Gillian Anderson joins the cast of Neil Gaiman's American Gods
The X-Files star will play the god Media opposite Ian McShane's Mr Wednesday
Plans for the much-anticipated TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods are hotting up with the news that Gillian Anderson is the latest big name to sign up for the series.
The X-Files and The Fall star will play Media, the god of, well, media in Gaiman's story of a clash of ancient and modern deities in the United States.
In a tale where the existence of the gods is based on the strength of people's belief in them, Media gets her burgeoning power from those who worship at the altars of television, computer and mobile phone screens, and often takes the form of celebrities.
Anderson joins Ian McShane, who will play Mr Wednesday – aka Odin – the leader of the Old Gods, and former Hollyoaks star Ricky Whittle as ex-con Shadow Moon, alongside a host of other gods both Old and New, including Bruce Langley as the Technical Boy, Yetide Badaki as Bilquis, Peter Stormare as Czernobog, Jonathan Tucker as Low Key Lyesmith, Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya and Crispin Glover as Mr World.
American Gods comes from US network Starz and is being adapted by Bryan Fuller – currently also in charge of the Star Trek TV reboot – with television and comic book writer Michael Green. It is expected to premiere in America in 2017, with no news as yet of where and when UK viewers will get to see it.
