Created, written, and executive produced by Danny McBride, the HBO series The Righteous Gemstones continues to follow the televangelist Gemstone family and their internal struggle over which of them will get to take over the megachurch from family patriarch Eli (John Goodman). Always under threat by outsiders who wish to destroy their empire, a mysterious figure from Eli’s past (Eric Roberts) with clearly questionable motives shows up, making the Gemstones wonder whether he’s friend or foe.
During this interview with Collider, co-stars Edi Patterson (who plays Eli’s daughter, Judy Gemstone) and Tim Baltz (who plays BJ, newly married to Judy) talked about that metallic pink tuxedo romper, what they’re most excited about with Season 2, why BJ just might be the most insecure Gemstone, whether Eli actually loves his kids, doing the big performance scenes, the baptism scene, the Judy-BJ relationship dynamic, and how this is a show that feels like it could go on forever without running out of story to tell.
Collider: It feels like the most important question is, how do each of you feel about the metallic pink tuxedo romper? What are your thoughts on that overall look? How are you feeling about it as a style for the rest of the world?
EDI PATTERSON: I think something has been started, and a fire has been ignited.
TIM BALTZ: I’d like to think in the canon of the show, Judy started to design this and BJ definitely helped out. They came together and created this very unique look. I think it shows off my body pretty well.
PATTERSON: How great would that be, if people were wearing BJ rompers for Halloween?
BALTZ: This thing was custom-made. You know some are gonna show up, and you know they’re gonna be custom-made as well. If anyone replicates it, it’s gonna be amazing.
When you are told that was what you would be wearing, what was your reaction?
BALTZ: I definitely Googled romper, and I was like, “What? I’m really gonna be in this thing? My fiancé has rompers. I’m gonna be in one? Oh, okay. That’s cool.” And then, I tried it on, and I probably had to have four fittings because it’s not easy to custom fit a romper. It’s many different steps. I was pretty comfortable in it by the time we actually filmed, which I think was important for BJ’s confidence in that scene. But strutting around in that thing, especially with the shoes, was wow. You don’t get to see the shoes much, but there’s one wide shot in the dressing room scene. They pull back and, all of a sudden, halfway through that scene, it cuts to a wide and you see BJ’s shoes.
There’s definitely no halfway without ensemble. You know what you’re getting into when you’re wearing something like that.
BALTZ: Mm-hmm.
PATTERSON: Yep, you’re comin’ in hot. It’s Judy approved, hot and confident.
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to see the Gemstone family. What are you most excited about fans of the show getting to see with the second season and what’s in store for them?
PATTERSON: I’m just stoked that they’re back with their crazy friends who are super rich and doing crazy things. I think everything’s turned up a little bit. I think every character’s personality has the volume turned up a little bit. I think that the situations and the excitement of the show is turned up a little bit. I think everything is a tiny bit bigger. I just think that’s fun. Once you’ve ridden a rollercoaster, it’s fun to get on a bigger rollercoaster, and I think that happens with this season.
BALTZ: Yeah, absolutely. You like seeing characters develop, and you like seeing them behave the same. The truth is, as time moves forward, they get into new circumstances, and you’re seeing a mix of both. You’re seeing them more confident and more desperate, and still only relying on their own faculties in these new circumstances, which means they’re a mix of both their old selves and the person that they want to become. That just leads to a lot of good conflict.
Tim, does it feel like BJ is more insecure, now that he’s actually a Gemstone, or does that give him some confidence?
BALTZ: It’s both. Actually, you hit the nail on the head. When people yearn for the spotlight and the spotlight finally hits them, you can’t help but have a flash of insecurity and a flash of self-doubt. When the lights get brighter, you second guess yourself a little bit, and that’s totally natural. They nailed that in writing this arc for BJ this season. He desperately wants to be accepted by the family, but he was not prepared for what that meant. He gets into that situation, and he thinks he’s gonna get acceptance, and when he doesn’t, anyone would be knocked back a little bit, which was very fun to play.
David Gordon Green told me that he thinks BJ is the most insecure Gemstone because he just doesn’t know where he fits in yet.
BALTZ: To be honest, the fact that he called him a Gemstone is incredibly touching to hear. But yeah, he is, for sure.
Edi, there’s more than one mention this season about how emotionally cold Eli Gemstone is. Do you think that Eli loves his kids? Do you think he loves them equally? Do you feel like Judy feels like she’s loved by her father?
PATTERSON: I feel like Eli does love his kids, but as you know, his kids are tough. They’re constantly doing pretty messed-up things. So, I think he loves them, but is genuinely, most of the time, really disappointed in them and/or mad at them. I don’t know if he loves one of them the most. He probably had a lot of hope for Kelvin. There were a couple of kids that already existed, who were already forming their personalities, and their personalities were getting weirder and weirder, and then there was this very cute baby that I’m sure there was a lot of hope in. I think he loves all three of ‘em, but he probably had hopes for Kelvin and is disappointed to see that come out differently. I do think he loves Judy. I think that Judy is constantly wanting to please him and wanting him to think she’s awesome. I think her mom probably saw her in a slightly different way than her dad does. She probably saw Judy’s potential and what she’s capable of. I think Judy’s probably in a struggle of, “No, I have to prove this to the one that’s alive.”
What’s it like to get up on stage and to sing about Jesus, as if you’re a rock star? Are those moments in front of the audience always exciting, are they always nerve wracking, or are they some combination of the two things?
PATTERSON: I’ve gotta say, they’re mostly, really, really fun. I love performing live, and I actually really like singing. The only thing that makes it strange is you have to do it so many times and oftentimes it’s something that you went in and recorded in a studio because, for the edit, it needs to match. Exactly. So sometimes you’re lip-syncing to your own voice that you recorded, so it’s strange, almost like a performance in a dream. It doesn’t ever feel scary or gross. It’s honestly really fun. Usually, if I’m performing a song in the show, I get to be dressed like an ice skater and there’s usually lights and dancers. It’s really fun.
BALTZ: And for us in the crowd, we just get to watch it and feel like you’re at a dress rehearsal for this gigantic rock concert, which is really rare. You also know that the song is gonna be stuck in your head for the rest of you life.
PATTERSON: Because we will do it one million times.
Tim, what is the experience of getting baptized by John Goodman like?
BALTZ: It was definitely a trip. Anytime you’re around John, you’re literally with a living legend, so it’s very special. But the water was really warm, so that made it very easy. I was just worried about slipping, to be honest. They were like, “Just don’t slip. We think we made it so that it’s really sticky.” They were spraying my feet with glue beforehand. And then, once we got up there, the water was really warm, and it was great. John really had his fingers on my nose. There was that swimmer’s thing that I had on my nose, and he popped that off a couple of times on accident, so I came up coughing a few times because I was really trying to get water out of my nose. His hands are gigantic.
It seems like one of those experiences that you have, that you just never would’ve pictured yourself having and yet is completely delightful.
BALTZ: Yeah, I won’t forget that.
How would BJ describe his relationship with Judy, and in comparison, how would she describe her relationship with him?
BALTZ: I think that BJ is madly in love. Everyone is obviously and broken in some way, and they fit together in this way that is very improbable, but very complimentary. They support each other. I think BJ sees Judy as this very special, unique person who is destined for greatness and has all these gifts and a gigantic heart that has just been hurt by her family. She has a hair-trigger for certain things, but BJ isn’t hurt by that, in a way that is very different from everyone else. He just has a compassion for where she comes from. I don’t wanna spoil anything because he speaks to that, at a certain point in this season, and it was very tenderly and nicely written and gave words to something that I’d been trying to give to the character. I think it was far more important to show unconditional love toward her than any kind of judgment.
PATTERSON: I think they’re meant for each other and made for each other. I think Judy really digs that BJ is sweet. He’s a sweet guy who understands her and understands that when she’s basically a wild animal lashing out at him, it’s not anything against him. It’s almost like, “Where else am I gonna put it?” And I think he understands that. I think BJ gets Judy, and she gets him. I think she knows that he’s a special guy. His sweetness and the way he thinks about things is very interesting and appealing and fascinating to her. She didn’t grow up with sweet brothers, or anything like that.
BALTZ: In his odd way, even though he’s low status, he’s a protector of her, by way of seeing her best qualities and understanding that those flaws come from a place of hurt and that’s okay. So, when she’s lashing out, he’s just like, “It’s okay. It’s just a storm that’s gonna pass. I still love you.” That’s really sweet and beautiful.
It definitely feels like it takes a very particular kind of person to understand Judy and not want to kill her because she’s a lot sometimes.
PATTERSON: Yeah, that’s a perfect descriptor. She’s a lot.
BALTZ: We get a lot of little moments and little glimpses, in Season 1 and definitely in Season 2, where you understand how they appreciate each other. Even in that Outback Steakhouse scene, Edi played it so brilliantly, where it’s just simmering in her eyes like, “I’m so sorry.” She can’t quite say sorry, but she’s saying it in her own way, and BJ sees that. He sees the intention, he just knows it’s gonna come out in the Judy way. It’s gonna come out a little blunt and a little forceful, but he sees past all that. And he knows that Judy sees him in that very sweet way too.
Jody Hill told me that the creative team of this show is pretty open to continuing the show for as long as possible and that there isn’t really an endpoint that they’re working towards. How do you feel about that? Does it still feel like there’s so much more to explore with these characters?
PATTERSON: To me, these characters feel infinite and endless. I would love to keep doing it for a really long time because it feels like a real world that we’re in. It feels like this whole other alternate universe. I think we could follow them forever and would not run out of stories. I really, really do.
BALTZ: The beauty with an ensemble show where everyone is so perfectly cast is that each episode, we’re spending time with these different characters. We’re watching them grow, we’re watching them be themselves, the way that we love them, the way that they frustrate us, and the way that they make us laugh. The ensemble nature of it makes it so that you just want more. As an actor and comedian, I feel the same way. It’s great. Let’s see where it goes. Let’s see how far we can take it.
The Righteous Gemstones airs Sunday nights on HBO.