Jonathan Tucker has quietly been building a varied filmography of TV and movie roles over the last 20 years, with early performances in Sleepers and The Virgin Suicides, and more recent efforts in fandom-driven shows The Black DonnellysParenthoodJustified, and Hannibal. He currently stars as MMA fighter Jay Kulina in the AT&T Audience Network family drama, Kingdom, and will appear as a pivotal character in Bryan Fuller's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods on Starz later this year.

During the ongoing TCA 2017, our own Christina Radish had a chance to chat with Tucker about his work on Kingdom--keep an eye out for the full interview coming soon--but also managed to sneak in a few questions about the upcoming Starz series. He praised Fuller's strength as a collaborator and showrunner, talked about the decision to expand the American Gods story into a more in-depth exploration of its mythology, and how he filmed his scenes in a state penitentiary alongside real prisoners on Death Row. Some spoilers follow, but we'll give you a heads up in advance.

jonathan-tucker-american-gods-interview
Image via DirecTV

Here's what Tucker had to say about Fuller's style as a showrunner, as compared to other fine folks he's worked with over the years:

Bryan Fuller has been a wonderful collaborator. (Kingdom showrunner) Byron [Balasco] is like that, and so is (Justified showrunner) Graham Yost. These three showrunners are unique, in the sense that they don’t operate from a place of fear. They’re entirely confident in their own skills, and they not only allow, but are eager and they support people coming in and contributing their truest selves as artists. That gives you incredible leeway. That gives you the ability to take a risk.

Fuller & Co. are going to need that confidence and bravery if their plan to use the book to launch into more original story is going to pay off. Here are Tucker's thoughts on that approach:

I knew of the book, but I hadn’t read it. It’s amazing that it’s resonated so thoroughly, across the world, and that it was written 20-some odd years ago and it seems to have more impact on today than it did when he wrote it. It’s incredibly prescient now, in this fight of technology, greed, media and demagoguery. I think people will really respond to it. The pilot is almost the entirety of the book, and then they use the book as the leaping off point for the rest of the season, which is cool. It’s done entirely with Neil Gaiman’s blessing, so it’s fun to take this really well-read book and use it as a place just to start. It’s like when you’re in elementary school and your teacher makes you write a new story about one of the characters you like. That’s kind of what we’re doing. You’re like, “I wish I could have seen more of Benvolio (in Romeo & Juliet),” or “I wish I could have followed the preacher in The Scarlet Letter. I want to know what he does when he goes home, and what his life is like.” It’s fun to explore these characters in a way outside of the book.

american-gods-book-cover-image

Here's your spoiler warning.

So Tucker plays a character by the name of Low-Key Lyesmith on American Gods. We're introduced to this character as Shadow Moon's cellmate, but he plays a much more important role in the story as time goes on. Tucker teased that importance a bit, so if you'd rather not know how his take on the character (and Fuller's influence on him) played out, it's best that you skip.

Here's Tucker on his character's introduction and what has to be one of the most tense places to shoot a scene:

I’m honestly it in for literally three scenes. I just couldn’t do more with [Kingdom] and with scheduling, but it will be fun to go back for the second season. It was so fun. And Ricky Whittle is a super human being. That guy is a really, really nice, talented human being. He’s such a cool cat. We were in Oklahoma together, at an active prison, shooting a few scenes. It was a state penitentiary with a Death Row in Oklahoma. It’s exciting to be a part of a world that’s so truthful. When you’re shooting in a prison, like for American Gods, and there are prisoners who are on Death Row that are right over there and there are real guards, you’re in it. It’s fun. It’s really playing. That’s what we’re trying to do, all the time, as actors. When you’re privileged enough to do it on this scale, it makes you feel really, really lucky.

Here's what Tucker and Fuller take some liberties with the character:

Low Key Lyesmith is kind of blind, when you see it, and nobody knows that. You’re like, “Wait, is he looking at me?” That’s not in the script. That’s just something that Bryan and I were jamming about and he was like, “Yeah, give it a shot.” We weren’t sure if it could be picked up on camera or not, but we gave it a shot. That’s the sort of playfulness that he has. All we’re doing is playing.

kingdom-jonathan-tucker-01
Image via DirecTV

Here's your final spoiler warning since Tucker goes into his character's mythology a bit more:

So, I’m excited about American Gods. I set up my character in the first episode, and then, because of scheduling, Bryan will find a way to bring him back in a much more meaningful way in the second season. It’s a cool character – Low Key Lyesmith. It’s fun to have those celestial powers. For me, it’s not any different than when you were six years old, playing dress-up and going, “I am the King,” or “I am the army guy.” Kids don’t have that fear that you end up getting, as you get older and people point at you, make fun of you for not fitting in, or tell you that you’re not good enough. It’s just so pure. It’s fun now to be at a place where I feel that same sense of youthful fearlessness. It’s not that I don’t know all of these other risks are out there, but I really don’t care. I’ll live in a car. I’ll sleep on the street. I hope I don’t have to, but I don’t have any material goods that I need to protect. I just want to do really good work.

american-gods-jonathan-tucker-interview