Celebrity Scoop: Joel Gretsch

In the ABC science-fiction drama "V," airing Tuesdays, Joel Gretsch plays Father Jack Landry, a Roman Catholic priest moonlighting as a member of the Fifth Column, a secret group opposing alien Visitors recently arrived on Earth.

Of course, walking around Vancouver, Canada -- where the show is filmed -- wearing a clerical collar can attract some attention.

"It's fun to play a priest," Gretsch says. "When we're on location, I'll venture off into a cafe or something, and it's interesting how people relate to you."

It's not every TV man of the cloth who gets to take up arms against aliens.

"It's challenging, in many ways," Gretsch says. "It's a fascinating thing for somebody to become a priest, regardless of what you do. That's a choice, to become a priest. You don't take it lightly. It takes a long time, and then they put you through the final step, 'Do you really want to do this?'

"There's such a strong commitment to wanting to make a change in people's lives and their relationship with God. It's a very noble thing. Regardless of your religion and your beliefs, it's somebody who's extraordinarily passionate about it."

Jack's chief ally in his fight is FBI agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), a single mother of a V-obsessed teen (Logan Huffman).

While Gretsch doesn't think a forbidden romance is in the offing, the two definitely have a bond.

"You watch the pilot," he says, "at the end, we're sitting on a rooftop, the two of us, and the only ones we can trust are each other. There's such an intimacy with that. There's a budding friendship, obviously.

"I get the question all the time, 'What's going on between Father Jack and Erica?' Some are really loving it, and some aren't, saying 'Don't do it.' But it brings up the question, and that's good. We're doing our job."