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Bradley Cooper Joins the Cast of The Righteous Gemstones for Final Season

Bradley Cooper appears in the fourth and concluding season of The Righteous Gemstones, a move that may have required some persuasion from the show’s creator, Danny McBride.

During the season 4 premiere on March 5 in Los Angeles, McBride, who plays Jesse Gemstone and serves as executive producer, shared his insights on casting Cooper. “You know what? I would imagine that I would’ve had to persuade him,” explained McBride, referring to Cooper’s role in the first episode. “I sent him the script and he called me back pretty quickly. He liked what was presented.”

Interestingly, Cooper had not watched previous episodes of The Righteous Gemstones prior to filming. “What was interesting is he had actually never seen The Gemstones before, but he didn’t want to watch it until we were done shooting,” McBride noted. “He didn’t want it to influence him, which I appreciate. I thought that was a good way to approach this.”

Prior to this collaboration, McBride and Cooper had worked together on the 2015 film Aloha, a feature that also included well-known actors such as Emma Stone and Bill Murray. In The Righteous Gemstones, which follows a wealthy televangelist family trying to maintain their religious empire, Cooper’s involvement further elevates the show’s star-studded lineup that features Adam DeVine and John Goodman.

McBride emphasized that the show has conditioned its audience to “expect the unexpected,” hinting that the premiere episode of the final season encapsulates this theme. “That was part of it as we were going for this last season — I wanted to push ourselves to not fall into formula and routine,” he stated, adding, “There was something interesting about starting this season with something that goes so far back in time and shows you a glimpse of maybe how it all began.”

Reflecting on the journey of The Righteous Gemstones, which debuted in 2019 and is set to conclude this May, McBride shared his feelings about the writing process. “When you’re working with a group that’s as talented as this and these characters that these actors have brought to life, they have far more dimension than anything I could have ever imagined sitting in my room by myself,” he remarked.

He expressed gratitude for the depth the cast brought to their characters, noting their “humanity” despite the often despicable nature of the roles they portrayed. McBride seemed contemplative about the experience, stating, “What I’ll miss most is honestly just seeing all these faces every day. This was a beautiful job. It was a lot of fun. I had a blast doing it, and I really made some great friends on this thing.”

He also fondly mentioned the camaraderie shared during “church lunch” days, emphasizing that the bond formed during the production was invaluable. “Those days were always a lot of fun, but I’ll make sure that I stay working with some of these cats again. Absolutely.”

The fourth season of The Righteous Gemstones officially premiered on HBO on March 9, 2023.

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people.com