Julie Ann Emery photographed by Vince Trupsin

Last week, PREACHER returned to AMC, and in my opinion, it hasn’t missed a beat. The better than ever third season shows no signs of slowing down and if what Julie Ann Emery told me about what’s coming is any indication?  We’re in for a bloody treat.  

Check out our chat about what to expect from PREACHER this season and don’t miss all new episodes Sunday nights on AMC!

Now that you’ve played Featherstone for a while, what are you learning about her? What are you finding out now, what are learning about this character?
I will say, Season Three, in a non-spoiler-y way, explores sides of Featherstone we have yet to see. And that taught me a lot about her as a fully three-dimensional character. Last season, it felt like the personas … the jazz singer and Jennie … were almost more like regular people than Featherstone herself? Because she’s so laser-focused and hardcore on her objective that she has, kind of, no personal life. But this season we see sides of Featherstone that I think even surprise her. So Season Three taught me a lot about Featherstone, yeah.

That has to be exciting too, to kind of get those pieces as you’re going, and learn more and more, and really dive in?
Yeah. We see more of Featherstone-proper, regular Featherstone, than we did last season this season. And I think it’s a really fascinating character journey actually. I love this. I mean, I love that there’s so many new discoveries about her. How brilliant is that? It’s a big tribute to the writers, for sure.

That’s such an important point, too. Because there are a lot of shows where you have characters who don’t change, or don’t dive into something different year after year after year. And I feel with PREACHER, that’s not the case.
Yeah, I know sometimes the character-building episodes try the patience of the fans. But they’re so important, right? We really see these characters grow and change and shift and be challenged by their darkest nightmares. And we really see an evolution. And how unusual is that, also, in a comic series? I feel really, really fortunate to be involved in the particular show I am, in PREACHER.

Is there a theme for Season Three? What will Season Three offer to people
There’s a lot of violence in Season Three. Our brilliant stunt coordinator / fight choreographer, John Koyama was kept so busy this season that he had number-twos around. He built so many fights that he had to really expand his team. We had a gigantic stunt team working full-time on PREACHER this season.

There’s a ton of fight work. And I think because of that, this season really moves. There’s a ton packed in. You can look forward to a lot of characters from the comics, including characters that are not on our poster and have not been announced yet, that I think people are going to be super-excited by.

That is very exciting to hear. I know the fans are very vocal about the show. 
For sure.

I think that some shows don’t do justice to their source material, but I think PREACHER really does. Are you hearing that from fans?
Most of the fans that I particularly hear from are very, very positive. The fact is, for instance, that Garth Ennis has been, and Steve Dillon before he passed, have been involved from the beginning of development, still through to now.  So I think PREACHER has evolved from the comics for sure, but always stayed true to the heart of what Garth was trying to do with the comics. It’s really nice to be part of, actually. A lot of things jump off the source material without the creator of the source material involved, and we’re really lucky to have Garth around.

But what can you say about maybe cast members or other people that you get to interact with this season? Will we see that change? Or will see new interactions for Featherstone?
We see some new interactions for Featherstone. And we are going to see some more Featherstone-Tulip time together, which Ruth and I were both really thrilled by.

That makes me really happy to hear, too.
Yes, we are going to see some more two-bad-ass chicks action going on. We’re going to see some more Featherstone-Tulip action.

That’s very exciting. As a fan of the show, do you have favorite characters besides yours? 
Well before I was part of the show, I was a fan of Season One. And I loved Tulip. She was such a badass and she still is such a badass. And when the audition came across my desk I was like, “Oh, they won’t do that with another female character,” but then they let Featherstone be her own kind of badass. And I love that they’ve done that as well.

And Gran’ma is also no shrinking violet. Every time they add a female character, she is strong and actionary in her own right, and running the show. The female characters are a real pleasure.

You don’t really see that a lot. We see a lot of strong women but there’s only allowed to be one strong woman in the show.
That’s right.

Now we need to embrace more strong women throughout the series … behind the camera, in front of the camera, that kind of thing … and the show lets that happen.
Yes. Yes, absolutely. And we have a pretty gender-balanced writer’s room, I’m pretty sure. And I think that that has a direct impact on how are female characters are drawn. And it’s absolutely benefited our scripts.  So I think it’s interesting that we’re seeing three very different women on the show, but three very powerful, driven, capable women. I’m really, really thrilled by that and I think everyone’s going to love where the Angelville storyline goes this season.

I love that Featherstone is so singularly focused on the Grail. The Grail’s very important in her life.
The Grail is her life. The Grail is her life.

Julie Ann Emery photographed by Vince Trupsin

She kind of will do whatever it takes, and I like that about the character. She doesn’t really let anybody control her. She’s going to do what she wants, for this mission that she’s on. 
Yes. Yes. She’s a soldier in the best possible way. She’s going to carry out her orders because she believes in the cause. She’s a true believer in the Grail. And that’s something unusual in the Grail itself. You know, we see Herr Starr is definitely in it for power but not necessarily a true believer. And Hoover definitely wavers all the time.

But she is on-track, a true believer, willing to do whatever it takes, including give up her life, we saw that last season, for the job at hand, for the mission at hand. That singular focus and that organization … that’s been a really interesting thing to explore in Featherstone. That she’s so sure of herself, all the time, because she’s so sure of the mission. And that’s been something, for me personally, that’s been very interesting to explore in the character.

She is dedicated and she believes in it, and you can relate to a character who is so true to something she believes in.
Yeah and she’s also a woman in a man’s world. As of now, we’ve yet to see another female Grail member. We’ve never seen another Grail operative out in the field. But she doesn’t consider herself in terms of gender. She doesn’t think of herself as a woman in a man’s world. She thinks of herself as a team member. I don’t even think she compensates for it. She just is. And that’s also been a very interesting thing to play out and to explore … and to examine in my own life. I’m like, “How often do I just look at myself as … Am I allowed to look at myself as a person moving through the world?”

Right. I feel like anymore, you just, you can’t. Anymore, so many things … there’s a line drawn in the sand. You’re a woman or you’re a man, and you can’t ever just be a person anymore. And it is an interesting thing to kind of explore.
I hope that we will get past that. I feel like we’re at a conflict moment because … like in a backlash-y conflict moment with that. And I hope that we’ll get past that, and all of my nieces and nephews will get to live in that world. But it is really interesting to play a character who doesn’t necessarily consider herself a woman. She considers herself a soldier for the Grail. She considers herself a martyr for the cause if necessary.

So what else, besides Preacher, are you working on? Is there anything that you’ve been writing or shooting, or anything?
I am actually in Italy right now working on something, and I can’t tell you what it is because it has not been announced yet. But I am doing something really cool right now that is not up to me when to put it out into the world [laughs]. I jumped in so quickly after Preacher, I feel really fortunate. It’s really fun.

That’s exciting. Because sometimes too much downtime, you get too much going on. And it’s like, “All right. When am I going to get back on set and do something different?” That’s exciting.
Yeah, I get itchy. I get very itchy.

Are you going to be back in town for San Diego Comic-Con? Are you going to make it this year, do you think?
I don’t know the answer to that yet. I hope so. I hope so, yes. But I don’t know the answer to that yet.

So, we obviously talked for Season Two. A lot of TV has come out between then and now. Is there anything new that you’ve found or any shows that you’ve been binging that you’re into?
I’m so into THE HANDMAID’S TALE. I’m so into THE HANDMAID’S TALE. I am dying for GAME OF THRONES to come back into the world, which for now I have to wait a while for. And I’m still hanging on with THE WALKING DEAD. I really loved the last season. I just finished binging Season Eight. I’m trying to think what else I’m binging right now. I go on weird binges. Oh, I’m binging LEMONY SNICKET’S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS right now. It’s just so stylized. I’m very much a sci-fi fantasy girls and it appeals to my fantasy side. But HANDMAID’S TALE is my jam. It’s really amazing, and it’s such a legitimate moment for that to be out in our world right now.

Do you find that you need to give yourself time to get ready to watch those episodes? Like I need to get myself emotionally ready.
I have to give myself time after.

Yes.
Like I have to take a breath. I have to give myself a moment. And generally my husband watches with me. Generally I have to download with him for a while before I can go to bed or anything. You know what else I also … just speaking of things that are intense … I just binged THE LOOMING TOWER on Hulu and I thought it was excellent.

Oh, I watched that too. It was really good.
And it’s so fascinating to see all of the moving parts of that. I just thought it was really beautifully done.