The Righteous Gemstones cast reflects on the emotional journeys that their characters have gone through over the course of the series.
The Righteous Gemstones is coming to an end with the fourth and final season. During a press conference in support of this last season, we caught up with Danny McBride, Cassidy Freeman, Edi Patterson, Tim Baltz, Adam Devine, and Tony Cavalero.
When asked about watching their characters grow over the seasons, the cast reflects on their emotional journeys and how happy they are with how things end for them in the final episode.
The Righteous Gemstones Cast Reflects On Their Characters’ Emotional Journeys Throughout The Series
Tessa Smith: After playing these characters for so long, what was it like for you to see them grow and ultimately end up as their best selves at the end of the series?
Adam DeVine: Well, for Kelvin, it was so fun to be like this deeply closeted man and then finally come out and be able to be his true self. And I have family members that have come out and you see like a weight is lifted off of them when they finally do – you know, they tell everyone and they’re more free. And so this last season was really, really fun to play Kelvin in all of his Kelvin-isms. I butchered that word.
Tony Cavalero: I think for Keefe, I mean good Lord, what a shell of a guy initially when we first met him. I always said like he was like literally discovering his skin and his clothes for the first time. And to have him come this like full circle and like finally there’s no God Squad, there’s no Smutbusters. He finally just gets one-on-one time with his guy. And he’s able to like love and support him the best. You know, I just cannot wait for my moms to see this last episode. They’re gonna freak. It’s amazing. It’s so beautiful.
Edi Patterson: Hey, with Judy, I felt, I feel like she had constant sort of almost real-life level growth. I think, if you think about how people grow in real life, it’s not a lot. It’s not how we see in a movie. We’re like wow, they’re good now, wow. They’re nice to everyone now. Oh, he was so cranky at the beginning. And it’s like it’s so incremental in real life, and I think that I’ve gotten to do a ton of increments of that with Judy. And I, yeah, I love where she ends up, that yeah, she can actually be totally selfless in loving someone. I think it was a journey to get there, but…
Tim Baltz: I felt like with BJ, he started as literally being called a wisp of a man. Wisp? And he was successively in consecutive seasons trying to prove himself to the family in different ways. His wardrobe probably being tweaked and guided by Judy, his workout regimen going from rollerblading to pickle ball to pole fitness. Not dancing, fitness like Danny said. And then having, without spoiling anything, getting to a place at the end where he’s kind of like packing up the pole and coming to terms with like who he is, kind of accepting himself. That he doesn’t need to go through this in order to prove who he is to them or to fit in. And then I think there’s some really nice moments in the last episode, without any spoilers, that kind of show how integrated he has become in the family.
Cassidy Freeman: No, Amber, you know Amber went from being a poverty person to being Amber Gemstone. Her journey in the seasons is I think, to me, she always had this wish to be the next Aimee-Leigh, to be – her and Jesse were gonna be the next couple that took over. And what was interesting is watching her try and prove that in a lot of ways, fighting with her own sense of who she is and who she is to her husband when she feels betrayed, and how she can find her own way when she gets that church group of her own. : And the discord between her and Jesse to where I think she landed, which I really love, is becoming that glue without having to show it. Which is I think something that Aimee-Leigh was as well, which is why the loss of her created such a ripple effect in everybody. But to watch Amber in this last season sort of be a true support, to try and mend all of the discord between her sons and her husband and the family, and just that person that wants to hold everybody up and make sure everybody is taking care of each other.
Danny McBride: Well, I feel like Jesse is like – he battles his own ego all the time. He puts weight on being the first born. He puts – you know, he sees his dad and he wants to be that and wants to be a version of that. He wants to have the respect that goes with that. But he has such a hard time sort of getting out of his own way. And I think in this season in particular, the beginning of it they’re like on jet packs and he’s like flying to the ceiling just doing all this nonsense that has nothing to do with what the job is. By the end they find themselves in this moment where everything is stripped away, and they just have to do what the job is. All three of the siblings like rise to that occasion. And that’s sort of what the arc of Jesse is in a way. If that changes him, hopefully so, but it’s the idea of stripping away all of these things that don’t really matter and just doing what the point of the job is sort of, for him and kind of coming to that understanding and actually having the ability to kind of rise to the occasion of the moment.
The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 premieres on HBO and Max Sunday March 9, with episodes releasing weekly until May 4.
NEXT: The Righteous Gemstones Season 4 Review: A Perfect Ending
About The Righteous Gemstones
The Righteous Gemstones tells the story of a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed, and charitable work. Despite constant bickering, Gemstone family ties run deep, and this season the family’s codependence is tested as they attempt to move forward without letting go of their storied past.
The Righteous Gemstones is created and written by Danny McBride; directed and executive produced by Danny McBride, Jody Hill, David Gordon Green, and Jonathan Watson; executive produced by John Carcieri, Jeff Fradley, and Brandon James; produced by David Brightbill; consulting produced by Kevin Barnett, Edi Patterson, and Chris Pappas.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.