Bryan Fuller’s production team continues to absolutely crush all comers when it comes to casting his upcoming Starz series American Gods, with Variety reporting today that Gillian Anderson has signed on to appear on the show. The X-Files star—whose ability to project glacial, morally ambiguous sangfroid made her a stand-out on Fuller’s late, lamented Hannibal—will play Media, the new goddess of TV, laptops, iPhones, and all the other instruments of our everyday pop-culture worship.
For those who’ve read Neal Gaiman’s novel, it’s pretty clear that this is some top shelf, Ian-McShane-as-Wednesday level casting. After all, Media is all about the seduction of the image—spinning news stories, smiling permanently, and, in one notable scene, attempting to seduce protagonist Shadow with the image of a naked Lucille Ball—and Anderson’s charismatic coldness seems like the perfect vector to deliver that hollow, sinister cheer.
American Gods is currently in production. Ricky Whittle and Emily Browning are also set to star.