Novelist, screenwriter and producer Neil Gaiman appeared virtually on Late Show with Seth Meyers and described what life has been like for him during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gaiman told Meyers he thinks having a little downtime can be inspiring, but the extended periods of boredom over the past year have been bad for creators in general.
It isn’t like being bored watching a kid’s school play or looking out a train window because a phone is dead where one can relax and let his or her imagination run wild, Gaiman explained.
“This is a lot more like being locked in a cellar with an unexploded bomb and several venomous snakes and it’s just going on for ages,” he said.
“You’re kind of bored, but you’re also worrying about the bomb and worrying about the snakes and those bits of my head that make up stories are much more busy going: ‘What is going on in real life? This is much too weird.'”
Season 3 of American Gods, a fantasy drama based on Gaiman’s book of the same name, is now airing on Starz.
Gaiman said the cast – which includes Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Bruce Langley and Yetide Badaki – treats him with “wary love and respect” when he is on the show’s set.
“There is the expression that you go to meet your maker. You don’t ever expect your maker to turn up and mooch around and hang around craft services [food tables,] having a cup of tea,” Gaiman said.
He recalled recently visiting the studio where Netflix is filming an adaptation of his graphic novel, The Sandman.
“It was meeting characters I had created 30-something years ago and, for them, to meet me, was a very peculiar experience, indeed,” he said.
The Sandman ensemble includes Arthur Darvill, Kat Dennings and Taron Egerton.
Gaiman’s other works include Stardust and Good Omens. CURRENTPH
