Delroy Lindo Lands Lead Role in Neil Gaiman’s ‘Anansi Boys’ Amazon Series, As He Deserves

A project on the level of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys demands a lead who can lend a sense of gravitas and screen presence to the proceedings. Well, those just happen to be two qualities that practically define British-American actor Delroy Lindo and, apparently, the decision-makers at Amazon agree. I’m sure we can all agree that this is what he deserves!

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Delroy Lindo has been chosen to play Mr. Nancy (aka Anansi, the trickster god from African and Caribbean folklore) in the upcoming adaptation of Gaiman’s fantasy novel. The series follows the character of Charles Nancy, who comes with plenty of daddy issues. When his father passes away in an embarrassing incident, however, Charles soon discovers the true nature of his father and finds that there might be plenty more family-related mysteries to come. Along those lines, Delroy’s character is described as “a charming man who cheated on Charlie’s mother and who had another side to him as the god of stories and trickery.”

Gaiman himself chimed in to praise the casting news, saying:

“Delroy Lindo is a giant of the stage and the screen, and we are so lucky to have him. I cannot wait to see his gravitas and charm being deployed for the benefit of Anansi Boys, as he plays an unreliable father with hidden depths.”

As we previously told you, Ansani Boys will not be a spin-off or sequel to the Starz series American Gods, despite featuring some of the same direct connections and characters — including Mr. Nancy himself! Actor Orlando Jones previously played that same character to much praise in American Gods, but parted ways with the series over creative differences and will not be reprising that role here. One can imagine that Lindo will make the character his own in very short order.

The series is planned as its own standalone story altogether, which is great to hear, as the focus should firmly remain on the strength of the premise rather than any shared universe stuff. Gaiman will be co-showrunner for this series along with Douglas Mackinnon.

Delroy Lindo Forever

Venerated actor Delroy Lindo most recently appeared in a significant part in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, earning widespread praise for his emotional and powerful performance as a Vietnam War vet.

He’s appeared repeatedly in other Lee films as well, including Malcolm X, Crooklyn, and Clockers. The Good Fight actor has certainly been in demand in recent years and that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon with this news. More casting announcements are sure to be coming down the pipeline in these coming weeks and months, so /Film have every inch of it covered. Stay tuned.

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