Full disclosure: as someone who grew up in a Seventh-Day Adventist community, I was aware of exactly three public figures who shared the same faith. The first was Desmond Doss, the famed US Army medic and conscientious objector. The second was Ben Carson, the insanely gifted neurosurgeon whose talents for politics are, uh, less incredible. The third: David Koresh, who lead his offshoot of a Seventh-Day Adventist offshoot to a deadly armed siege with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in 1993.
Doss was portrayed by Andrew Garfield in last year’s Hacksaw Ridge. Carson was played by Cuba Gooding, Jr. in 2009’s TV movie Gifted Hands. Now, Taylor Kitsch has embodied Koresh for the upcoming Paramount TV series Waco.
The first trailer for the ‘prophet’-centric miniseries shows a nearly unrecognisable Kitsch, adorned with fluffy mullet and wire-rims, looking exactly like the charismatic cult leader. Michael Shannon, John Leguizamo, and Melissa Benoist round out a bloody huge cast.
It’s hitting US screens in January 2018, but there’s no word on Australia – yet. Still, I’ll be watching, and you should too.
