Bryan Fuller Dishes on American Gods
Staci Layne Wilson
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TV uber-producer Bryan Fuller won’t be getting another helping of “Hannibal,” but he and his fans can start salivating for “American Gods,” which is now in development for Starz.
“American Gods” is based on the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel by genre fave Neil Gaiman. The complex story is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and mythology, all centering on the mysterious and sly Shadow, a man who has lost everything he loved but finds himself in a war of gods, fighting to survive.
We had the opportunity to catch up with Fuller over dinner, and here is what he has to say about the new series, which is set to begin shooting in March of this year.
Dread Central: Will any of the cast from “Hannibal” be in “American Gods”?
Bryan Fuller: We haven’t cast anybody yet for “American Gods,” but I’m terrified because I can’t imagine how it could be better than it was with our cast… We’re going to try and figure that out. Neil [Gaiman] came in and said, ‘You think Gillian Anderson would do something?’ She’s so busy in the next year, we would love for her to do something on the show, it all depends on her schedule. She’s booked; we just have to figure it out. We’re shooting from March to September. We told her, ‘We’ll shoot it when you’re available.’
DC: Why Starz? We would assume lots of other networks went after this.
BF: It was a very good fit with Freemantle and Starz. There was also the agreement of if we do it on Starz, are you going to finance the production in a way we can deliver the novel plus? It’s the biggest budget I’ve ever had; it’s like twice the biggest budget I’ve ever had in television. They really care about the book, they really care about delivering to the fans. They’re like, ‘The people who love this book have to love this show.’ They’re very protective of it, everyone is on the same page about the cultural and ethnic diversity of the cast and how important that is, and we were having casting conversations with Neil and the casting people. Bilquis, she’s ancient Babylonian so is she Middle Eastern? No, she’s the black lover of Salomon so she’s black-black-black, and it was interesting… everybody respected that authenticity of culture because you want it to be represented. It’s cool; everyone is respectful and taking it seriously.
DC: Are you focusing the show on Shadow and Mr. Wednesday?
BF: It’s more an ensemble. There’s Mr. Wednesday and Shadow, but there’s also Laura. If there are three faces on the billboard, it’s Wednesday, Shadow, and Laura.
DC: Are you covering the entire book in the first season?
BF: No, we’re only doing part of the book in the first season. The book is the Reader’s Digest version. Everything is expanded [in the series]. We’re making room for more story. We learned a lot of lessons about adaptation doing Red Dragon and Hannibal. There are characters in the book, like Bilquis, who you see for one chapter, and then you see her at the end but only real quick. She’s got a huge arc and is a very important character for the show. Laura is a huge character for the show. There is an opportunity for representing culturally ethnic diversity that is authentic, as I just said, so you don’t get into conversations about whitewashing characters. There are going to be so many characters represented. The only character that we’re really color-blind with casting is Laura because everybody else is culturally specific and they have to be authentic to how that culture looks. Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jaquel have to look like they belong in ancient Egypt. Not Middle Eastern Egypt, but black Egypt. So that’s exciting. I’m always jealous of “The Walking Dead” for having such a diverse cast that’s so organic.
DC: Are you going to be shooting in the real locations from the book?
BF: Yeah, the plan is… we were going to shoot in Pittsburgh but [the Governor] didn’t get his shit together in time, and there was no tax break incentive to shoot there so we’re going to shoot primarily in Toronto and then a couple weeks in Oklahoma so you get those big, broad vistas and those roadside attractions. We want it to be as authentic as possible; the book is called American Gods, not North American Gods, so let’s film it in the U.S.
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