You heard us right! Orlando Jones will be Mr. Nancy in Bryan Fuller and Michael Green’s adaptation of American Gods! Hence, Bryan Fuller has now assembled a cast that is somehow more than perfect. And as if that was not enough, say hello to your new Mr. Ibis, 12 Monkeys‘ Demore Barnes! Jones was most recently seen being severely underused as Captain Frank Irving on Sleepy Hollow, and Barnes was Marcus Whitley on Twelve Monkeys. (He also had a brief but memorable role as Tobias Budge on Bryan Fuller’s previous show, Hannibal.)
For those who have not read Neil Gaiman’s novel, American Gods follows an ex-con named Shadow who gets a job with the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, and finds himself caught up in a war between the old gods and the new. And just to catch everyone up, we have: Ricky Whittle as Shadow; Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday; Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya; Peter Stormare as Czernobog; Bruce Langley and Crispin Glover as the Technical Boy and Mr. World; and Emily Browning as Laura Moon, and, deep breath, Gillian Anderson as Media.
In case there’s any ambiguity here, WE THINK THIS IS PERFECT AND IT NEEDS TO PREMIERE TODAY.
[via EW!]
That cast is AMAZING.
Isn’t he a bit young for Mr. Nancy? (At least as written. I might have gone for Garrett Morris.)
Yes to all of this. Seriously, though, can Wil Wheaton catch a part in this?
Woo hoo! And OMG that shirt!!
This just keeps looking better and better.
Regarding age, isn’t every actor in the world a bit young to play a god that is thousands of years old?
Love Orlando as an actor, but definitely imagined someone older. After all, Nancy’s death at the beginning of Anansi Boys is what brought his two sons together.
While Orlando is a great actor and an interesting choice, I have to agree with everyone saying that he is to young to play Mr. Nancy. Nancy was described as looking like an old man in the books. Am I the only one who imagined Scatman Crothers as Mr. Nancy while reading the book? Anyways, I am sure that Orlando will be good and this cast is great!
Amen to that t-shirt.
Amen to the casting!
But correction: Orlando Jones did NOT play Tobias Budge in Hannibal. That role was played by Demore Barnes.
Sorry to pop your balloon but casting is but one part of the equation. The script is what will make or break this production. They have excellent source material but that doesn’t guarantee anything. Even if the actors are competent, they won’t be able to out act poor writing.
He’s gonna be great. As for thinking he’s too young — they can do amazing things with make-up nowadays :-D
Cannot. Wait.