Shake-up with American Gods: Sean Harris is out, plus original DP replaced

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Starz's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods has been shooting in Toronto for two weeks, but it has gotten to a rocky start. The production has hit a snag and there's been a shake-up both in front of and behind the camera. Actor Sean Harris (PROMETHEUS, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION), who was cast as the down-on-his-luck leprechaun Mad Sweeney, has dropped out of the project for personal reasons.

The DP has also been replaced, with Jo Willems (MOCKINGJAY – PART 1, PART 2, LIMITLESS) subbing in for Brendan Glavin. Reportedly, Glavin and pilot director David Slade were not "completely in synch," and the replacement was hastily made to get the production back on schedule. There is no word yet on who will be replacing Harris, but the scenes he has already shot will need to be redone.

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.