Paul plays Eddie, a long-term Meyerist who is having a crisis of faith.
Paul plays Eddie, a long-term Meyerist who is having a crisis of faith.
Coming off a triple Emmy award-winning role on one of the most acclaimed TV shows of all-time, Aaron Paul was more than happy to focus on his flourishing film career when Breaking Bad ended in 2013.
"I wasn't necessarily looking to jump back into television quite so soon," Paul tells TimeOut in Los Angeles. "I was very spoiled with Breaking Bad."
But then along came the script for The Path, a drama about a family entrenched in a cult movement. "Religion, spiritual movements and cults have always fascinated me.
I read the first two episodes, and the material, the world, was impossible to ignore, so I jumped on board."
The Path (made for Hulu in the United States and screening on Lightbox in New Zealand) focuses on the adherents of "Meyerism".
Paul plays Eddie, a long-term Meyerist who is having a crisis of faith.
"Eddie comes from a very tortured past. [He] was brought in to the movement at a very low point in his life and he met his future wife Sarah [played by Michelle Monaghan], who was born into the movement, and then they raised their two kids in the movement.
"He lives and breathes this movement, this is what saved him. But in the first episode, he comes back from a retreat where he had this eye-opening experience where he realises that he's just not buying anything they're selling anymore ... And that terrifies him."
Paul says his own upbringing helped him in the role.
Aaron Paul in The Path.
"I grew up very, very, very religious. My father was a Southern Baptist minister, I know The Bible, I was forced to read The Bible front to back, I had to memorise scripture. I no longer really practise that, but I think it's natural, as human beings, we're searching for answers.
"For me I'm just constantly looking up in the sky in a constant state of wonder, wondering what the hell is happening. I just know: I don't know."
One of the most fascinating aspects of The Path is how often it is unafraid to paint Meyerism in a relatively attractive light.
"I think some religions, some cults, some movements, I think, are good. It gives people some sort of purpose, like with the Meyerist movement, for example, they're just teaching people to be good, you know. But when they start asking you to drink the Kool-Aid or harm other people, that's when it starts getting dangerous.
"With this particular movement they try to preach: 'Be good. Live a life of transparency and you'll be become a ball of light at the end of the tunnel'."
Who: Aaron Paul What: Cult viewing. When and where: Episode one is available on Lightbox from today
