TV Talk

Ricky Whittle Cast in American Gods, and Other TV News

by | January 28, 2016 | Comments

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This week in TV news, American Gods has found its Shadow Moon, Harrison Ford will host a TV special about Disney’s Star Wars Land, Kit Harington knows nothing about Jon Snow, and more!


RICKY WHITTLE CAST AS SHADOW MOON IN STARZ’S AMERICAN GODS

The 100 -- "Resurrection" -- Image: HU213B_0422 -- Pictured: Ricky Whittle as Lincoln -- Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW -- © 2015 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Neil Gaiman’s beloved fantasy novel American Gods, which is being adapted for television by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green for Starz, has found it’s Shadow Moon!  Ricky Whittle has been cast in the lead role, and Gaiman couldn’t be happier. In a statement to press he said, “I’m thrilled that Ricky has been cast as Shadow. His auditions were remarkable. The process of taking a world out of the pages of a book, and putting it onto the screen has begun. American Gods is, at its heart, a book about immigrants, and it seems perfectly appropriate that Shadow will, like so much else, be Coming to America. I’m delighted Ricky will get to embody Shadow. Now the fun starts.” The British-born actor is presently a series regular on CW’s drama, The 100, and also appeared on NCIS, Mistresses, and in the movie Austenland. Now it’s time to find Mr. Wednesday!


HARRISON FORD TO REVEAL PLANS FOR STAR WARS LAND THEME PARK EXTENSIONS ON THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY: DISNEYLAND 60

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 Harrison Ford will introduce the Star Wars Land theme park expansions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World as part of The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60 special. Dancing with the Stars champion Derek Hough will host the celebratory special which, aside from unveiling some of the park plans, will also include such guests as actor Josh Gad, fellow DWTS pro Witney Carson, and Elton John, who will be debuting a new song called “Wonderful Crazy Night.” Also reported, Gad will present a tour of Walt Disney’s private apartment and the Disneyland Dream Suite, while Hough and Carson will perform dance tributes to music from key Disney titles. The special will air Sunday, Feb. 21 on ABC.

AVA DUVERNAY’S NEW SERIES QUEEN SUGAR WILL HAVE ALL WOMEN DIRECTORS

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After being ordered straight to series last year by Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network, pre-production on Selma director Ava DuVernay’s first television series Queen Sugar is moving forward. Last week True Blood regular Rutina Wesley was cast in the lead role, with DuVernay announcing this week that the series will have an all-women directorial team. Although no names are attached yet, DuVernay did reveal many of the directors come from the “black independent film space.” DuVernay also announced on Twitter that Omar Dorsey (Battle Creek),  (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), and Kofi Siriboe (Awkward) have also joined the cast. Queen Sugar follows a woman who relocates with her teenage daughter from Los Angeles to Louisiana to claim an inheritance — an 800-acre sugarcane farm.

IN OTHER CASTING NEWS, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON‘S BREAKOUT STAR, COREY HAWKINS, WILL STAR IN FOX’S 24 REVIVAL SERIES; MILEY CYRUS AND WOODY ALLEN GET THEIR AMAZON ON

Corey Hawkins!
Corey Hawkins, whose Dr. Dre portrayal in Straight Outta Compton has won him accolades, has been cast in the leading role of Eric Carter in the new 24 revival series.  This is 24: Legacy and will center on a new journey for military hero Carter who has returned home only to discover trouble has followed him back to the U.S.  In order to save his life and to impede a possible terrorist attack on the US, Carter must enlist the help of our favorite behind the scenes heroes… the CTU, whose former head officer will be played by Miranda Otto of Lord of the Rings fame.

Also in casting news, Miley Cyrus has been cast alongside Elaine May as the stars of the new as-of-yet untitled Woody Allen TV series for Amazon. There is no drop date yet for the series, but be on the lookout for more on that front soon.


KIT HARINGTON ASSURES FANS THAT JON SNOW IS DEAD

TV STILL -- DO NOT PURGE -- episode 510 -- GAME OF THRONES, titled "Mother’s Mercy." Pictured: Kit Harington as Jon Snow Photographer: HBO
In a recent interview with BBC News, Kit Harington suggested that Game of Thrones fans shouldn’t get their hopes up, and assured everyone that his beloved character, Jon Snow, “…is dead, I’m afraid.” But the internet seems to think that the young wolf doth protest too much. Paparazzi photos of Harrington on the set of Game of Thrones have fueled the flames of Jon Snow’s much speculated survival. We’ll just have to wait and see. Game of Thrones season six returns on April 24th.