How ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Cast Bradley Cooper in Civil War Episode

The Righteous Gemstones opened its fourth and final season with a bang, literally. Instead of focusing on the main cast of characters, the Season 4 premiere pivoted to the Civil War, centering on Elijah Gemstone, shockingly played by actor-filmmaker Bradley Cooper. Recruiting the A-lister proved to be easier than anticipated, according to the show’s original creator, who directed the prequel episode.

The Righteous Gemstones series star Danny McBride revealed how he ended up considering Cooper for the lead role in the Civil War flashback episode. It began as a far-fetched desire for McBride before his producer urged him to get into contact with the 12-time Academy Award nominee. Surprisingly enough, not only was Cooper more than down to guest star, but did so for “no money” in hot weather for a 10-day shoot.

“I threw it off the cuff to my producing partners… ‘It needs to be somebody really good, somebody with charisma who everybody likes — someone who’s really good, has charisma and that everyone likes. Someone like Bradley Cooper.’ One of the producers was like,’Why don’t we just ask him?’ I assumed that Bradley Cooper’s not going to want to come down to Charleston for no money and be in a Civil War period piece, but I was wrong. We sent him the script and he instantly got back to me. He dug the material and was flattered we asked. I never thought we’d get a guy of his stature to wear a period piece wool costume in 90 degree weather for 10 days straight. And for no money. It takes a very dedicated person to commit to that.”

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The final season of ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ premieres this March.

In the Season 4 premiere, Cooper plays Elijah Gemstone, the Civil War-era ancestor of the televangelist Gemstone family. A bloody origin story that follows a deeply selfish and brutal man, The Righteous Gemstones seemingly sets up the main conflict in the upcoming episodes. As teased in the latest preview, the gold holy bible that Elijah steals in the opening minutes comes to play in present time. It’s unclear if Cooper will return as Elijah in another flashback, but the actor did an incredible job filling in a role in a show he was unfamiliar with.

Bradley Cooper Hadn’t Watched ‘The Righteous Gemstones’

HBO

According to Danny McBride, Bradley Cooper had not watched the award-winning HBO comedy before being offered the role of Elijah Gemstone. Cooper did not want anything established in The Righteous Gemstones to influence his performance, and based his interpretation of the material solely on the script given to him and McBride’s direction. Instead of doing an impression of one of the Gemstone family members, Cooper is able to bring his own comedic and dramatic sensibilities to a performance that still feels distinctly Gemstones-like.

“When we cast him in it, he told me he had never seen it before and that he wanted to hold off until we were done shooting. He didn’t want anything to influence his performance or his take on it. Sometimes, when you bring a heavy hitter to be a guest star, they end up doing an impression of the people that are already on the show. They want to score laughs the way that people normally do. So, I thought it was smart of him to identify that watching the show could be a pitfall.”

One of the more ambitious feats by the HBO series thus far, The Righteous Gemstones subverted expectations on Sunday night by giving fans something they never knew they needed. McBride has consistently played with the idea of the series being both a comedy and a drama. Although the premiere leans on the latter, it is hard to imagine a better way to start off the final season of The Righteous Gemstones, which could still get revived in an entirely different format at some point.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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