Star of stage and screen, Blythe Danner has joined the cast of ‘American Gods’ for the upcoming third season. She will portray Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest, and she has a complicated romantic history with Mister Wednesday (Ian McShane). (Who doesn’t?) Wednesday will try to recruit Demeter for the upcoming war between gods, but he has a bit of a challenge facing him, “Getting her out of the mental institution where she’s been involuntarily committed.”
New showrunner and executive producer Charles “Chic” Eglee declared:
“It is a rare privilege to be working with Ms. Blythe Danner, a dear friend, inspiration and national treasure. She is our muse in crafting the role of Demeter, since no one else can bring such ethereal beauty and grace to the portrayal of a goddess.”
Danner joins Marilyn Manson, who was announced as joining the series as Johan Wengren, a “blood-thirsty” lead singer of the Viking death metal band Blood Death, which is a source of power for Wednesday. Manson is only expected to appear in four episodes, and Danner will most likely also only make a limited number of appearances, as is the standard with many of these “old gods” characters.
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Season 2 just ended recently, so don’t expect Season 3 until sometime next year. Therefore not much is known about it yet, but it is known that Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) will break away and attempt to assert his individuality, settling in snowy Lakeside, WI. There, “he’ll uncover a dark secret while exploring questions of his own divinity. Guided on this spiritual journey by the gods of his black ancestors, the Orishas, Shadow must decide exactly who he is: a god seeking veneration or a man in service of the ‘we’.”
Danner, the mother of Gwyneth Paltrow, won a Tony Award for her performance in ‘Butterflies Are Free’ on Broadway (1969-72). More recently, she won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role as Izzy Huffstodt on Showtime’s ‘Huff’ (2004, 2006). Danner has appeared in many Woody Allen films, and may be best recognizable to younger audiences from co-starring in the ‘Meet the Parents’/’Fockers’ movies.
Source: TV Line
