Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Wonderwall

Starz and FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) have announced that Ricky Whittle has been cast as Shadow Moon in the upcoming adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed contemporary fantasy novel, American Gods. The series will begin shooting in April.

A native of Oldham, Greater Manchester England, Whittle’s credits include The 100, Austenland, Hollyoaks, Mistresses, NCIS and Holby City. Whittle is the son of former Royal Air Force serviceman Harry Whittle and grew up travelling around the world.  A keen sportsman, Whittle represented England and the United Kingdom at youth level in football and rugby.

American Gods been translated into over 30 languages and earned numerous accolades including Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker Awards for Best Novel. The plot posits 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.

American Gods is produced by FremantleMedia North America. Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are writers and showrunners. David Slade is directing the pilot and additional episodes. FMNA’s Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk are executive producing the series along with Fuller, Green, Slade and Neil Gaiman. Senior Vice President of Original Programming Ken Segna is the Starz executive in charge of American Gods. Starz retains all network pay TV and SVOD rights to the project. FremantleMedia is distributing the series worldwide.

Ricky Whittle is represented by TalentWorks, Creative Artists Management in the UK, and Untitled Entertainment.