Note: This story contains spoilers “The Righteous Gemstones” Season 4, Episode 1.
From its very first episode, “The Righteous Gemstones” has had no shortage of top-tier actors behaving ridiculously. After all, this is a show that includes John Goodman as a Bible-thumping patriarch and Walton Goggins as a man named Uncle Baby Billy in its main cast. But Season 4’s premiere contains the show’s biggest cameo to date: 12-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper.
“He came aboard the old-fashioned way. I sent him the script, and then he read it and liked it,” series co-creator, star and executive producer Danny McBride told TheWrap.
The fourth and final season of the HBO comedy kicks off with an episode that takes place during the Civil War, decades before the rest of the series happens. Cooper plays a crook named Elijah Gemstone, who murders and robs a pastor. But when a group of Confederate soldiers come by the church to pick up the chaplain assigned to their troop, he dons the late holy man’s robes, grabs his gold-plated Bible and accepts the murdered man’s job. Most of the episode follows Elijah as he skirts past his religious duties and embraces the wartime safety and perks his position in the church grants him. But as the episode wears on, the weight of this deception begins to take a toll.
“Surprisingly, [Cooper] had never even seen ‘Gemstones’ before,” McBride said. “He said he did not want to watch it until he was done shooting it. He did not want to be influenced by it, which I respected and thought was cool. And then, because he had never watched ‘Gemstones,’ I just kind of acted like I had never seen ‘Maestro.’”
In true “Gemstones” fashion, Cooper’s casting came about from a joke. McBride had “always” wanted to do an episode that was set far back in the past and that was a departure from the rest of the show. But when the team was actually preparing “Prelude,” they realized the audience was likely going to be “bummed” about not seeing any of the main characters in the premiere for the final season.
“I think I said in passing, ‘Guys, it needs to be somebody that everybody likes, somebody like Bradley Cooper who is just good and can command it on his own,’” McBride recalled. “Then my producing partner was like, ‘Why don’t we see if he would be interested?’ I was glad he suggested it, because it was a dream to get to work with him and get him down here to do it.”
Elijah Gemstone’s story mirrors that of his modern-day ancestors. “The Righteous Gemstones” has always been a show that balances hypocrisy with religious fervor. As Eli (Goodman), Jesse (McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson) and Kelvin (Adam DeVine) preach about humility, they do so while decked out in designer labels with their own private jets safe in their hangars. They may be divided by centuries, poverty and bloody battles, but Elijah is as much a Gemstone as any other member of this self-obsessed family. It’s that duality that drew McBride to this story in the first place.
“[In the Bible] God is not known for picking the perfect person to deliver the message. A lot of times, they will say stuff like, ‘He makes ready whoever is chosen,’ or whatever. I always thought that was an interesting concept,” McBride said. “Even for the Gemstones, obviously they are scoundrels. They are making money, and they are not living with what they preach. But I do think what makes them interesting is that they are believers. I do not think it’s a total lie.
“I think their wealth and money makes them feel like they do not have to follow the rules for real,” McBride continued. “There was something kind of interesting about showing what that [megachurch] gig is, if you will, all about.”
“The Righteous Gemstones” airs Sundays on HBO and Max.
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