‘Preacher’ Cast and Creators Discuss Religion, Human Nature, and Season 2

Preacher is the newest AMC series to capture the hearts of eager audiences with its quirky style and vile, yet somehow loveable, characters.

Emphasis on the word “quirky.”

When the cast and crew of the hit series descended upon San Diego Comic-Con (some for the very first time), they were gracious enough to sit down for a quick press conference to discuss their beloved project.

“It’s genre jumping,” said Evan Goldberg — who, along with Seth Rogen and Sam Catlin — developed Garth Ennis’ comics for the small screen.

“It’s a show that has action, and horror, and comedy. To me, that’s one of the biggest selling points of the whole concept — it goes everywhere.”

According to Rogen, that multi-genre feel that gives the show an edge was intentionally planned from the beginning:

“When we were making the pilot, especially, what we talked about a lot was creating a show that had an infrastructure that allowed it to go to any style or tone or genre at any moment, and it wouldn’t feel like it was diverting or subtracting from the sum total of the show.”

He went on, then, to describe the different openings to various episodes — how some feel like B-List Slasher films while others trick viewers into thinking they have the wrong show for a moment or two, “Which is something Networks don’t like, apparently,” laughed Rogen. But it’s all part of the Preacher package.

A package that also includes dipping one’s toes into some controversially religious waters, although the showrunners have no qualms about going there — and, really, have no worries about any potential backlash:

“As long as you’re exploring an idea rather than telling people your beliefs, it’s a lot easier to delve into subject matter that some people might think is very hard subject matter to delve into,” stated Rogen easily.

“It’s a conversation, it’s not a statement,” he continued. “I think that is, hopefully, what keeps it from being alienating and what keeps from being preach-y, for lack of a better word.”

The cast seemed to share the creator’s open-minded fearlessness regarding such potentially delicate subject matter and the backlash from those who may choose to be offended by it. They chose to focus, instead, on the characters and themes that drive the story — the humanness of Preacher, rather than its supernatural elements.

Coming out of the end of the first season and heading in to Season 2, Dominic Cooper (Jesse Custer) reflected on Jesse’s journey and gave us insight into where our hero’s head was at in the season finale:

“I think he is, sort of, in a place of reflection and I think he has established that he is no good with [Genesis] and he is not the one who should harness it,” he mused. “He began quite heavy, depressed, stuck in his past, and I think you start seeing him come out of the fog of that once he has a purpose.”

“What’s interesting,” added Ruth Negga (Tulip O’Hare), “Is that, in running away from his past and trying to find himself, I think he was actually running away from himself. And I think that that’s the journey he’s been on. He realizes that maybe you can’t outrun your true nature — maybe that’s the battle.”

Graham McTavish (The Saint of Killers) was eager to join the conversation, saying, “I think it’s an interesting theme with many of the characters — this [struggle] to suppress their true natures. Trying to keep the darkness that we all carry around us in check. I think it’s very interesting that Garth [Ennis] has explored that so thoroughly in his books.”

The cast was excited to discuss the depths of the themes explored on the show, and the multifaceted natures of their respective characters.

While comic creator Garth Ennis said he feels like Jesse Custer is a hero in the most classical sense, Cooper was intrigued and baffled by how flawed the character is.

“He’s a flawed superhero because [his power] doesn’t actually work and it’s going against what he actually wants to achieve, which is to improve a place that he cares a lot about,” Cooper pointed out when asked whether he considered Jesse to be a superhero.

“He’s a man desperate to change himself — to make himself a better person,” he continued.

“He knows that he’s flawed. He feels guilty about what he did to his father, and he thinks he’s the chosen one, and he’s coming around to that way of thinking very quickly. At first, he didn’t want anything to do with it. It seems like it’s absorbing in to the very fabric of who he is [and] he thinks he can still do good with it [but], the truth is, power, on that scale, is very dangerous. And the fact that he’s not yet realized it says a lot about him, and the fact that he’s capable of having this entity inhabit him and remain there means, to me, that he’s half evil, half good, and there’s a very bad side to him. And he’s had a tough life — he’s struggled,” Cooper said.

And Jesse isn’t the only one: Jesse’s childhood friend, Tulip, has lived a life filled with injustices — and those injustices are what haunt and fuel her now, according to Negga.

“She’s such a joy to play, really, because I think that she’s so contradictory — like we are, as human beings — and I don’t really feel that we see enough portrayals of people like that, especially for women and women of color. I think that, what attracts me to her, is probably what repels most people: her unapologetic and rather vile tendencies. It’s an armor, of sorts, for her — to protect herself — but also she has quite a pure sense of justice,” Negga explained.

Originally, in the comics, Tulip was a white woman with blonde hair. The casting of Negga — a woman of color — in the role was deliberate, and Negga was pleased to have the opportunity to step in to those shoes. “In terms of women of color, it’s a relief to play someone like her [and] it’s a relief to see someone like her. I think for so long we’ve been so complacent about there not being enough people of color or, in fact, the whole world, reflected in our arts and culture, and that conversation needs to keep happening because there’s so much more we can do.”

When it comes to Tulip, it’s damn near impossible not to love her fire-y, take-no-prisoners attitude, and Joe Gilgun’s Cassidy was the latest to fall under her spell, which does not bode well for his budding friendship with Jesse.

“It will [get ugly],” promised Gilgun, “In the comic books it does — it gets really ugly.”

“Cassidy sees a little bit of himself in Jesse,” Gilgun continued, segueing in to discussing the vampire’s loyalty to the preacher. “Jesse is someone who is seeking redemption, and I think that Cassidy sees this guy — this young lad who’s having a stab at making it right and, more than anything, it’s just gonna be interesting to watch that unfold. He’s got time — everybody dies and leaves him in the end anyway — but for the first time in a long while, this is his opportunity to settle and feel wanted and needed.”

With the trio heading out on the road in search of God next season, to get the answers they all believe they deserve, with the Saint of Killers back from Hell to hunt down Jesse Custer, it’s safe to assume that there will not be a dull moment in sight when Preacher returns next year.

“I hope you’re left excited and compelled [by] what may happen once these three go on the road,” Cooper teased, careful not to reveal any of what is to come.

We, for one, cannot wait to find out.

Preacher returns for Season 2 in 2017.

You can check out all of our coverage of San Diego Comic-Con right here. (There is still more to come!)

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