Jodi Lynn Thomas Talks AMC’s Preacher [Exclusive] 

Preacher is one wild ride! The series is adapted from a Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon comic of the same name. Produced and developed for TV by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Preacher tells the story of a small town preacher, Jesse Custer, who is trying to keep his past at bay as he’s possessed by a very powerful half angel, half demon being.

Along the way, we meet strange, sick, twisted, and always interesting characters, including the town itself. The show is the third AMC property (after Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) to film in Albuquerque, N.M, has provided a lot of opportunities for an up-and-coming market.

One of the interesting characters we met in the fourth episode, “Monster Swamp,” was Pearl. TV Goodness recently chatted with the New Mexico local who plays her. Jodi Lynn Thomas talked about Preacher and what sort of role we can expect the Toadvine Whorehouse girls to play in this debut season. She also dished about life on set and what it was like working with other actors she’s good friends with.

TV Goodness: When this opportunity first presented itself to you, did you know what Preacher was and what you were getting into?

Jodi Lynn Thomas: Yeah. When I got the role, I knew exactly what it was. And a lot of that is because they had already shot the pilot here a year ago, so people had been talking about it. We had some knowledge, for sure, when we went into it.

TV Goodness: Were you hearing good things? And did you know about the comic before hand?

Jodi: Oh yeah! All great things! A lot of people were just really excited that Seth Rogen was in town and all this other stuff. The comic book…I didn’t actually start looking into it until the end of when we were shooting. So I hadn’t seen it until recently, and I’m getting caught up right now and I’m loving it. It’s so great. [So] I had an idea of what it was about when I was getting into it. There was definitely enough people talking about it that I was aware.

TV Goodness: Have you seen the whole season already?

Jodi: Yes, I’ve seen all the episodes that have aired. There’s still stuff that happens that even I don’t know about. They’re really good about keeping this stuff quiet. There are some times where I’m like, “wait, what? What’s happening?” [Laughs] Sometimes it’s difficult to catch up because there’s a lot to this show…I’ve been keeping up and watching, and I am more than impressed with the execution of the show.

TV Goodness: What else can you tell us about your character, Pearl?

Jodi: The prostitutes in that house are really cool characters because… I don’t want to give too much away, but they all have their air of innocence about them. Their motives and what they’re about have been completely innocent. Where the rest of the town, you know, there’s a lot of sin, and there are a lot of dark things happening. It’s really interesting they chose the whorehouse to be the house of innocence, almost. That’s a really neat thing they kind of threw in there.

TV Goodness: Do you have any insight as to why these Q. M. & P. guys are so creepy?

Jodi: [Laughs] That’s funny because I know most of them and they’re all so sweet! It’s actually really weird to watch like Alex Knight is a great example, he plays Clive. And he plays such a jerk so far in the show and it’s so weird to watch it and be there when we were filming because he’s actually one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in my entire life. I have a basic idea of why they’re so evil and I think it definitely makes for a fun part of the show. But I think that every guess that I have is just a guess on my part. I don’t think it actually has anything to do with what they intended, or the actual intention of these Quincannon men.

TV Goodness: Do you think they’re going to run with a slow burn the rest of this season?

Jodi: I would love you help you out with that one, but I actually know what happens now so I’m going to hold off on answering that question. It is TOTALLY worth the wait, and I have full confidence you’ll be really happy with everything. I think everyone will be. That’s all I feel comfortable saying. [Laughs]

TV Goodness: What’s it like on set with so many actors from such varied backgrounds?

Jodi: The actors that were put together on screen is so cool, because you see them on screen and they’re a lot of misfit characters. And they all bond and come together. And behind the scenes, on set, these people are just as cool as you want them to be. And that’s always such a relief and very comforting. It’s really cool as an actor to meet Dominic Cooper and think, oh he’s just as cool as I hoped he would be. This show is the motherload of down to earth actors.

TV Goodness: Can you give us any information on what you have coming up next?

Jodi: I just did a film called Priceless, and we just got news that it has national theatrical distribution in October. So keep an eye out for it! I think it has a really strong message, and I hope a lot of people appreciate it as much as I did working on it.

TV Goodness: Where can folks find you on social media?

Jodi: I’m all over social media! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and on my website.

Preacher airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.