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A supernatural drama series has spurred the Scottish actor’s breakthrough
There will be blood as supernatural drama show ‘Preacher’ spurs Graham McTavish’s breakthrough.
Graham McTavish had blood on his hands. The only problem was, it wasn’t enough blood.
You see, McTavish was on his mobile phone to talk about Season 2 of AMC’s series Preacher. At the time he was still shooting the show in New Orleans and, as he sat in a chair, as motionless as possible, make-up artists were morphing him into his dark, evil character, the Cowboy, aka the Saint of Killers.
“Let me set this up for you,” McTavish said in his thick Scottish accent. “I’ve got most of my costume on, and now they’re doing my hands, which are bloodied up for the next shot. I don’t look very pretty. I apologise in advance, because I’ll have to keep switching hands as I speak.”
A wild, outrageous series based on the Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon comic book of the same name, Preacher follows the exploits of Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), a small-town preacher with a not-so-holy past. Believing that God is missing from Heaven, Jesse sets out to find Him, accompanied by Tulip (Ruth Negga), who is both the love of his life and his ex, and Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun), a 119-yearold vampire who is his best friend.
On their own in New Orleans, Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy contend with all manner of trouble, none more fearsome than the Saint of Killers. Tricked out like a cowboy from Hell, he’s unstoppable and determined to rid the Earth of Jesse. We should also mention another key “character”, namely Genesis, the spawn of a demon and an angel, which has escaped from Heaven and uses Jesse as its host.
Carefully teasing the second season of
Preacher, which kicks off t oday, McTavish explained that it “ramps up” the pace, the action and the involvement of the Saint of Killers. The character’s journey, the 56-yearold actor noted, will take an interesting turn.
“For me it’s divided into two halves,” McTavish said. “The first half of the season is very much the same pursuit of Jesse or, specifically, Genesis, trying to get hold of that, and so it’s not a personal mission against Jesse. But then something significant happens midseason which causes the Saint to take it all very personally indeed, and so the relationship between him and Jesse will change — quite fundamentally, actually.
“The Saint’s story going from Season 1 into Season 2 is something that is motivated by love, really, more than anything,” he said. “And it’s motivated by love although I commit all these appalling acts of violence and cruelty. His goal, really, is to be reunited with his family in Heaven. That’s why he’s going through all this.”
It’s an aspect of the show that touches every character, McTavish continued. These are complicated people, not purely good nor purely evil. They’re complex. They’re human.
“They try and do the right thing and, in doing that, often end up doing the wrong thing, the Saint being one of them,” McTavish said. “But Jesse’s the same, Tulip, Cassidy… All of these characters, they’re doing things which are sometimes motivated by the right reasons, but end up causing all sorts of harm to others, including themselves.”
Right then the telephone cut out. “Hold on one second,” McTavish said. “Sorry, my hands are still getting bloodied up, so I have to keep switching hands, and I nearly dropped the phone.”
That comment seemed like an invitation to ask about the make-up and costume. Yes, the actor confirmed with a laugh a bit too malevolent for comfort, the Saint comes to life for him when he slips into his alter ego’s coat, boots and hat, and then straps on his holster and guns.
“I was a huge fan, a huge, huge fan of the books before any of this happened,” McTavish said. “I knew them back to front, and the Saint probably was one of the best characters, or the most compelling. When you’re a fan of something like this, you feel a huge responsibility toward the source material as well.” McTavish’s high-profile turn on
Preacher follows an equally or perhaps even more highly regarded run on Outlander (20142016). He co-starred on the popular series as Dougal MacKenzie, war-chief of Clan MacKenzie and uncle of protagonist Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), in the first two seasons of the Starz series.
The one-two combination of Out
lander and Preacher has made McTavish more or less an overnight sensation — after 30-plus years of acting in films, television and stage productions in Hollywood, England, Scotland and all over the map. He’s also done voiceovers for many animated shows and films, as well as video games.
To his thinking, the extra attention means more work, meatier roles and the realisation of a few dreams.
“I’ve performed plays to one person and I’ve toured my own play around the world to thousands of people,” McTavish said. “I did the Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014) in New Zealand and then I ended up going back to Scotland, where I did all my theatre, and on to a show like Outlander.
“I’d say that I never really had a game plan, but I had ambitions,” he said. “I wanted to be in a Monty Python film, and I got to do movies with Terry Jones and John Cleese, quite early on. I wanted to be in a Roman epic, and I did a series of that with Rome (2005). I remember going to see Lord of the Rings (2001) at Leicester Square in London when it first came out and marvelling at these incredible productions, and then 10 years later I’m walking down the red carpet at that very same cinema for The Hobbit. Those are extraordinary things that I very much appreciate, and the same with Preacher.
“So I try to enjoy every moment,” he concluded, “and I also don’t take anything for granted. I think, like any working actor, you’re grateful for what has put you into that position, but also I’m looking forward to the next challenge, whatever else comes along. I’m interested in directing myself, trying to get my own projects off the ground.
“‘Never stand still,’ I guess, is my motto with work.”