Characters

All text retrieved from "Midnight Mass: The Art of Horror"

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Father Paul Hill (Monsignor John Michael Pruitt)

Hamish Linklater plays Father Paul, really Monsignor Pruitt, who has regained his youth after discovering an 'Angel.' Father Paul has apostolic intentions when he shares the miracle of the 'Angel' with his Crockett Island congregation, but finds himself justifying murder…

Macy says, "I think the character that surprised me the most was Father Paul. The way Hamish played him, this is a very compassionate, empathetic, human being, with a lot of love in his heart, but who can do despicable things."

What's it like playing an old man in a young man's body? "I thought about it a lot, and then was weary from the curfew, and just let that weariness go in," Linklater laughs. "Imagining having an arthritic, rickety body, what a jolt it would be to suddenly be in a pony's body. I imagined putting an older head into a young body. Also, there is a thrill to the vampire experience. Everything looks brighter and clearer."

Costumer Anderson initially thought Father Paul's clothes would hint at his real age, but Flanagan wanted him to have a more modern sensibility. "And more real," says Anderson. "There are scenes where he wears a shirt with a hoodie and jeans, because he wanted to be viewed as a young priest."

Once violence ensues, why doesn't Father Paul stop what he's doing? Linklater says, "My character has justified this through Scripture for each move he's making. His point of view is not the same as Bev's. Hers is fascist: the chosen are the chosen, the rest are dross. My guy believes that everyone will be brought along into the glory of God."

Linklater grew up with his mother's Shakespeare company, so he is familiar with the mindset of classical antagonists. "In playing the character, you create a moral universe of one. How that bangs up against the moral universe of the audience, or other characters, that's what makes a good show. In my first conversations with Mike, I was relieved that he never was like, "'Oh, the character's crazy? It was, 'He believes'."

To perform priestly functions, Linklater says, he got instruction at a West Vancouver church from a consulting Catholic priest, "who then was on set to make sure that the administering of the sacrament was done correctly." The priest observed that the liturgy is written down, so memorization wasn't necessary. Linklater, however, felt that Father Paul should know it by heart. "I'm an old guy who's been doing this for a long time. But, man, it made my head explode. It's wonderful literature, but there is repetition between God's passion, God's peace, God's glory, and they're all different."

Linklater views the sermons as "a conversation Father Paul is having with himself at the same time as he's having it with everybody in the room, particularly Riley. He has to evangelize, but he's giving the right argument. He is aware that the Scripture is telling them what is going to happen is good, and he is making that argument beautifully, all the way up to the end. I don't think ever does it occur to him that there are a lot of parallels with vampirism."

Linklater also had to learn how to bite people. "The bloodlust, I lean on the 'lust' side. You get close, and you pretend like that [blood] smell is a crazy aphrodisiac."

Father Paul feels different kinds of love for a variety of people. "That's Mike's beautiful casting," says Linklater. "Being in love with Mildred, being [parentally] in love with Sarah, but also with Joe, and with Riley, they're like love scenes. It's looking into that person's eyes. It was also nice that those scenes came in the schedule before the sermon scenes, so that I had this time to make this personal connection with the people who would then be out there."

Asked about his most memorable scenes, Linklater replies, "I was terrified of the big AA meeting scene. In the script, although it's broken into four sections, it's twenty-five pages, with me using the Serenity Prayer as means for showing Riley that this is going to be good."

Linklater says that when he asked Flanagan questions, "like, "Is that too much?' He'd be like, 'Try it and let's see.' He'd send amazing page-long notes on the scenes we were going to shoot, like, 'This is why he does this.' It was remarkable to receive those, and be in dialogue with him about it. And always, he'd be like, 'If it doesn't work for you, let's go your way'?"

SPOILERS AHEAD!
SENSITIVE TOPICS: DEATH, VIOLENCE, RELIGIOUS THEMES, HORROR(?)