STARZ’s American Gods: Cast Conversation

Ricky Whittle stars as Shadow Moon in the critically acclaimed series American Gods, the literary adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s contemporary fantasy novel, which follows Moon into a hidden world, where a battle is brewing between the Old Gods and the New Gods.

Whittle was born in Oldham, near Manchester, in the north of England. He was a gifted athlete growing up, and he excelled in various sports, representing his country at youth level in football, rugby, American football and athletics. After being scouted by both Arsenal and Celtic football clubs, a series of injuries forced Whittle to pursue a law degree with criminology at Southampton University for four years. Here, he began modeling, becoming the face of a Reebok campaign in 2000. The campaign led him to soon pursue an acting career, and he left the university to study his craft.

Whittle soon joined Sky One’s Dream Team where he portrayed bad boy Ryan Naysmith for several action-packed seasons. Following this, he joined the U.K.’s hugely popular long-running drama Hollyoaks playing rookie cop Calvin Valentine to acclaim across 400+ episodes.

In 2010, Whittle made the decision to relocate to California and, within months of settling in, he booked the role of Captain George East in the romantic-comedy feature Austenland for Sony Pictures, which was produced by Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer. Additionally, he was soon cast in a major recurring role in VH1’s popular series Single Ladies. Another major recurring role followed on The CW’s popular post-apocalyptic sci-fi series The 100. Whittle’s character, Lincoln, immediately became a fan favorite, and Whittle was quickly upped to a series regular. Simultaneously, he also had a recurring arc as Daniel Zamora in ABC’s Mistresses.

In 2016, Whittle landed the role he was born to play when he was chosen from over 2,000 audition tapes to portray fan favorite Shadow Moon, the lead role in the Starz television adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 2001 award-winning novel American Gods. The show, which also stars Ian McShane, has a diverse cast and is watched with a cult following that spans the globe.

In 2017, Whittle was also seen opposite Sanaa Lathan in the Netflix feature film Nappily Ever After, which is based on the novel of same name by Trisha R. Thomas.

Whittle is an avid athlete, and he enjoys all things fitness as well as extreme sports. He rides and collects motorcycles and vintage cars, and he races Formula 3 cars. He is a passionate follower of soccer, both overseas and in the U.S.

In a short time, Australian actress Emily Browning has established herself as one of the industry’s most versatile and exciting young talents, balancing studio films with artful independent fare.

Browning can currently be seen starring in the fantasy drama series American Gods on Starz, based on Neil Gaiman’s 2001 fantasy novel of the same name. The show focuses on a hidden America where magic exists, and society is being threatened by the growing power of technology. The show has been critically acclaimed for its lead performances, and on it, Browning plays two different roles. She portrays both Laura Moon, who is a ghost, and Essie MacGowan, an Irish woman who brings faeries to the hidden America. The series has been nominated for three Critics’ Choice Awards and two Emmy® Awards.

Browning recently guest starred in the fourth and fifth seasons of Showtime’s Golden Globe® Award–winning drama The Affair. The show was created by Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi. Browning portrays Sierra, a neighbor to characters Helen and Vik, and through a surprise pregnancy, she becomes far more involved in their lives than anticipated.

In 2017, Browning portrayed Naomi in Golden Exits. Written and directed by Alex Ross Perry, the film follows two different families in Brooklyn and their connection through Naomi. The film held its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, and it was later screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. Vertical Entertainment and Stage 6 film distributed it throughout the U.S., and it was internationally distributed by Sony Pictures Worldwide. In 2016, Browning starred in Eddie O’Keefe’s directorial debut, Shangri-La Suite. The film, which was also written by O’Keefe and Chris Hutton, follows two young lovers, played by Browning and Luke Grimes, who break out of a mental hospital in 1974 and set out on a road trip to Los Angeles to fulfill the boy’s lifelong dream of killing his idol, Elvis Presley. In September 2015, Browning starred opposite Tom Hardy in the criminal biopic Legend, which was written and directed by Brian Helgeland. The film depicts the rise and fall of real-life twin brothers Reggie and Ronnie Kray, who dominated organized crime in London during the 1960s before their 1969 convictions for murder. Hardy portrays both Kray brothers, and Browning plays Frances Shea, a woman who tragically falls for Reggie Kray and marries him. Universal Pictures released the film after its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

In 2014, Browning starred and sang in the musical feature film God Help the Girl, written and directed by Stuart Murdoch of the music group Belle and Sebastian. The film follows Eve (Browning), who escapes from a psychiatric hospital and makes her way to Glasgow, hoping to become a musician. It premiered in competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Prize. The following month, it opened the Generations section at the Berlin International Film Festival.

In 2011, Browning starred in Julia Leigh’s art-house film Sleeping Beauty, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Although the film received mixed reactions from critics and journalists for pushing the envelope, Browning received critical praise for her demanding performance. She was honored with the Breakthrough Performer Award at the 2011 Hamptons International Film Festival, and she received a Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination from the Film Critics Circle of Australia as well as the Australian Film Critics Association.

Browning first received international recognition when she was cast as Violet Baudelaire in the 2004 film adaptation of the popular children’s book series Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. She received a 2005 Critics’ Choice Award nomination for Best Young Actress from the Broadcast Film Critics Association for her performance, as well as a 2005 Best Actress Award from the Australian Film Institute. Her debut acting role was in the 1998 Hallmark Channel movie The Echo of Thunder. Additional roles in her home country of Australia soon followed, including recurring roles in the television series Blue Heelers, Something in the Air and High Flyers. Her additional film credits include Ghost Ship, Ned Kelly, The Uninvited, Stranded, Sucker Punch, Magic Magic, The Host, Summer in February, Plush and Pompeii. Browning currently resides in Los Angeles.

Yetide Badaki is a Nigerian-born American actress, whose credits include Aquarius, Masters of Sex, NCIS, Criminal Minds, a recurring arc on Sequestered, The Magicians and, recently, This Is Us. Feature-length films include The Long Shadow and What We Found. Badaki is also the award-winning narrator of the sci-fi/fantasy novels Akata Witch and Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor as well as narrator for the NBA Finals. She holds an M.F.A. in theater from Illinois State University.

Bruce Langley is a young actor with an extensive background in physical, naturalistic and improvised performance. He graduated with a first class master’s degree in physical actor training and performance in 2014 from the University of Kent. Langley’s recent theater credits include Chase in Faith Drama’s production of The Den and Charlie in The Brockley Jack’s Rock Paper Scissors. American Gods is his first television role.

Omid Abtahi was a series regular on the A&E series Damien and Those Who Kill. Other memorable television roles include recurring characters on AMC’s Better Call Saul and Showtime’s Homeland. On the feature side, some of his more recent notable work includes starring roles in Argo and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

Prior to his television and film career, Abtahi performed on stage in many theatrical productions, including Fraulein Else at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, and Long Wharf Theatre; Adoration of the Old Woman at the Sundance Theatre Lab; and Your Everyday Romantic Comedy at the Kennedy Center.

Ashley Reyes recently made her Broadway debut in the Tony®-winning production of The Play That Goes Wrong. She was a breakout from the 2016 LAMDA Showcase. Reyes is a multi-ethnic Puerto Rican/Lithuanian actress who grew up in Long Island before moving to England to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.