Karen Strassman Talks ‘Preacher’ Season 3 [Exclusive Interview]

Karen Strassman has been part of countless projects over the years, from animated series to TV guest spots and movie roles. Her talent has been seen all over the entertainment industry.

Most recently, Strassman can be seen playing the maniacal genius, Dr. Slotnick, on Preacher. Her role is vital to the bigger picture, and she holds the future of mankind at her fingertips.

I had a few questions for Strassman about what sparked her interest in acting, her role on Preacher, and any advice she’s been given that stuck with her.

Tell-Tale TV: How did you first become interested in acting?

Karen Strassman: I was drawn to acting ever since I was a very little girl, making up plays in our basement with my friends that my poor parents had to sit through, and every school play that would cast me. I dreamed of being reborn as Melissa Gilbert/Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie.

When I was 13 years old, I was cast in the role of Helen Keller in a beautiful production of The Miracle Worker. I couldn’t wait to get to the theatre after school for rehearsals, and I never wanted to leave.

I blindfolded myself for many of the rehearsals and would spend any extra time trying to find my way around the theatre or my home like that, imagining what it was like to be blind and deaf. The whole experience was magical, and it was then that I fell irreversibly in love with acting, storytelling, and the empathetic nature of this art.

As an aside, I would love to play a blind character again someday.

Tell-Tale TV: Which is more challenging, voice acting or TV acting?

Karen Strassman: Each medium has its own challenges. In voiceover, more often than not, you are usually alone in the booth, working with the director, the engineer, and maybe some of the clients on the other side of the booth (unless you are doing a group record for original animation), and you have to imagine all of the other characters interacting with you.

You have to imagine everything, really — the location, the temperature, the atmosphere, the other characters emotions, etc. Since the audience can’t see you, you have to let everything come through the voice.

Working for TV and film is magical, as you are on set or on location, looking in the eyes of your fellow actors, and completely immersed in the atmosphere and the world of the project.

But there are many more elements to juggle because of this, of course, like making sure you are standing in just the right place for the camera, not blocking your partner’s light, picking up a fork at the same time that you did in a previous take, having to memorize new pages of dialogue at the very last minute.

In the end, you still have to create a moment that feels spontaneous, wonderfully human, real, and yes, magical!

Tell-Tale TV: If your character, Dr. Slotnick, could have an unlimited arc on Preacher what would you love to see her do?

Strassman: Wow, what a fun question! As a freakishly brilliant scientist, she does have a lot of power in her hands. She is still the only one that holds the secret of how to create the correct DNA receptors for Genesis to reside in any person, which is very interesting knowledge.

I also think that because of the nature of all the supernatural on the show, the transitions between heaven and hell, angels, vampires, having a freakishly brilliant scientist messing with the supernatural would be a lot of fun and disturbing. Dr. Slotnick could be an excellent ally to whoever solicited her services, and she could also make a very dangerous enemy to anyone she didn’t like.

I also think she may have endured a crippling disease when she was a child, and though she mostly cured herself of it, that there are still scars.

Tell-Tale TV: If you had to compare yourself to one character on Preacher, who would you say you are most similar to?

Strassman: Featherstone, totally. When I am faithful to a cause or a person, I’ll blindly and stubbornly do any wacky thing for it. And I think I derive more courage by doing things for something bigger than myself.

If I could aspire to be like any character, I would say definitely Tulip. I love her fearlessness and what a reckless fighter she is. As an aside, both Julie Ann [Emery] and Ruth [Negga] are amazing women and I love watching their work.

Tell-Tale TV: Who would you love to do a scene with on the show?

Strassman: I’d love to have a fight scene with Featherstone and Tulip. That would be so much fun.

And maybe do experimental drugs and have existential conversations with Cassidy. Joseph [Gilgun] is an exquisite actor, and he makes the most complex moments seem effortless.

Tell-Tale TV: Who do you think would win in a fight, Dr. Slotnick or Jesse?

Strassman: Well, because I am such a huge Jesse Custer fan, I do think (and in my heart hope) he would ultimately win.

But Slotnick would put up one hell of a fight and would use means that would completely blindside Jesse, and possibly leave him in the shit for some while.

Tell-Tale TV: If you were to create the perfect serum to make someone worthy of Genesis what would you call it?

Strassman: Ahhhh…perhaps a Donald/Francis, or a Martha/Theresa.

Tell-Tale TV: What is your favorite voice role you’ve done?

Strassman: That’s always so hard to answer. These voices and characters still live in me like cherished offspring.

I once did a show called Monsuno, an original cartoon series with four other amazing voiceover actors. I was the only woman on the show, so I voiced 26 different female characters in three seasons of the show, and even amongst those characters, it was hard to pick favorites!

I do voice a lesser-known character named “Crash,” who is a little bird that I modeled after my nephew’s voice when he was four, and even though it’s not a famous voice, I admit it remains one of my favorites.

Tell-Tale TV: What is some advice someone told you that you still find relevant today?

Strassman: Don’t take anything personally. In a world of ruthless criticism, commercialism, skepticism, and fear, keep baring your heart and soul, humanity, and quirkiness.

In a business where you want people to like you, watch your show, cast you in their project, etc., you somehow have to find a way to not care what people think in order to offer something truly authentic, human, spontaneous, moving, and truly compelling. It’s a huge paradox, and in my mind, this is mastery.

I am far from this, but aspire and work towards it every day. I would also add to take not take oneself or what we do too seriously either. And for god sake be a kind, decent human being.

Also, I love this quote by Darrell Calkins, and find it relevant for acting, any art, relationship and for all walks of life:

“Listening and hearing implies for all forms of communication—from others, from oneself, from the ‘personality’ of any given moment…with an emphasis not on what is being said but what is meant. Learning to hear what the communicator himself may not hear—the underlying intent and yearning.”

Tell-Tale TV: What is a show you most recently binged?

Strassman: The Handmaid’s Tale.

—

Be sure to catch Karen Strassman on Preacher, airing Sundays at 10/9c on AMC.

*Featured image credit: Paul Smith

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!