American Gods may have been praised for its widely diverse cast of characters, but showrunner Bryan Fuller says that that’s not something that should happen, as he and others working on the series were simply following Neil Gaiman’s book of the same name.

According to Digital Spy, he explained: “I think it was important for all of us involved in this show to represent the characters as they were written in the book, because Neil took such time and interest in being very specific with these cultures and being very true to the mythologies that he was basing these characters on. So we didn’t feel it was our path or responsibility to deviate from the inclusivity of those characters.

“What was gratifying for us as white men working in the television industry is… we are empathetic to the needs of inclusivity and representation on any public forum, so we were very happy to stay true to the different cultures and races represented, and be accurate to them as we would in the casting process.”

He concluded of the matter: “So we’ve often been lauded for casting a non-white person who is a non-white character, whereas we think that’s just what you should do and we shouldn’t necessarily be celebrated for that because it is simply following the instructions.”

The wide array of difference races and cultures is something that makes American Gods such a brilliant and compelling watch and so, even though Fuller doesn’t want the praise for sticking to the book, it’s something he’ll be getting for some time. Many others would have whitewashed their way through the story.

American Gods season 1 is available now on Amazon Prime Video.