Preacher has arrived on AMC and star Dominic Cooper spreads the gospel truth about the show.
Had you heard of the comics before when they came to you with this?
Dominic Cooper: I dont think I had.
This was one everyone was mentioning.
So I was just looking for something really good.
I said, Is there any worth tapping into?
And this was mentioned.
I think Ruth had a copy of it.
I stole it from her.
I whisked it away.
I went, What is this?
This is absolutely incredible!
Ive not read anything like this.
I think it was Seth, Evan, and Sam in a room.
And this was one of the strangest meetings Ive ever had in my life.
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I cant really explain what it was like.
But they were all talking at the same time.
They were all so animated and all so excited.
And I wasnt sure what kind of room Id entered or what was going on.
That made me even more excited about the project.
And then I met them again.
At that point I really read the comics and went, Wow.
Ive really missed out as an adult.
But it made me realize how great comics…I was never a big comic book person.
I dont know why.
They are so visual and brilliantly written.
Was there any adjustment going from the Marvel world to thePreacherworld?
They are very different worlds.
They are very, very different.
The way I approached it at Marvel…I dont know.
I play a particularly fun character in those.
Its just good, good fun.
But hes very, very different.
The responsibility of that is that you are Iron Mans dad.
The responsibility of this is, its just a tricky character.
This is the hardest character Ive ever had to play.
Is it even a completely different character after the pilot?
I only really sort of assimilated this in my mind as weve been in here today.
But yeah, the pilot…Well, I mean at the end theres Genesis.
So hes in his worst state, really.
Hes trying his hardest to be this thing he is never capable of being.
Hes trying to change.
And hes, by the end, pretty much given up.
So theres a weight to him.
My worry was always being surrounded by these extraordinary, vibrant, colorful, amazing characters.
But I kept reading the comic going, There has to be this stillness.
There has to be a center to this whirlwind.
And it goes on a very varied journey.
But that is what it needed to be to start.
And yeah, it does change.
Sam mentioned seeing you inDevils Doubleand how well you played two characters in that film.
Does Jesse have the potential to almost be two characters here in a sense?
I think he always has it in him.
I think thats why Genesis chooses him.
He has this love.
Hes desperate to save his town.
Really, hes desperate for forgiveness.
He has huge regret about his father.
He has a lot of love but then hes extraordinarily dark.
Thats what his constant battle is.
I havent related anything I did inDevils Doubleto that.
Theres obviously something that they saw, that Sam saw, that I was capable of doing.
But I think that is what attracts Genesis to him.
And then, we suddenly see, boom, the devil in it.
And he does some nasty stuff.
That has been so enjoyable.
Thats what Ive been waiting for.
Im sort of trying my best to be this preacher.
Hes getting better at it.
He has this congregation and hes started becoming good at his job.
And then it all turns, and then theres the real dark side to what he has in him.
I was just wondering if you could talk about that.
He learns how to harness it.
So its him learning how to control it.
He mistreats it quite badly and causes some severe damage with it.
But, ultimately, he thinks he can save the town.
Its exciting to see how its going to evolve.
And were all still learning what it is.
But I think already weve decided that its not that roaring kind of voice of God.
I think thats going to happen later on.
Im still loving doing all the scenes with them.
Theres this desperate attempt to save these people who are flawed and finished.
Theres almost sort of no saving them.
It can just go anywhere.
No one knows where theyre going to take this.
But that will be fun, because the dynamic between the three of us is extraordinary.
But its really fun.
Its so clever how Garth created these characters, how he put them up against each other.
And were learning more and more about the backstory of Tulip and me.
The more we learn about that, the more it informs our scenes.
And its really sad.
But he saved him on numerous occasions.
Were you nervous about meeting Garth?
They hadnt seen me be a Texan preacher, really, properly.
And I dont think Ive ever been so frightened, actually.
The responsibilities of that… you just see the look on their faces going, Oh, fuck.
Weve made a huge mistake.
I was like, That could happen.
That potentially could happen.
And you kind of, as an actor, just send yourself mad.
Id seen what the guys were doing and how they wanted it to look.
Id seen the actors theyd gotten.
Id seen the performances they were giving.
They had given me this thing I felt so responsible for.
And it was a big ask.
Even something likeDevils Double…not that Ive been a killer.
But that world I kind of knew more than Texas.
I spent a lot more time in the Middle East than I have in Texas.
And that I needed to get right.
Im curious as to whether or not there was a discussion about long hair or growing out your hair?
We did a scene, some of the flashback stuff the other day.
And I chose the hair.
I said, Lets make it long.
And its much more suited for him.
But they just make a joke out of my shit haircut.
So we might go back to that.
But yeah, Its too 90s.
I kinda wanted it.
I kinda wanted the tight white jeans as well.
[laughter]
The show has a wicked sense of humor.
Do you get to be funny?
I attempt to be.
Hes not particularly funny…He kind of is.
Hes got a really good sense of humor, I think.
I dont know whether hes got particularly great comic timing.
Hes a bit off…I mean there are maniacs and they are hilarious all the time.
I think he smiles at everything.
He finds them very humorous.
He tries to be funny.
How much do you use the comics as a resource?
How often would you look through something or talk to Garth and ask him a question?
I always ask Sam or always go back to the comics and look at them.
They are so well written.
They have been so well-formulated…theyve got such a good writing team that Its quite clear.
Youve discovered so much about the person you are playing in a short space of time.
Will we get to meet the Custer family?
I cant wait to see them.
I mean they are just grotesque.
They are just the most vile people.
Well, did Sam say well, were going to recast Dad.
[laughs] No, its great, and we were probably going to do originally.
Again, its just time.
I cant wait to see some of those uncles.
Preacherairs on Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m. on AMC.
