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The priest that served as an advisor for the M*A*S*H film helped William Christopher prepare for his role as Father Mulcahy in the television adaptation
Christopher also shared his own methods of developing the character.
While the characters of M*A*S*H lived by a variety of moral codes, one can argue that the shining beacon of warm-heartedness in that series was undoubtedly Father Mulcahy.
According to William Christopher, who played Father Mulcahy for the entirety of the series run, playing the character didn't feel like an especially daunting thing to take on, despite their differences.
"I felt very comfortable playing Father Mulcahy," said Christopher during an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "I wasn't raised a Catholic, but I have great respect for the Catholic faith. I've learned a lot about it in my role."
Still, to prepare for the role, Christopher turned to several experts in religion to help better educate himself. It was then that he ran into a surprisingly familiar face.
"I ran into the priest who had been the technical adviser on the movie M*A*S*H, and he was a great help," said Christopher.
But despite this crash course in religion, Christopher wanted to make sure that Father Mulcahy was a three-dimensional character, not simply a man of the cloth and nothing else.
"I've always been sort of a reflective kind of person," said the actor. "But one of the things I did not want to do was make Mulcahy a cleric in every line. His choice of language doesn't have to be sprinkled with pieces from the Bible. I tend to say things like 'Oh dear me,' 'My goodness,' or 'Goodness gracious,' because that's the way I talk. If Mulcahy talks that way, that's fine. That comes easily to me."
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