Ian McShane Interview: American Gods 3.09 | Screen Rant
Star Ian McShane breaks down his climactic episode of American Gods season 3, "The Lake Effect", and hints at what destiny has in store for Shadow.
With four seasons of story planned overall, American Gods is hurtling towards a climax in the penultimate episode of its third season. Based on Neil Gaiman's iconic novel, the war between the Old Gods and the New seemed to come to a standstill when the recently revived Laura Moon (Emily Browning) threw a spear at Wednesday's (Ian McShane) chest.
But nothing is ever as it seems on the Starz show, and questions linger as to what this means for the Son of Odin (Shadow, played by Ricky Whittle) and his destiny. The ever-changing Mr. World made a deal with Laura to take Wednesday out, but what Wednesday in on that deal himself? Only next week's episode can begun to explain.
McShane spoke to Screen Rant at length about the turning point of "The Lake Effect," how many steps Wednesday is ahead of everyone else, and how he's manipulated all his closest relationships thus far.
How is the road to the afterlife treating Wednesday after this episode?
Ian McShane: How do you know he's dead. You never know anything with Wednesday. Maybe Wednesday planned the whole thing. Have you thought about that?
Knowing Wednesday, that's my question. He's dead, but how do you know he didn't plot it all? Everything's coming full circle again.
As seasons pass and showrunners change, how do you approach iconic moments from the book and what stays constant for you?
Ian McShane: We constantly go back to what is the book, and what is the blueprint from the book for the TV show. This is our third season of a different show, so the ideas of have mutated constantly during the show, which is what has made it, I think, intriguing for reviewers of it, fans of it, and indeed the cast. You never know what is going to happen from one minute to the next, but the one constant is that Wednesday is manipulating everything as much as he can, up until whatever the final moves are. And that Shadow is still trying to get away from him and become his own man.
In the book, if you read that, you come to the revelations of Wednesday - it's like episode 9. You've got the revelations of Hinzelmann, and the shocking news about the guy who stole the underwear. Shadow's realization that he's half falling in love again, but his wife turns up again. What's she after? People talk about, "The book, the book, the book," and you say, "Have you read the book?" Because the book just gives you a series of ideas. It doesn't lay anything out, and that's part of the wonderful thing about the book: you can go anywhere you want.
Talking about episode 9, Wednesday's planned the whole thing to come together, and it's time he got out of it. That's my take on it. He's saying, "I don't need any more of this. Kill me now. Take me now, Laura." It's like she doesn't even know. What does she get out of killing Wednesday in the end? She's fulfilling a prophecy which was set in motion long before she became a dead Laura. This whole thing has been preordained, if you like. The whole thing has been worked on long before that. As you'll see in episode 10, or however they plan to go on from there.
What's so intriguing about Wednesday is that, like you said, he manipulates everyone, and yet people are still drawn into his orbit. Do you think that's his innate power as a god, or something specific about his personality? How does he keep winning when the cards are stacked against him?
Ian McShane: Wednesday convinces himself half the time that he really means what he's saying. He's one of those kinds of things. So, when he's in the courtship of Demeter, he loves Demeter -of course, he does. That doesn't mean he's gonna love her an hour later, when he finds it's all gone away. He's got bigger things in his mind; he's got bigger plans. But that's part of being a con man, which is what Wednesday is - Wednesday as opposed to Odin the God.
Wednesday's just getting through life in his own way. He gets through it as best he can, but he still gets through it with the attitude of, "If you just hear me out, you'd have a better time than you're having now." I mean, at least he's fun to be with. Some of the time, when you can trust him or when you can believe him. And that's when he talks about being a god and trying to set the whole thing up; trying to be in charge of everything at once.
And don't forget, he's still got the son which we don't know about yet. We've got Loki. Loki the Trickster hasn't come back. Will he come back? I don't know. You try and talk about it, and I say, "What am I giving away here?" Wednesday's been saying there's going to be a war forever, and we all know there's never going to be a war in a certain sense. He's going to be taken out by Laura.
But on the other hand, who is World? World has been three different actors that have played him with three different personalities. Who's to say that this hasn't all been cooked up by Wednesday anyway? You know nothing happens for no reason. Like, the character that Ashley Reyes plays, his girl Friday. Do you think Cordelia's been picked by accident? No, she's been picked for a specific reason.
Wen we started talking to begin with about giving him a girl Friday, I said, "You can't just give him a girl picked for no reason." She doesn't know, but Wednesday knows why she's been picked. And that's why, at the end, he gives her the amulet in the astronomy room before he has the scene with Czernobog. Before Mr. World comes, and before Laura throws her spear. It is preordained, if you like.
What is your favorite thing about playing Wednesday?
Ian McShane: I love the character of Wednesday; I love playing him. He reminds me of another character I played years ago, which was also written by Michael Green, in Kings on NBC. That was a quasi-religious, spiritual fantasy. What if America was a kingdom? Who became king and how would it work? It was a show that deserved a little more than it got, but it was fascinating. That was a show about ideas, and this is a show about ideas.
You mentioned Demeter and Odin, and I loved how you and Blythe Danner played off each other. Can you delve a little more into their dynamic this season?
Ian McShane: Oh, yeah. Blythe is just a terrific actress. Early on, they said they wanted to do this arc of Wednesday's old love. They told me it was Blythe, and I said, "Go for it." Let us rehearse and whatever, and she was a delight to be with. I'd met her before; I'd never worked with her, but I know Gwyneth. But it was a delight to do and to play that story.
It was really interesting, playing two people who are not quite at the end of their lives, but one of them has come to terms with a lot of things - her character - and she recognizes him for what he is and plays along with it. I thought it was really good, and again, he thought he was gonna succeed and he didn't.
I was very moved by that. She's sized him up: "No, you'll never learn." Like she said, love can change. He's still into that, "It'll all be fine. We'll love each other, and we'll go off together." And she's like, "No, it doesn't work that way." In other words, Wednesday for all his charm, is a little immature about the way life works. But that's his personality. He learns a lesson there about love.
Speaking about lessons, has Wednesday learned anything through his relationship with his son? You mentioned how he wants to manipulate everyone, but does he have any doubt that Shadow may truly follow his own path rather than Wednesday's?
Ian McShane: No, I think Wednesday's saying, "When are you going to step up and be the guy that you're supposed to be?" Which is what it's all about. Will you step up? And in Episode 10, he's going to deal with the demise. How does he feel about his dad, and will he fulfill the prophecy? And I think Wednesday's chosen him and, of course, he knows Shadow will do the right thing. I don't think there's much doubt about that.
Again, he's preordained. It's all, "Will he, won't he?" And I think you know that Shadow will because Shadow, in the end, you want to think he's a good guy. He wants to finish his journey, and he hasn't got his dad anymore. But you'll find out in Episode 10 how everything will come full circle.
From this season, is there any godly mythos - perhaps your own with Tyr - or scene resonated most with you with you?
Ian McShane: The thing I got most kick out of this year was finding a way into the nuthouse. I think my favorite moment was reciting the famous Cream song, which is Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. I got the most kick out of being half naked, wandering in the middle of a street on a freezing cold Toronto night, doing the lyrics from "Pressed Rat and Warthog," thinking about Cream. That was my favorite moment of the year.
The third season finale of American Gods premieres March 21 on Starz.