EXCLUSIVE | 'He believes he's on earth to do God's work': 'Filthy Rich' Aaron Lazar calls Rev Paul an 'ambitious man'
Spoilers for 'Filthy Rich'
FOX's Southern Gothic family dramedy 'Filthy Rich' has garnered a lot of fans in its 6-episode run as it delves into the nitty-gritty of when power, wealth, and religion combine. The series has been canceled for Season 2 by the network much to the disappointment of fans who hopes that another network might pick the show back up.
From threats of the powerful 1820 and the confusing angle of us wondering if Eugene Monreaux (Gerald McRaney) is still alive, to Becky Monreaux (Olivia Macklin) kissing Ginger Sweet (Melia Kreiling), and Eric Monreaux (Corey Cott) kissing Rachel (Aqueela Zoll), the series has always kept us on our toes. One of our favorite plotlines is wondering what Reverend Paul Luke Thomas is up to when it comes to the1820 trying to take over the Monreaux family business.
In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), actor Aaron Lazar who plays the role of Reverend Paul gives us a bit of insight on what we should be expecting from the rest of the season.
Lazar revealed to us that the pilot script introduced his character as a "Joel Osteen type, sexy soldier for Christ", which along with the fact that Reverend Paul is a singer is what the actor thought was pretty exciting. While he told us that we'd have to "watch to find out" if Reverend Paul and the1820 were Eugene's well-timed plane crash, he did tell us that we're on the right track when we asked if he and his buddies want to overthrow Margaret Monreaux (Kim Cattrall). Although he added, "Overthrow isn't the word the Rev would use." If you've watched the series so far, you'd have noticed that Reverend Paul has an interesting clutch on his brother-in-law Eric, which his sister Becky seems to always cater to. We wondered what was their end goal with Eric? "All the characters on 'Filthy Rich' have their own secret plans and ambitions for power, money, and control, which is one of my favorite things about the show. Eric's story specifically is one of him coming into his manhood as the heir to the Monreaux throne and business," revealed Lazar.
So far, the last episode saw Eric stand up to Paul, so we're wondering if that puts him in danger with the 1820, or is Paul going to back off? Ah, the suspense, is killing us. We don't even know if Eugene, who we think is alive or an angel (we don't know) will ever come back home to his family. "Gotta watch to find out," said Lazar. In one of the episodes, we saw the 1820 ask Eric to join them and take his father's Eugene's seat at the club, and Lazar reveals the intention behind this - Eric's the rightful heir, he said, and also an ally. The actor also confirmed our theory that Reverend Paul plants to "to use" Eugene's illegitimate children "in any way he can to forward his ambitions."
We asked Lazar how it was like playing Reverend Paul Luke Thomas, a character who claims to be living in God's footsteps but seems to be involved deep in corruption with the 1820. He has incredible plans of manipulation and other discretions that we're sure the scripture wouldn't approve of. "It's a lot of fun. Humans are complicated, light, and dark. As an actor, one of the joys of the job is to show the cracks in humanity," said Lazar. This we thought was an interesting way to approach a character like Reverend Paul Luke Thomas. We wondered what we as an audience should take away from a character like Paul who seems to creep behind the scenes, but yet has a lot of impacts when it comes to the Monreaux family business. Deeming Paul a "deeply ambitious and spiritual man," Lazar said his character "truly believes he's on the Earth to do God's work, save souls, and share his gifts with as many as possible." Well, we'd like to add that Paul might be a little delusional if he thinks God wants him to continue the way he is. But, what do we know?
In addition to playing just a compelling character, Lazar revealed that the cast that he has had the opportunity to work with are some of the "most talented and wonderful people." "Working with Kim was a dream. I started in television as an extra on 'Sex in the City' when I first moved to NYC, so to be playing opposite her on 'Filthy Rich' is so fun!" he added. We all know and loved Kim Cattrall's Samantha Jones in the 'Sex and the City' franchise - to say we don't miss it, would be a lie. As for Lazar, he's been keeping busy during the pandemic with his children. He also revealed that to help his family all sleep at night, he "produced the album 'Broadway Lullabies' - performed by Broadway's biggest stars." He also added, "I am also developing a TV series with Nicholas Pileggi and Richard Gladstein about New York in the '70s and I've co-founded a company to help NYC get back to the office." All good things, all good things! We can't wait to see what Lazar has in store for his in 'Filthy Rich' and his upcoming projects.
"Filthy Rich' Episode 7 airs on Monday, November 9, from 9-10 pm ET on FOX.