SDCC 2019 – “Preacher” Press Conference

The fourth and final season of Preacher is set to premiere on AMC August 4, 2019. As a fan of the comic book series by Garth Ennis, I am quite saddened by this news. I personally felt that the show could go a lot longer. There is still so much more that could be drawn from the comic book series. And as for the actors chosen to play these characters, they are killing it! 

For those of you who don’t know the series for whatever reason, here is the very short premise: Jesse Custer is a hard-drinking, chain-smoking preacher who, enduring a crisis of faith, becomes infused with an extraordinary power that was originally imprisoned by God. When he finds out God is absent from Heaven, he embarks on a quest to better understand his new gift and literally has to find God to make him own up to what he has done. Along for this absurdly twisted and action packed thrill ride are his trigger-happy ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and 119 year old Irish vampire friend, Cassidy. 

More than that, since it is one of my favorite comic book series, it was fitting for me to be in this panel last year HERE, and again this year with Dominic Cooper (Jessie Custard), Ruth Negga (Tulip O’Hare), Julie Ann Emery (Lara Featherstone) and Mark Harelik (God). I will add that the unique characters in this series are unlike anyone else and they get pushed beyond what we could possibly imagine. 

In this press conference we were able to ask Dominic Cooper (Jessie Custard) and Ruth Negga (Tulip O’Hare) the following question: Each character has such an epic journey, together and separately, what do you think was the hardest thing for your character to overcome?

COOPER: I think Jessie, with the help of God, finally realizes that he is following something that has no end, and he holds onto his guilt of his father and the blame of himself. He has a huge disappointment in what he discovers after this quest has gone on for so long, but in fact it finally makes him happy. We finally see a man content with who he is, and where his life ends, and what he has become. Having being traumatized he finds it very difficult having to exist how he is living in the guilt of the death of his father. And overcoming that, I feel, was his biggest obstacle. 

NEGGA: Sabotage. The idea that you can’t outrun what is your past. You can evolve and progress, and I think that was difficult for her. That was her insecurity. People cast her off as a failure. I feel thats what goes against her, and was very hard for her to overcome.

Here are a few items of note that were said during the press conference:

  • Cooper addressing how things will be ending in the fourth season, says the decision was made because, as the comics were made, this series had to have a beginning, middle, and end and to wrap it up. It could just carry on and on an on and they wanted to do what the fans of the comic series would like to see.
  • Harelik commented upon the fourth season as the ending that since this was an established story before we began, it wasn’t about creating the story, it was about creating the moments of the story and that was stimulating for us. During the fourth season, the tension and the stakes just ratcheted up more and more and more and being able to bring that to a conclusion is very satisfying as well as plangent.
  • This last season was moved to New Zealand to film, commenting on the difference of shooting in the US verse NZ, the cast all mentioned that it was actually shorter hours working in NZ. Cooper states that looking back on the comics, landscape and where the characters are from is a huge part and importance of the story and making NZ work was of great importance to this. Also being so far away from the writers room and possibly needing questions quickly answered when you are in a different time zone, a different day, could be hard. But being in NZ really added to the texture and nuance to the piece.
  • Emery and Harelik both said that the production value is off the hook this season and the sets of Masada will astonish you. Cooper also mentioned that they built a tank and the Alamo for one days filming! Only one day! No expense was spared. They went as far as they could. 
  • Harelik, answering a question about how God felt about Tulip going against God’s will said; God is manipulating everyone to this very day for his own purposes because he wants them to either succeed at what they are doing or to think they are succeeding and to fail, which will allow something else to happen. He’s created a spider web and as the episodes go by of the fourth season, you will see the effect of this web. God has specific intentions for Tulip, but they are all wrapped up in the knowledge of her nature. And this is referred to in season 3 as well as in season 4, that he keeps calling her on her nature. He sort of knows what she’s going to do in response to his request. The wildcard in this is freewill and even God cant control freewill.
  • A question was asked about what would each characters theme song would be.
    • Cooper (Custard): Couldn’t think of the name of the song but its the song in the pilot when Custard is walking back up to his fathers church (if anyone knows this song please tell us in the comments)
    • Negga (O’Hare): Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix
    • Emery (Featherstone): Onward, Christian Soldier
    • Harelik (God): Freeform jazz with Ornette Coleman as his favorite composer
  • They all said what they will miss the most is being with each other and seeing each other every day. They stated that this job offers the actors such complex variations in different amounts of what they do for a living in such a short amount of time. A single day could be comedy, then very serious scenes, and then you could go into a very dramatic fight sequence. And that it would be hard finding something that could offer so much to them as this show did. There is no boring shoot day on Preacher, each day has a specific set of challenges and they will miss those challenges.
  • Emery says each episode in this season is so explosive and they come out very hot in the first two episodes. No episodes take a breath, its a rollercoaster the whole time. Cooper says there is a lot to wrap up and it felt this season is more spread out in terms of what cast mates saw who. They made sure there is no unfinished business and you understand the journey of each character.

Season 4 Exclusive Official Comic Con Trailer

SEASON SYNOPSIS:

Season 1: Jesse, haunted by visions of his father’s murder, returns to his hometown in Annville, Texas to head the family church as the new preacher. … The preacher, stumbling through half-assed sermons, struggles to grow his flock until his life changes when he becomes a conduit for a mysterious entity.

Season 2: The gang ends up in New Orleans, where they must dodge local gangsters, dangerous secret agents in white suits, and the Saint of Killers, an unstoppable killer cowboy from Hell.

Season 3: Jesse, Cassidy and Tulip return to Angelville, the Louisiana plantation where Jesse was raised and where old grudges and deadly obligations await them. With the help of his friends — and a few enemies — Jesse will need to escape his past…because the future of the world depends on it.

Season 4:  As the series inches closer to the finale, God’s endgame for the universe begins to click into place. Trapped between heavenly prophecies, hellish prisons, and all-out nuclear war, Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy make their bloody way to the Most High. Whether they can reach God in time — or whether all this carnage is part of His divine plan — will soon be revealed as “Preacher” barrels towards the end of the world.

So how do you feel about this series? Are you a fan of the comic? Are you as saddened and excited about the final episode as I am? Let us know in the comments. For those of you who are a fan of this show and/or of Garth Ennis, you will be happy to know that another one of his comic books is being turned into TV series for Amazon Prime starting July 26th with the first 2 episodes! This comic to TV series adaptation is also created by Seth Rogan, just like Preacher. 

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