AMC’s Preacher is well into its third season, as Jesse is stuck in his home town of Angelville and under the thumb of his grandmother, Madame L’Angelle. In the latest episodes, Jesse’s wound up in a coffin and learns Grandma’s fate is linked with Tulip’s.

The stars of the show, Dominic Cooper (Jesse), Ruth Negga (Tulip) and Joseph Gilgun (Cassidy) along with creators and showrunners Seth Togen, Sam Catlin and Evan Goldberg, met with reporters at San Diego Comic-Con. What’s happened so far, including the latest episode, “The Coffin”, were discussed.

Cooper talked about how Jesse coming home has really affected him, even though he also wants to leave. “It’s amazing I’m confronted, each episode and each script that comes along,” he says. “I feel that I’m really scratching the surface of what’s being revealed about him. It’s a much, much darker side the more I learned about the grandmother as well as the family and the things he put up with and the things that he witnessed.”
“That’s been a very interesting part playing this season,” he continued, “how much he’s had to restrain himself from indulging too much in the brutality of it.” He’s referring to his time in the Tombs, where people literally fight for their souls.
Catlin also says Jesse’s relationship with his grandma is pretty frightening but also a bit sympathetic. “I think it’s creepier the fact that she loves Jesse,” he said.

As for the relationship between Cassidy and Tulip, she decided a couple of weeks ago to get him out of town for his own good. It’s a big moment for both of them. “I think she loves him so much,” Negga says, “that she wants to be as honest as possible. I think in that scene how much it really hurts and affects him. It costs her a lot, and I think it’s part of her maturity as a person and evolution.”
Gilgun also thinks Tulip did the right thing. “You have to be cruel to be kind and that’s what she did,” he said. “She needed to protect him and their friendship as well.” He got as far as New Orleans, though, before the Grail tried to get him back to force Jesse to be the Messiah again.

There was also discussion of how Rogen, better known for comedy, was able to get Preacher on AMC. He says it may be due to other failed attempts to turn the comic book into a TV show. “The world of Preacher has a lot of comedy and the book has a lot of comedy,” he said, “and when you look at the people who tried to make it before us, comedy is not the word that comes to mind.”
However, Rogen and his partners have created the perfect mix of horror and laughs to make it a popular part of the AMC lineup.

The meeting also discussed whether Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy can get back together as a team and if things will change between them, why Jesse is attracted to John Wayne and how they almost got to Angelville sooner than expected. Here’s the audio from the press conference courtesy of Soundcloud

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Preacher airs Sunday nights at 9 PM on AMC