AMC 'Preacher' Star Dominic Cooper Says He "Was Beyond Terrified" of Jesse Custer Role

There is only a little over a month left before the premiere of Seth Rogen's Preacher on AMC, and Dominic Cooper has just admitted that he was "desperate" to play the mysterious Jesse Custer in the series. However, the Agent Carter star was also "beyond terrified" of taking on such a complicated comic book character!

Cooper recently spoke to Comic Book Resources, where he confirmed he was initially unsure about how he could bring Jesse to life.

"I read it and was desperate to be part of it and then I had the thought process of, 'I can't possibly do that. What even makes me think for a moment that I could do that?'" Cooper said, adding that his interest grew after meeting with the producers.

"It was very exciting for when they threw out their ideas for where they saw the show going because I thought how on earth can you take this incredibly in-depth, wonderful comic -- it's so elaborate, so beautifully illustrated, and I've never seen characters like it," he said.

Needless to say, Cooper felt the need to take on the role despite the fear of failing fans of Garth Ennis' comic book series.

"I was desperate to do it," he admitted. "I thought, 'Great, I must do this,' and then I was beyond terrified at the prospect of being able to accomplish it and do the character justice for the people who have read the comics growing up."

Although Cooper did his research on Jesse prior to shooting Preacher, the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter star shared that he learned more about the character after filming the first episode.

"The thing that I discovered, in the last few days, is from the moment we shot the pilot, he changes dramatically in terms of what happens to him at the end of the pilot," he revealed, adding that dealing with Jesse's growth is more difficult because of his relationship with Tulip (Ruth Negga) and Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun).

"It turns a character who I often felt always worried that it was becoming too morbid and heavy and depressed because of the place at which he's in at the beginning -- and that's quite hard because he's surrounded by so many elaborate, colorful and very funny characters," Cooper said.

Preacher will debut on AMC on May 22.