Former "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul plays a family man and cult member who is wrestling with a crisis of faith in the new Hulu TV drama series, "The Path," which debuts Wednesday, March 30.
The Path focuses on the premise "to belong, you must believe."
Paul plays a character named Eddie. Part of the drama's setting is in a rustic religious compound, which houses the fictional Meyerist sect at the heart of the series.
Eddie's wife, Sarah (played by Michelle Monaghan), is a movement figurehead. Their relationship is strained after he lies about having an affair in an attempt to hide his own wavering belief.
The Path also stars Hugh Dancy, the cult's unofficial leader, and Kyle Allen as Eddie's son.
Within the drama's Scientology-like religion, "if you have any sort of doubt, you're a nonbeliever, and are considered weak and thrown out to the curb by the ones you love," Paul told USA Today. "He's extremely afraid to be transparent with his family because he knows he will no longer have them anymore. He doesn't want to lie to (them), but he feels that he must to keep them close."
The Path's writer, Jessica Goldberg, said Paul is "such a man in this show."
When Goldberg watched the series premiere, she said she realized how much Paul really captures the emotional pain of what it is to lose faith. "It's such a profound journey that many people will go on in their lives."
Paul told USA Today he drew from his own religious upbringing as the son of a Baptist minister to better understand the Eddie character, who converted to Meyerism as a teenager.
The 36-year-old American actor was born as Aaron Paul Sturtevant. He is best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series Breaking Bad, for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. This made him the only actor to win the latter category three times (2010, 2012, and 2014) since its separation into drama and comedy.
