WATCH: Ricky Whittle & Pablo Schreiber break down American Gods Season 2 Episodes 5 & 6

What do you believe in? The second season of American Gods is barrelling through towards its conclusion, as it forces its characters to ask some uncomfortable questions about themselves and their world. SYFY WIRE recently caught up with Ricky Whittle and Pablo Schreiber, two of the leading actors in this adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel. Whittle and Schreiber shared their thoughts about episodes five and six. In fact, Whittle was particularly moved to speak by the story of Froggie James, a black man who was lynched in Cairo years before. This was a true story that was blended into the narrative.

“This show is never shy to raise awareness and shine a light on important issues and themes,” said Whittle. “Racism runs deep, but the clever thing about American Gods is we never hit things from the usual angle. Yeah, Will James was lynched, but it wasn’t the white people that he was focused on during that time. It was the black faces, and we kind of investigated that story.”

“Rodney Barnes, Salli Richardson, and Orlando Jones did a fantastic job of really bringing together a script they worked amongst themselves to tell a powerful story that I hope we were able to get across. Mentally, it really is a dark, intense episode. What makes it more so is that it’s real... That was the norm, which is terrifying. If you’re shocked by the scenes in that episode, imagine what it was like to see that in real life and not be able to do anything about it.”

As for Schreiber, he elaborated on Mad Sweeney’s relationship with Laura, and why he thinks fans like watching them play off each other. But for those details, and much more from Whittle, you’ll have to watch the entire video!