One of the most well-received hits of the summer television season has, without a doubt, been Preacher, AMC’s adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s comic book series of the same name. The series, which premiered back in May, tells the story of Jesse Custer (played by Dominic Cooper), a small-town preacher with a dark past, who sets out to bring God to his church after a supernatural being gives him the power to command others. Joining Jesse in his adventure are Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun), his Irish vampire best friend, and Tulip (Ruth Negga), his former girlfriend that has re-entered his life. The show was developed by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Sam Catlin, and it’s become of of the summer’s best shows.
For me, one of the most interesting aspects of Preacher is Emily Woodrow, a new character created for the show. Played by Lucy Griffiths (True Blood), Emily is a no-nonsense waitress and single mother of three that serves as Jesse’s right-hand because of her duties as the church organist and bookkeeper. Throughout the show’s first season, Emily slowly gets drawn into the new and supernatural world that Jesse becomes part of, and the character is often a surrogate for the audience as we, too, get drawn into this world. Recently, I had the chance to speak with Lucy about Preacher and her character.
Something that’s always interested me with actors and actresses is his or her reasoning for going after a particular role. For this one, Lucy credits most of it to her management simply bringing the series to her attention. She wasn’t familiar with the source material, so the fact that she was playing a new character didn’t have much of an effect on her either way. What did have an effect, though, was how different the role is from things that she has done in the past. Particularly, Emily is more down-to-earth and less glamorous than her usual characters (such as on True Blood or Robin Hood), so she wasn’t even really sure how good her chances at getting the role would be. The script for the pilot and the cast and crew that was being formed (such as Joseph Gilgun being involved) helped her make the final decision (which is lucky for us).
At the start of the series, Emily’s only real connection to the growing world around her is Jesse Custer. Griffiths mentioned that it’s clear that Emily admires and adores Jesse in a way, but she chooses not to pander to him. Overall, it’s a very practical relationship that is even on both sides. Why does Emily hang around Jesse so much outside of church? “She gets a kick out of being useful,” Griffiths told me. She definitely is useful to both Jesse and his growing “inner circle,” and her practicality could have a lot to do with this. Griffiths points out that Emily “isn’t a pity party,” so it helps her stand out among the cast of characters.
As Emily gets drawn more into Jesse’s world, her outlook has begun to change in a lot of ways because of what she’s seen. “She’s reaching an age where she begins to realize that this is kind of ‘it’…that this is her lot [in life].” Her feelings of frustration and acceptance play a lot into her interaction with the other people in Jesse’s life (such as Tulip), and it’s helped her “find her voice.” With Tulip in particular, Emily has developed a very interesting and complex relationship, and this “camaraderie” is helping both characters grow and evolve.
Both on-and-off screen, this cast and crew gets along wonderfully (Griffiths compares it to winning the lottery and almost not even wanting to work again because of how great of an experience it’s been for her). The level of support and communication from everyone is “surprising,” but in a good way, and Lucy mentions feeling very lucky and humbled by the experience. Speaking as a fan of the show, it’s a relief to know how positive of an experience Preacher seems to be for everyone involved. I asked whether there were any favorite moments from production that stood out, and Griffiths specifically mentioned how much she loved her scene with Ruth Negga around the middle of the season (she also talked about having some laughs at Dominic Cooper after a few scenes).
Lucy also spoke briefly about the experience of being an actor in general, and I found it incredibly interesting at how she described the job as, essentially, being a lifelong learning experience. There are so many things that you can’t learn in drama school and that you wouldn’t expect to think about (such as needing to drink a lot of water while shooting in high altitudes or having to actively think about getting exercise in order to feel good), but, in a lot of ways, it ends up being just “part of the job.” It’s great getting to hear about these very human mindsets and thoughts that you don’t often expect to hear from an actor or actress.
Finally, I asked what viewers can expect from this Sunday’s season finale of Preacher. Griffiths’ response? “A church. I think they might be like ‘oh my God.'” She clearly didn’t want to reveal too much about the episode, but that was just fine by me. It’s rare to be able to go into something like this without getting overly spoiled, and I, personally, appreciate the discretion.
Be sure to check out the season finale of Preacher this Sunday (July 31) on AMC.
[Photo Credit: AMC]
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