In Season 2 of the Starz series American Gods, the battle between the Old Gods, or the traditional gods of mythological roots from around the world, and the New Gods, who reflect society’s modern devotions (i.e. money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs), is really heating up, and Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) is on his own path to figuring out exactly what he believes. On that journey, he crosses paths with a two-spirited wanderer named Sam Black Crow (Devery Jacobs), an indigenous woman who lives her own life with confidence, openness and strength.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actress Devery Jacobs talked about when she first read the American Gods novel by Neil Gaiman, hounding her agent to get her an audition to play Sam Black Crow, how deeply she identified with the character, as a queer indigenous young woman in her 20s, her crazy roller coaster journey to finally getting the role, the importance of representing the queer Native American community in a truthful way, what she enjoys about the dynamic between Shadow and Sam Black Crow, and whether we’ll get to see her return for the recently picked up third season. She also talked about her desire to play her own mother and bring her mother’s experiences to life in a film in the future.

Collider:  When did you first pick up Neil Gaiman’s novel, and did you read it because you had been a fan of his work, or had someone brought it to your attention?

DEVERY JACOBS:  When I first became aware of the book, I didn’t even realize that I had been a Neil Gaiman fan, but I had read Mirrormask and Coraline, and people had been telling me to read Sandman for years. And then, when somebody had recommended that I read American Gods, I was like, “This sounds right up my alley.” That was around five or six years ago. I read the book, and the character of Sam Black Crow just really stood out to me. Being a queer indigenous young woman in my 20s, myself, I hugely identified with her. So, when I heard that they were turning it into a series, I hounded my agent to make sure that I auditioned for Sam Black Crow.

At the time you read the novel and were introduced to this character, what did you think about the way that she was portrayed and who she was, as a character?

JACOBS:  The way Sam was portrayed was actually really inspiring and interesting to me. A lot of the time, if you feature Native American characters, for the most part, they’re historical figures. You’ve seen the Pocahontas story countless times, and Sacagawea. This was a character who was hugely relatable to me because she’s a modern person. There were a lot of politics within my own life that have surfaced in the character, with being mixed and what that means. I think something that has really sparked her to be a fan favorite, for widespread audiences and fans of the book, is that she’s so bubbly, but she’s also sarcastic. She’s really cynical, but is also really curious about life and about Shadow Moon. She’s all of these things within one person. She’s actually the biggest female character in the book. Getting the opportunity to play her was obviously something that I leaped at.

You had a bit of a roller coaster in actually getting to be a part of this show. You fought for the role, you got the role, and then you couldn’t do the role due to scheduling. What was that like to go through, emotionally?

JACOBS:  I’ve never fought so hard for a role, in my life. It was such an emotional rollercoaster. I was on my reservation with my family, visiting home, and I told them that I booked the role. And then, I had to tell them that no, they were moving on and now it was gone. And then, I wrote a letter and sent it, and even Neil Gaiman read it and tweeted me about it. Luckily, it was an emotional rollercoaster that resulted in a positive outcome for me, but that was unlike anything else. Neil Gaiman tweeting me was one of the highlights for me. I was just geeking out.

When you wrote that letter, did you feel like it was the last chance that you had to persuade them, or was it your way of saying goodbye to the character?

JACOBS:  It was my swan song because we had tried absolutely everything, and we just could not make [the scheduling] work. I was like, “There’s nothing left for me to do.” But I wanted the production to know how thankful I was, and how much the character meant to me, and that it wasn’t something that I took lightly. I was really gutted that I wasn’t gonna be able to play the character that I had been gunning for, for years. And then, I guess it helped them change their minds.

When you got the call that they were going to work the scheduling out, what was your reaction? Did that add a bunch of extra pressure, the first day on set, knowing that you’d been through all of that?

JACOBS:  This is the role that I had been asking for and fighting for, for years. And then to actually get it, and to actually have this whole grassroots fan casting movement behind me, I was like, “Oh, shit, now I’ve actually gotta do this character justice, and do the thing that I’ve been asking for.” So, it was definitely intimidating. I think where I felt the most pressure was putting it on myself to not only portray Sam Black Crow from the novel well, and to do the character justice, but also to represent the Native American community, and the queer Native American community, properly. That’s something that’s rarely been seen, on a platform like this.

It’s so interesting that, at the same time you were fighting for the role, fans of the book were also fighting for you to play this character. How did you find out that was going on?

JACOBS:  I was just so thankful that people who knew of my work also agreed that I was perfect casting for this character because I thought so, too. How I found out was that Neil Gaiman was tweeting a casting notice, saying they were looking for real Native American representation, and my Twitter blew up with countless people mentioning me and recommending that I play the character. That tweet actually went out when I had already auditioned and had a callback, so I was worried because I was like, “I’ve auditioned, and now Neil Gaiman is posting a casting notice, so maybe I haven’t gotten the role and they’re looking for more Native people.” It worked out, though. It was definitely a nerve-wracking process.

What’s it like to be a part of the show, and to be able to talk to and interact with Neil Gaiman, if you have questions?

JACOBS:  I haven’t actually had the chance to meet Neil Gaiman because every time I was on set, he was out of town, so I’m waiting for that moment. But being a part of the show and the God squad now has just been incredible. I wasn’t sure what to expect, coming into such a huge production, with such talented and experienced actors, but I was really pleasantly surprised because it really is a film family, and they fully embraced me into it. The cast is so diverse. I’m just happy to be able to represent America’s first people among this whole group of immigrants to America, which is essentially what the show is entirely about.

I hadn’t heard the term “two-spirit” before, and I’m sure a lot of people will also hear it, for the first time, in watching this TV show. Was it important to you, if you were going to be introducing this character to people who won’t have seen someone like this before, to make sure that it was real and truthful?

JACOBS:  100%. That was one of the things that I thought was most important. In the book, Sam is mentioned to be bisexual, but when we were imagining Sam, from page to screen, that was something that I had an influence in. Sam is from the Cherokee Nation. Not every Native American nation or tribe recognizes two-spirited people. I identify as queer, and not two-spirited, because I’m Mohawk and we don’t have that, but because Sam is Cherokee, I thought that it was important to represent that side of history that isn’t really known. For two-spirited people, historically, being queer was not considered a bad thing. Being two-spirited was considered a gift from the creators. So, I thought it was hugely important to make Sam two-spirited, specifically, and to represent this whole side of history, in our community and on this platform, because America obviously does not know enough about their Native people.

Very true. I love that this character is curious and mischievous, as well as cynical and sarcastic. What’s it like to get to play a blend of that? Are all of those sides of her fun to get to explore?

JACOBS:  It’s great. It just makes her so innately human, in this world of Gods. You have to play it moment by moment, in the same way that your emotions can change at the drop of a hat. We’ll go from curious to guarded, to throwing jokes, to being sarcastic and teasing somebody. It’s a really nuanced, but complex role that was really fun to play. All I can really say is that I took it moment by moment.

What do you most enjoy about the dynamic between Sam and Shadow?

JACOBS:  I love that there’s almost a familial relationship between them. While Ricky Whittle is a very handsome guy, I like that Sam is not phased by him, at all. It feels like they’ve met their match. There’s a fun familial relationship. You see sides of Shadow that you haven’t gotten to see, throughout Season 1 and Season 2, up until this point. You get to see a little bit more of the tender and vulnerable sides. He’s willing to let his guard down with Sam.

What’s it been like to work with Ricky Whittle? How is he, as a scene partner?

JACOBS:  Ricky is the ideal #1 on the call sheet ‘cause he’s so charismatic and he just makes everybody feel so welcome. He says, “Good morning,” and knows everybody by name. When I say that it’s a family, stepping onto that set very much feels like that. I haven’t been on the receiving end of his pranks quite yet, but he is notorious for pranking people’s trailers. I know that, with Ian McShane, he got a cut-out of himself printed and put it in his trailer. He’s a bit of a trickster and a really funny guy. So, the hardest part was trying to keep a straight face, in between shots.

Now that the series has been picked up for Season 3, do you know if we’ll continue to see Sam Black Crow? Have you had any conversations about where this journey will go?

JACOBS:  I can’t confirm anything yet, but I can say that as the story moves into Lakeside, Sam resurfaces and there’s a whole storyline that happens with her. So, you’ll have to stay tuned to see if I make an appearance in Season 3.

As someone who was a fan of the book, is it fun to feel like your playing the character that you loved from the books while also still playing new sides of that character, as it’s translated for the TV series?

JACOBS:  I think it’s really great. I’m a fan of the book, but in bringing Sam to life, I really relied on my experience as an indigenous person who was raised on a reservation, and I brought my personal experiences as a queer person. I brought my truth to Sam, in conjunction with Gaiman’s beautiful work. I’ve been having a really great time bring Sam to life, and I hope that audiences are receptive to it.

Is there another existing character that you’d love to play, or a character that you’d love to have a hand in creating and telling the story of, at some point?

JACOBS:  That’s a good question. I also write and direct, on the side, in between acting projects. The character that I would most like to bring to life would be my mom, and her experiences.

That seems like it would be extremely daunting, but also really cool.

JACOBS:  I had a short film at Palm Springs ShortFest last year, which was based on my mom’s upbringing in the ‘70s. I didn’t play my mom. I played the character based on my grandmother, and then there was a 7-year-old girl from my community, who ended up portraying my mom. It is daunting. We shot it on Mother’s Day. But it turned out really well, and my mom was very proud of us, which was great.

American Gods airs on Sunday nights on Starz.