00:00Hi everyone, I'm Natalie Heltzel with The Hollywood Reporter, and we are here with Seth
00:04Rogan, one of the masterminds behind Preacher from AMC.
00:08How are you?
00:08I'm great, how are you doing?
00:09Doing well, thank you.
00:11So around this time last year, season one was airing.
00:14What have you guys learned from the first season that maybe has helped you in creating
00:18the second season?
00:19I mean, it's interesting to do a TV show, which we've never done, because you can kind
00:23of, yeah, like let it evolve, unlike a movie, I guess.
00:26Yeah, so we felt like maybe the show could be a little more kinetic.
00:31I think it was inherently part of the structure that we decided to go with.
00:35It felt like the first season we were kind of like compressing the spring a little bit,
00:39and the second season now we're able to let it kind of let it fly, and so it was partially
00:46a decision we made from the get-go, but it was nice to finally get into the part of the
00:49story where everyone's like in action.
00:52I mean, the first season we really wanted it to be a mystery and to get to know the characters,
00:58and the second season is where the show kind of like takes off, and we wanted to amp
01:01up the action and the sense of like a road trip adventure, and I think we did that, and
01:07I'm really excited about it.
01:09I think we really upped the action, which is always rad.
01:13TV action, the game keeps getting better and better, and so I think we're staying competitive
01:18in that, and yeah.
01:19What was it about Seth and Evan that was the right fit?
01:22They've been big fans of the comics ever since it came out.
01:25They brought it to me.
01:26I did not know who they were, except for I knew, I mean I knew who they were, but I
01:31didn't
01:31know what they were all about.
01:32You know, it just seemed like a money-making scheme, and they turned out to be unbelievable
01:40collaborators.
01:41I mean, totally, not only are they passionate about the material, but they're really smart,
01:44so it's been an unbelievable collaboration.
01:46I loved them both.
01:47How far did you guys map out the series?
01:50Because, you know, the first season obviously was content that we hadn't seen before, so
01:55how far did you sort of map things out seasons-wise?
01:59I mean, we always kind of use the comic as kind of a road map.
02:05Like, I think even though we take an odd route to get there, we do arrive at the same destinations
02:14ultimately, maybe periodically, but we get there.
02:18So, I mean, what we keep saying is that we have the comic as a road map, and the comic
02:23ends very well.
02:24Sam Catlin comes from Breaking Bad, where they very famously drastically changed directions
02:31several times throughout the course of the show, so we kind of always leave ourselves the
02:35right to do that, basically.
02:37But we always know that if we can't think of anything better, there's always the comic.
02:42Yeah.
02:43One of my favorite things about the comic is it was coming out in the 90s.
02:47Yeah.
02:47When you go back and look at it now, it looks very 90s.
02:50Yeah.
02:57We wanted to set it current day because, like, pop culture is a very big part of the comic,
03:06and we thought it would be nice to be able to access our culture in some ways.
03:13At the same time, there's a lot of choices in the show, stylistically, that I think put
03:18it in kind of a weird version of now.
03:20There's still, like, cigarette machines, and people are just smoking everywhere out of,
03:26everyone has kind of old cars.
03:28Like, there's just a lot of things that are not real or of our time also.
03:33So, that to us was kind of like a good version of it, was it's kind of our time, but
03:39it's also
03:40kind of not really our time.
03:42Sort of switching gears here, I was kind of taken aback when Tulip and Cassidy sort
03:50of had their, you know, affair very early on, because that doesn't happen for a while
03:54in the comics, and when it does, she's in such a different frame of mind, not to give
03:59any spoilers.
04:01What was the decision behind that to sort of start this love triangle sooner rather than
04:07later?
04:07It, like, becomes the main tension of the show, or of the comic, and we didn't want
04:14to disclude the main tension from the concept of the TV series.
04:18And in a TV series, like, you really need to establish that main tension early.
04:22That being said, it doesn't mean we're not going to some of the places that you are referring
04:26to in the comic.
04:27Like, I think people who are fans of the comic, and I'm not sure because we're not there yet,
04:31but we'll see some of what is in the comic reflected down the road.
04:35When you're creating the show, are you thinking about the fans?
04:38Are you writing for the fans?
04:40Are you writing for yourselves because you are fans?
04:42Do you ever, does that come into mind ever, and how does it come into mind?
04:46Oh yeah, it definitely comes into mind.
04:48I mean, I think there's probably like three answers to that.
04:51One is we write for ourselves as huge fans of the comic.
04:54The other is we're doing it for the audience members that are fans.
04:57And the other is we're doing it for the audience members who've never heard of it.
05:00And we have to service all three of those things, because otherwise we'll kill ourselves
05:05because we'll be so mad at ourselves.
05:07So, yeah, we try to make it that if you've never heard of it, it's engaging and entertaining.
05:11And if you have heard of it, that it has elements of the comic.
05:15And so it's not just a bunch of random stuff.
05:18We know that there are those sort of wild-eyed fans out there that are like looking for all
05:24the details.
05:25And, you know, this is a comic that they've lived with for 20 years.
05:28And, you know, you don't want to disappoint them.
05:31And you also really want to reward them with details and storylines and characters.
05:39And the hardcore fans are going to be able to appreciate and enjoy the show in a way
05:44that the more casual viewers aren't.
05:47So that's very exciting to know, you know, to be in the writer's room and just say,
05:52oh, my gosh, the fanboys are going to just geek out over this.
05:56So, yeah, that's fun.
05:57Do you ever refer back to the comic when you're looking at shot lists and things like that?
06:02How much do you sort of take as a reference to recreate, if anything?
06:05I mean, you know, like Watchmen is super and Sin City is, you know, they seem like very
06:13much recreated from the comic panels.
06:15Are there any panels that you love from the comic?
06:18Do you ever take that into consideration?
06:20We do.
06:20Well, I mean, there's almost no moment that I've directed on the show that is frame for
06:30frame a moment that is in the comics.
06:32That being said, there's things like, you know, the scene of killers, we looked at how
06:37the comics like framed him a lot because like he's always very imposing in the comics.
06:43And so that was something that we really looked to as to how to how they made him intimidating
06:49just on a purely visual level by how they drew him and framed him and put him in relation
06:54to the other characters.
06:55And visually, we just try to make the show look like a comic bookie in a lot of ways.
07:00We try to frame it like a comic.
07:03We use a lot of split diopters and things like that, things that make you lose focus altogether.
07:08Everything puts everything on the same plane of focus like a comic book.
07:13And so we do things like that.
07:15Yeah, I got a I got a file here.
07:17And while I read the comics, I take pictures of all the frames that I think are important
07:20and I send them to Sam.
07:21And like down the road, we intend to do more because more of the iconic ones kind of happen
07:25a bit more down the road, especially next season, I would say, we'll be getting into
07:30more of them.
07:31But yeah, we we we are constantly referring to the comic.
07:35I know the show is very dark in nature and the comic as well, but the comics funny is,
07:39you know, as well.
07:40Are your actors improv at all since, you know, you're obviously known for your comedy more
07:46than anything.
07:48Is there any improv on set?
07:50Is there are there any funny moments?
07:52Joseph Gilgan, he kills it.
07:55Joe, like he maybe improvises like little tiny plays on the words, slight variations,
08:02but not a lot, like a couple of five, maybe like less than five percent of what they're
08:09saying is is improvised.
08:11It's written really well.
08:13And so it seems like they're improvising sometimes, especially Joe.
08:16And he does add little like flourish mints.
08:20I don't know if that's a word, but sure, let's go with it.
08:22And but it's largely it's largely written pretty, pretty specifically.
08:29Yeah, I feel like the show has more of a sense of humor this year than it has in the
08:34past
08:35and last year.
08:36So hopefully our fans agree that it that it makes all that violence go down a little bit
08:41easier.
08:42Is there talk of Jody and Jesse's back story and his family at all?
08:46Has that come up yet?
08:47Is that something that you're diving into?
08:50Just wait.
08:50Watch the season, I guess.
08:52Yeah.
08:52OK, so maybe in season two, we'll see some Jody.
08:56The last thing I have for you is obviously Preacher was a very beloved fan favorite comic.
09:04You also have your name on The Boys and Invincible with Robert Kirkman.
09:09So is there anything at all with those two that's happening right now?
09:13Anything new?
09:13Any movement?
09:14Do we know what the status is?
09:16I know there's like a writer's room going for The Boys that I think they're delivering
09:23some scripts and that will weigh into the decision whether or not to move forward with
09:28it, I think, as a series.
09:31Eric Kripke has The Boys moving forward and they're writing stuff and they're working on
09:36it.
09:36And it has a home and Invincible we have been working on for the last two days and we're
09:41working on it tomorrow.
09:42And we're meeting with Robert Kirkman on Monday and we're circling around an idea that the
09:46three of us like and it's going great.
09:48I took a peek at your Reddit Ask Me Anything and someone asked you about casting for Invincible
09:54and you were asking for suggestions.
09:55So do you still not have any idea who will be casting?
10:00I mean, who knows?
10:00I mean, it could be.
10:01That's the thing is like it's script form.
10:03Like it could be like three years before the movie even gets made and who knows who will
10:07be new by then.
10:08What these kids.
10:10Tom Holland wasn't even born three years ago.
10:11So who knows who we'll have in three years.
10:16Are there any odds of Simon Pegg actually playing the character in The Boys?
10:21Don't think so.
10:22It's just they're so different in age.
10:24Maybe though it's possible.
10:26We haven't got there.
10:27We need to see how the story breaks in the comic format because it's a little different.
10:31It's not going to be like Preacher where it's like way different than the first season.
10:34But, you know, it may be better to have a younger guy, which is kind of how it was intended.
10:38But it was drawn to Simon Pegg.
10:40I don't know.
10:41We'll see where Simon's at.
10:43You never know.
10:43Here's hoping.
10:44Anyhow, thank you so much for joining us.
10:47And have a good one.
10:48Thanks.
Comments