After having his TV-rights held hostage and waiting until the 11th hour to tell him (via a phone call) they were going in a different direction right as they are announcing new cast members for Season 3, Orlando Jones is finally stepping up and talking about what he and a few other cast members are experiencing with Fremantle’s ‘American Gods’. He waited three months for them to publically announce that he was not going to be a part of season 3, while clips of his performances were going viral, generating buzz for the show.

We at Geeks WorldWide had the chance to interview Orlando Jones about all of this. Here’s a transcript of the interview:

GWW | What was it like writing your own character? Was it freeing? Was there a lot of added stress or pressure? How different was it from your roles? Bryan and Micheal set a pretty high bar, with Nancy’s introduction. I was mindful of that but looked forward to the challenge of it. I’ve been in writer’s guild for 25+ years so writing isn’t new to me. The most difficult problem was they didn’t give me any time. I was writing scenes and scripts very quickly. And the groundwork isn’t mine so I’m doing it in a box, does that make sense? GWW | Yeah, it makes sense. Sucks that they didn’t give you a lot of time to write. I heard that you wrote for Anansi, but also most of the other PoC characters. Is this true? Did you pitch this idea or did they ask you?

Not really. That’s the job. If you can’t do it under pressure you shouldn’t be doing it. In the season two opening there’s a scene with Bilquis, Ibis, and Nancy so I rewrote and began writing those characters more often. They asked me. Neil Gaiman asked me, a nd then the EP Jessie Alexander asked me, a nd then the studio and network asked me to continue. I started doing notes with the studio alone with the showrunner’s permission, of course. I was very involved and they begged me to do it. They just didn’t want to pay me. I told them I could not go against my guild. It’s a writer guild show and I’m a member. They had to pay me. They said no. I said, That’s kinda racist. You paid all the white guys and they are at home.

GWW | Did you end up getting paid? Yes. The guild requires that. That’s why it was so stupid for them to be so angry with me about it.

GWW | Yeah, it was pretty stupid. They know they had to pay you and they ended up paying you anyway, so why fight it? I know that Fremantle doesn’t care about the characters of color on the show. They’ve said it to me. The showrunners are told to focus on Wednesday and Shadow Moon, but really, Wednesday.

GWW | I don’t mind a lot of Ian McShane’s Wednesday, but not caring about characters of color isn’t only pretty racist, it also just doesn’t make sense with Shadow being the main character and where his character is headed. That’s why in the season 2 opener, Mr. Wednesday is suddenly telling the story of American Gods. The story is supposed to be told from Shadow Moon’s perspective, not Wednesday. They didn’t write for us cause the openly say brown faces don’t sell in Europe.

GWW | Wow. It’s not a secret.

GWW | Was there ever discussions about adapting the sequel to American Gods, Anansi Boys, with you in a more prominent role? Would you do it if Gaiman asked you now?

Neil and I have discussed it. We’ll see what happens.

GWW | I don’t know how that’s going to work out now but I hope it somehow works out. it will. I’m not worried about it. Keep a positive attitude. We manifest what we believe, remember?

GWW | You’re right! Given the current social and political climate, what issues would you have touched on in season 3 given the opportunity? I don’t know. It’s about the characters for me. I’d figure out each of their end games in the war and lay out the dangerous liaisons/Valmont battle royale of the Gods.

GWW | Have you checked out the social media impact the character has had in the black community and what do you want black people to take away from your performance and the character’s point of view?