fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3500 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3500 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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02.

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eghk9bVNN9M ]

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03.

[Impractical Jokers (R-L): Joe, Q, Sal, Murr]

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04.

[American Gods]

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05.

[Pretty Little Liars]

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06.

[Doctor Who]

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07.

[A Game of Thrones, Littlefinger/Sansa]

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08.

[Brie Larson vs. Alison Brie]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 16 secrets from Secret Submission Post #500.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

04. http://i.imgur.com/06bRUG1.jpg
[American Gods]

If Tom Cruise can play Jack Reacher...

"The main reason I started reading American Gods was because it was about a body-builder"

That's not a sentence I ever thought I'd hear, honestly. I read the book when it came out and I didn't even remember that it starred a bodybuilder.

I wouldn't cast Tom Cruise in anything anyway but he is definitely not Jack Reacher. I'm not even into that series (tried it once but it's not for me at all) and I think it's a travesty that Cruise controls that role. John Cena should be chewing scenery as Reacher.

Wait what's this about bodybuilders

What

In the novel "American Gods", the main character, Shadow, is a bodybuilder. It's not talked about much. He doesn't even work out during the book but the first paragraph is:

"Shadow had done three years in prison. He was big enough and looked don't-fuck-with-me enough that his biggest problem was killing time. So he kept himself in shape, and taught himself coin tricks, and thought a lot about how much he loved his wife."

There's a bit more to it but that's not the main thrust of the book. Even so, he's described as a big dude.

I think the key phrase here is "big enough". If he were a big guy, Gaiman wouldn't have qualified it with "enough". To me, that suggests that while Shadow isn't enormous, he's in good enough shape and large enough that he's not a tempting target.

Big enough in that context implies bigger than most of the other people in the situation who would mess with him.

I always thought that a serious version of Dwayne Johnson - like, from Walk Tall - would be a great casting choice.

Re: OP

(Anonymous) - 2016-08-04 11:49 (UTC) - Expand

(Anonymous) - 2016-08-04 17:08 (UTC) - Expand

Oh, no, I got that when I read the book, I was more referring to you saying that you had read the book because you had heard that Shadow was a bodybuilder. It's just kind of a different angle on things, I guess? And I'm interested in what you mean by that?

I have no idea who this is, and I've never read American Gods. But wow is that man hot. Not usually into guys with shaved heads, but I'll make an exception for him.

Maybe it's been a while since I read the book, but... Shadow was a bodybuilder??? I have literally no recollection of that at all.
Like, even slightly.
None.

I think he was a personal trainer in his best friend's gym, not a bodybuilder in proper rights.

Neil Gaiman has said he pictured Dwayne Johnson as Shadow in the past, so that's always been my headcanon. sigh

That said, Whittle isn't bad. He looks better in motion *plus* he's a sweetheart IRL. After the whole bullying incident I'm happy he's getting more work.

I'm not familiar with the actor, but what bullying incident was there?

Ricky Whittle played Lincoln, a main character on The 100. In Season 3, he got locked in prison with nothing to do most of the season. Ricky and his mother complained on social media that the showrunner, Jason Rothenberg, bullied him and gave him nothing to do because it was part of the bullying. This allegation reached wider fandom outside The 100 when a lesbian character on the show was killed and her rabid fans finally decided to believe Ricky because JRoth was The Worst.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-08-04 01:45 (UTC) - Expand

What anon above said. Also the bullying was allegedly so noticeable some of the network presidents and producers took pity on him and allowed him to audition for a different show on a different network (American Gods, Starz), which NEVER happens. Like, it doesn't matter how bad your actors or shows are, in Hollyweird letting a rival network have one of your actors must be avoided at all costs. So it must have been pretty bad.

(Anonymous) - 2016-08-04 18:24 (UTC) - Expand

(Anonymous) - 2016-08-05 17:52 (UTC) - Expand

Anon from above. Hadn't read down to here yet. But there you go.

My boyfriend, who's not particularly fannish, brings this up almost every time we hear about the TV adaptation. He just can't excited about it because he always imagined Shadow as a more bulky, looming kind of presence, and Whittle is too thin and pretty.
I kind of agree, but I'm perfectly happy to accept this as just a different version. It's just not that important to his character as far as I'm concerned... size isn't everything!

I don't remember the bodybuilder thing, but I do remember that Shadow was supposed to be a BIG guy. So yeah, I wish the actor had bulked up a bit for the role, because otherwise I think he looks pretty good in the trailer.

He looks pretty lean, anyway. Maybe it'll work better than you think.

I'm sure Ricky will do fine but I will keep my personal image of Shadow in tact with him being buff as fuck.

I wasn't even asking for him to become Mr Olympia. Just some bulk. Dudes can still be kinda big in prison.

I always pictured Shadow as bigger (like the Rock), so I agree that he's a bit on the lean side, but if he's got the character down I'm all for it. I'm not overly concerned with the looks though - I always pictured Wednesday as a wee bit portly, with white hair & a full beard. But I still think Ian McShane is a great casting decision. I'm waiting til I've seen it to judge it, you know.

Ian McShane is always a great casting decision imo, he's so good.

It's such a shame Howard Charles had a terrible car accident and had to drop out of this, he's far more fitting physically for the character and boy can ACT.

I pictured Shadow as bigger but I assume RW was chosen because he has other qualities that make up for not being as well built as in the book.