 The actor explained that once Warner Bros. Television President Peter Roth and The CW President Mark Pedowitz were made aware of the situation, he was allowed to audition for other projects.In January 2016, it was announced that Whittle had been cast as Shadow Moon, the lead role in Starz television adaptation of Neil Gaiman's 2001 novel "American Gods" opposite Ian McShane.Though Whittle had no prior knowledge of the novel, he was a fan favourite pick to play Shadow when Starz announced the series in August 2015.