Preacher star Dominic Cooper confesses he ‘stole’ the script to land TV role
Dominic Cooper has revealed he landed his role in his new TV series after picking up a script he found at a friend’s house.
Cooper, 38, plays a small-town minister in comic book adaptation Preacher, while Ruth Negga, his partner of seven years, plays his gun-toting ex.
The pair team up with an Irish vampire played by Joseph Gilgun in the series, developed by actor and writer Seth Rogen.
He said: “During pilot season, when there are so many scripts flying around, there was this one script that had been mentioned a lot called Preacher.
"I saw it on the table in someone’s house and I stole it. I read it really quickly and put it back. I absolutely loved it. I knew nothing of the comics.
"But then I got hold of one ... it was incredible. Crazed lunatic characters and mad storylines.” When pressed on whose house the script was in, he would only say it was “someone else who is in the cast”.
Cooper and Negga are fiercely private about their relationship. He said: “I remember reading some of the scenes with Ruth and you just couldn’t imagine anyone else playing her part.”
He had a modest upbringing in Greenwich and urged youngsters not to be put off by the financial barriers to the acting profession.
Cooper added: “Sometimes the acting world can sound elitist. But I got funding through Lewisham council, the Lottery and various foundations — there are ways to do it and you mustn’t be put off by the financial risk.”
Preacher is available on Amazon Prime Video.
