AMC's PREACHER Casts Joseph Gilgun as Irish Vampire Cassidy

By now I'm sure you know that Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Breaking Bad producer Sam Catlin are bringing Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's controversial comic Preacher to the small screen on AMC. The lead role of Reverend Jesse Custer is still up for grabs (although Agent Carter and Captain America star Dominic Cooper is rumored to be the frontrunner), but the show has been busy on the casting front, setting Ruth Negga as Tulip and Ian Colletti as Arseface in the past week.

Now another major addition has been made. Deadline reports that actor Joseph Gilgun (Harry Brown, Lockout) has been cast as Cassidy, a hard-drinking Irish vampire who befriends Custer and his ex-girlfriend Tulip. Cassidy was one of the most entertaining parts of the comic series, and though I'm not super familiar with Gilgun's work — like Negga, he also starred on Misfits, which I still haven't seen — I'm hoping he's able to do the character justice. The creative team definitely has a very tough job ahead of balancing the tones of the comic, and Cassidy often adds some much-needed levity, so I'm guessing Gilgun will be used in a similar fashion in the show. But he also has a pretty dark past, which would be great to dive into if the show has enough time to fill the character out more.

Preacher follows Reverend Jesse Custer, a tough Texas preacher who has lost his faith, and has learned that God has left Heaven and abandoned his responsibilities. He finds himself the only person capable of tracking God down, demanding answers, and making him answer for his dereliction of duty. Accompanying Jesse on his journey is his former girlfriend and a friendly vampire who seems to prefer a pint in the pub to the blood of the innocent. On his tail is one of the most iconic bad guys in print – an immortal, unstoppable killing machine named the Saint of Killers —a western lone gunman archetype whose sole purpose is to hunt and kill Jesse.