Neil Gaiman’s ‘Anansi Boys’ Series Casts ‘Small Axe,’ ’13 Reasons Why’ Stars as Female Leads (Exclusive)

Anansi Boys, Amazon Studios’ upcoming six-part adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s best-selling fantasy novel, has found its two female leads.

British actresses Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn, who made her screen debut in Steve McQueen’s acclaimed feature Lovers Rock, part of his Small Axe anthology series, and Grace Saif, best known for Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, will star in the miniseries, joining Delroy Lindo and Malachi Kirby.

St. Aubyn will play Rosie Noah, a teacher and fiancée to Charles “Fat Charlie” Nancy, the main protagonist and hero (played by Kirby, who also plays Nancy’s brother Spider). Noah is described as cheerful, wise, good-humored and kind.

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Meanwhile, Saif has been cast as Detective Constable Daisy Day, who finds herself deep into several intersecting police cases, including a murder. She’s smart, efficient, determined and very funny.

“When you are casting something on the scale of Anansi Boys you need female leads who are as accomplished, charming, and brilliant as, well, Malachi Kirby in both his incarnations,” said Gaiman. “Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn and Grace Saif are those women. [They’re] both funny, honest, brilliant actresses, and you will fall in love with both of them.”

Now shooting in Scotland, Anansi Boys follows Kirby’s Nancy, a young man who is used to being embarrassed by his estranged father (Lindo). But when his father dies, Charlie discovers that his father was Anansi: trickster god of stories. And he learns that he has a brother, Spider, who is determined to make Charlie’s life much more interesting but also a lot more dangerous.

Gaiman, Sir Lenny Henry, Douglas Mackinnon, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Hilary Bevan Jones (Endor Productions) and Richard Fee (RED Production Company) are executive producers, with Gaiman and Henry co-writing and Gaiman and Mackinnon serving as co-showrunners. Culpepper will direct the pilot. The show is produced by Amazon Studios, The Blank Corporation, Endor Productions, and RED Production company and is part of Gaiman’s overall deal with Amazon Studios, which has already backed adaptations of his books American Gods and Good Omens, currently shooting season two.