[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of The Righteous Gemstones.]On the HBO series The Righteous Gemstones, created by and starring Danny McBride, Baby Billy Freeman (played to absolute, delightful perfection by Walton Goggins) is the white-haired, singing preacher with a rather loose relationship with the truth and a much younger wife. A very blurry moral compass and an endless desire for personal gain are reminders that he’d throw just about anyone and anything under the bus, even if their last name is Gemstone.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Goggins talked about how playing Baby Billy sometimes feels like he’s free-floating, the season’s theme of fathers and sons, being the guy that will crack up in a scene before anyone else, how the character came together for him, all the singing he has to do on the show, the dynamic between Baby Billy and his brother-in-law Eli Gemstone (John Goodman), exploring his character’s history and having to face that in the present, and what he’s learned about comedy from collaborating with McBride.
Collider: Would you say that this character is the most out-there character that you’ve played, or does he not feel that way when you’re playing him?
WALTON GOGGINS: I’ve played some pretty out-there characters. There are times when it’s like, “Oh my God, the ground is not under my feet at all. We’re free-floating right now.” But when it lands – and this is something that Danny and I talked about a lot this season and what Baby Billy is going through, outside of the main storyline – it’s a gut punch. It really hits hard, and it’s about something. It’s about fathers and sons, and sons that become fathers who also have sons. It’s a complicated thing. There are times when I can’t stop laughing, in the middle of it, when I step outside myself and think about how ridiculous it is. I’m always brought back to center with something that he says, or that somebody around him says.
Aside from just cracking up at yourself when you’re doing it because it is so crazy. when you’re in the middle of an insane moment on this show, do you ever crack up? Is it hard to hold it together? Are you good with not losing it with the other actors?
GOGGINS: No, I’m the worst with it, and I have been, ever since I met Danny [McBride]. He’s one of my best friends. We’re eight years into our relationship now, but I’m the guy that will break before anyone. I just find it so funny. It’s not even myself. It’s really the people that I’m with. I’m such a fan of Danny and these guys, and I know how absurd they are. Sometimes it all falls in on itself, and I think about every other thing that they’ve done and just crack up. I just am having such a good time. It gets in my funny bones and I just can’t stop laughing. I love it.
Even just watching you and John Goodman together, I don’t know how you get through some of those scenes.
GOGGINS: And sometimes those are long days. It can get crazy, but the way they do it, it always comes back to something meaningful. With Baby Billy this year, bringing in Macaulay [Culkin] was fucking crazy. I just had such a good time with him. It got right down to it. He was just wonderful.
This seems like the type of character that would just be ridiculous on paper, but somewhere what you bring to him and everything with it just makes it so great. Was there a moment in playing him, when it all clicked and made sense to you, and you got who he is?
GOGGINS: Yeah. That’s a great question. Nobody has asked me that question. We did a camera test in Charleston. We were actually looking to do something else with this, and we just came across this thing. And then, Danny said, “We’ve gotta use this. We’ve gotta do this. I wanna do this thing with him.” That’s how it started. Once we got it, the very first day, I remember sitting in my trailer and thinking, “Man, you’re gonna make a fool of yourself, Walton. You’re either gonna sink to the bottom of the ocean, or you’re gonna fly with your wings touching the water.” I just kept thinking, “This is who this guy is. Just go out there with a lot of love in your heart.” The very first thing that we shot was his first big speech to the whole congregation, and it was in that moment, and Danny and David [Gordon Green] just let me do my thing. I said, “Can we just keep it rolling?” I sat down on the stage and started singing this song to all these people, and that’s when it clicked. I was like, “Okay, wow, I know this guy’s insecurity. I have it.” And then, it all made sense. I was playing young Baby Billy and Danny asked me, “Which do you find harder to do? Is younger Baby harder than older Baby?” And I said, “Yeah.” With older Baby Billy, I get it. I get his life like because it’s all predicated on what happened to him when he was younger. It’s younger Baby Billy that could be anything. That’s where it just gets fucking wild. The takes were so long and they went all over the map, and David just let me play like, like he lets everybody play. So does Danny, and so does Jody [Hill].
What was it like to be in the moment, when you were shooting the scene at the baptism and you’re at the podium, in front of the cross, and you’re singing? What goes through your mind when you’re doing a scene like that?
GOGGINS: First and foremost, I’m not a singer. That’s not what I’m known for. I’m not a singer. I have to say that I’m not a singer. My son would definitely say that I’m not a singer. And so, when we did that the first year, thank God for Jennifer Nettles. She’s a singer. That’s a singer. I knew if I just stayed flat, I could move around a little bit and make people look somewhere else and not listen to my voice so much. This season, Danny said, “You’re gonna sing a lot.” I said, “What are you talking about, man?!” He sings three times. The song that you’re talking about, in front of the congregations for this baptism that was so insane, I just wanted to keep them entertained.
He mentions his full album, and I’m sure that is full of nothing but hits and we need it now.
GOGGINS: I think you’ll hear that in Season 3. I don’t know.
There’s such an interesting relationship between Baby Billy and Eli, and we get to see the present and the past this season. What was it like to explore that dynamic, in both timelines and really get to see where Baby Billy comes from and where their relationship comes from?
GOGGINS: The dynamic that was set up between these two men was over their shared love of this woman, who was my sister and his wife, and they meet in the middle. They don’t really have anything in common. Eli tolerates more than he likes Baby Billy. But then, there are moments, based on their history and the woman that they have in common, where Eli really sees and loves him, in spite of Baby Billy, really. I think that he does the same for Eli. There’s a place where we have something that no one can ever take away from us. It’s something so special that, whenever we need to, we can go there, and it’s safe and hallowed ground. That’s been one of the greatest experiences on this whole journey. First and foremost, it’s John Goodman, and that was intimidating enough, when we first started. But to get to play John Goodman’s contemporary, I absolutely love it.
This show really goes pretty deep with its characters. It’s about family, power, money and dysfunction, and somehow the emotions get really deep.
GOGGINS: I feel the same way. It was so different from Season 1, for me, as older Baby Billy, because he has success now. He has something that he can constantly brag about and hold up, and he feels whole in that way. He thinks that he’s on the same level as Eli. The thing that comes up from the past is his child. That’s what’s unresolved. As it did in Season 1, it turns out to be the same thing that Eli has unresolved in his life. These two men, who are so very different and who come from such different backgrounds, but have this shared history, oddly enough, have found themselves going through the exact same thing, at different times in their lives, and this is no exception. They’re both trying to be a good father and are looking for second chance. That’ story is as old as fathers and sons or daughters.
Did you know, going into this season, what that full arc would be for Baby Billy and his first child?
GOGGINS: I knew the contours. Danny really lets me get in there and play with things, a little bit. He’s extremely collaborative. He’s my best friend, so I knew quite a bit of it. But he’s never gonna tell you everything. I was as surprised as anyone when, when the conversation came down the pike that he has with his child. It’s so full of narcissism, with the whole thing of, “Didn’t you miss me? You didn’t think about me, all this time? You haven’t wondered where I’ve been? Well, fuck, why did I even come here then? You’re so well adjusted.” It’s so funny, so heartbreaking, and so sad. When that conversation turns, it’s what everybody who’s had a dysfunctional relationship with their father wants to do, on some level, or has secretly or publicly wanted to do with the male figure in their life. The fact that it all boils down to him going, “Can I do anything for you, son?” They way that Macaulay answers him, it is so fucking honest. It is so truthful. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a scene between a father and son, or that I’ve been in one before, that was as honest as this one. That’s really what it comes down to. And then, on the other side of that, there is a great peace and Baby says what he says to him. I just loved that so much. God, I love going to work every day on this show.
What has collaborating with Danny McBride taught you about comedy?
GOGGINS: Wow, that’s such a great question. What has it taught me about comedy? First and foremost, I never look at something as a comedy or a drama. Those two words aren’t in my vernacular. I suppose I use them because it’s convenient to describe something, but I never think about it in those terms. I don’t try to be serious, and I don’t try to be funny. I think that’s what I’ve learned from Danny, even before working with him, just in watching him. I don’t think he’s funny. I think they’re making a drama that happens to be funny, and nobody does it better. For me, Danny is as present as any actor I’ve ever worked with, over the course of my career. He just happens to be maybe the funniest person I know, even when he’s talking about something serious. That’s what we see come through. It’s his honesty. That’s maybe what I’ve learned the most from him.
The Righteous Gemstones airs on Sunday nights on HBO and is available to stream at HBO Max.