‘American Gods’: Kristin Chenoweth Not Returning for Season 2 | TVLine

Sorry, kids: There won’t be any Easter this year.

The goddess of fertility, spring, bunnies, etc. won’t appear in American Gods‘ forthcoming Season 2 — at least not in the guise of Kristin Chenoweth, who played her in the fantasy drama’s freshman outing.

The actress confirmed her departure from the show exclusively to TVLine Monday at a press event for the upcoming NBC special A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 years on Broadway. She cited her longstanding friendship with former showrunner Bryan Fuller, who in November left the Starz drama with fellow showrunner Michael Green over creative differences with producer Freemantle, as the reason behind her decision.

“I couldn’t come back without him,” Chenoweth said. “It wouldn’t be right.”

Similarly, in January, Gillian Anderson — who played American Gods‘ Media and starred in Fuller’s Hannibal — told reporters that she would not shoot any more of the Starz series.

Chenoweth played Olive Snook in Fuller’s 2007-2009 ABC dramedy Pushing Daisies, and she remains close with the acclaimed scribe, whom she calls her “brother.” In December, the actress told our sister site Variety that before Fuller’s departure, she had planned to return for several of American Gods‘ Season 2 episodes but was unsure of whether or not that would happen.

On Monday, Chenoweth told TVLine that she did engage in conversations about returning to American Gods in Fuller’s absence. “Let me just say this: Those people are also my family,” she said. “It came out of [author Neil] Gaiman’s brain, who is a genius.” She added that she wants the show to be a success for the people who are still involved with it. But ultimately…

“I mean,” she said, “Bryan’s my guy.”

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