Pablo Schreiber replaces Sean Harris as Mad Sweeney in American Gods

By Sam Barsanti | May 11, 2016 | 9:39pm

Aux Features TV

In March, we reported that Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation’s Sean Harris had been cast in Starz’s adaptation of American Gods. Harris was set to play Mad Sweeney, a supposed leprechaun/ancient Irish king of some sort who is a big fan of giving people magical gold coins. Now, citing “personal reasons,” Harris has decided to drop out of the show after a week of filming. This comes from Deadline, which reports that Harris has been replaced by Orange Is The New Black’s Pablo Schreiber—who seems to be even less Irish than Harris, if that matters to you.

The original American Gods book was written by Neil Gaiman—who will also write some of the episodes—and it’s set in a world where old-fashioned mythological gods are being phased out due to people no longer believing in them. In their place, gods representing modern obsessions like money and the internet begin to grow more powerful. The show will center around Shadow Moon, an ex-con who starts working for a mysterious old god named Mr. Wednesday, and together they travel around the United States recruiting incarnations of other old gods in preparation for a battle against the new gods. The 100’s Ricky Whittle is playing Shadow Moon, and Ian McShane will be playing Mr. Wednesday.