characters to be distracted by other things that are going on around. But because we're kind of watching the show through Shadow's eyes, he has to be engaged at all times, because I need the audience to understand certain things. So, when Wednesday's talking --
McShane: I mean, we talked about this, he does.
Whittle: You know, he's trying to work everything out all the time. And it was very mentally challenging, but that's what you want as an actor, you want to be challenged.
IGN: Why do you think he is the best character to be the eyes of the audience into this world?
Whittle: Because he's a cynic. Because he's a believer. It's very easy to pick on someone who would have been easy to just win over. But for Mr. Wednesday to find someone who's so broken, so empty, who just does not believe in anything. Shadow's an intelligent guy as well. And so his first reaction to anything fantastical is a logical answer. So, when he meets Technical Boy, was he high, did he really see his wife, was he just imagining it, you know? Is he going crazy or is the world going crazy? It's much more powerful to turn someone who doesn't believe into a believer than to just drag someone along for the ride. So it was a very powerful move by Mr. Wednesday, and, you know, all will be revealed later on down the lines, you know, where that kind of journey goes.
IGN: I think the show is gonna start a lot of conversations, but if people could only take away a few themes or messages from the show, what would you hope that they are?
McShane: Believe.
Whittle: I was gonna say that exact word.
McShane: That's what we say, that's what it is: it's about belief. That things can be better, things can be magical, things can be wonderful. You know, this facet of the glass is half full.
Whittle: Yeah. And we talk about, it's OK. If you believe in a god, it doesn't mean my god is any less powerful or less real. If I believe in something that you don't believe in. It's OK, it's fine. Whatever you need, whatever you believe in, whatever can get you through the struggle of the day. If you're battling the day and you're having a tough time and you've got something that you believe in and that's what gets you through that day, I am not anybody to take that away from you. You know, keep that, and keep that belief, because that's only gonna make you stronger and give you that strength. And that's what we're saying. We're saying that it's OK to believe. You know, it doesn't make my journey any less glamorous or wonderful or true. You know, everyone's got their own paths, we're all headed the same way, so, you know, let's just do it together.
Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
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