Walton Goggins Sums Up Playing Baby Billy In The Righteous Gemstones With One Word - Exclusive
While there are plenty of colorful characters that populate the Gemstone Salvation Center in HBO and Max's hit comedy series "The Righteous Gemstones," perhaps none of them are more bright than star Walton Goggins' gregarious-to-a-fault televangelist Baby Billy Freeman. The silky-smooth Baby Billy — who is the envious brother-in-law of family patriarch Dr. Eli Gemstone (John Goodman) — is always trying to make a quick (and-not-so-honest) buck on his way to re-establishing the fame he had on the televangelist circuit earlier in life.
Goggins returns to "The Righteous Gemstones" this season in Episode 3, which premieres Sunday, June 25. In the episode, Baby Billy is begrudgingly earning a living by singing poolside to vacationers at a faith-based resort, but before too long, the scheming idea-man comes up with a way to get back on — as he puts it — "the motherf***in' TV." However, Baby Billy must first get the Gemstone megachurch's new leaders — siblings Jesse (series creator Danny McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam DeVine) — to buy into his ambitious and not-entirely-original idea.
In an exclusive interview with Looper to discuss "The Righteous Gemstones" Season 3, Goggins — whose credits include the long-running series "Justified" and "The Shield," as well as the Quentin Tarantino hits "Django Unchained" and "The Hateful Eight" — said he's had "a lot of great gifts" in his career. Goggins added that the opportunity to play Baby Billy in "The Righteous Gemstones" is among those gifts, even though he sums the role up in one word: "exhausting."
"[With] respect to Baby Billy, he's on par with the greatest experiences of my life — and he's exhausting," Goggins said, laughing. "He's exhausting being that insecure and being that old and that envious of Eli Gemstone. That'll wear a motherf***er out. But I am so grateful for the gift of playing this guy."
Goggins considers everyone in The Righteous Gemstones like family
Despite the amount of bristling energy Walton Goggins pours into playing Baby Billy Freeman on "The Righteous Gemstones," the actor told Looper that it's all worth it given the level of talent that surrounds him on the series. "Excuse me for cussing, but I love these f***ing people, man," Goggins enthused. "I love all of them, and some I've known longer than others, but I just get off on seeing them. I get off on seeing what they do, and I get off on them getting off on seeing what I do."
And because of the company Goggins has been blessed with in "The Righteous Gemstones," the actor said he has no doubt in his mind that he'll be appreciating his experience on the series for many years to come.
"There's not an a**hole in the bunch. Everyone's [giving their all] all the time, and everyone shows their appreciation for what the other person is doing, through laughter or with conversations afterward," Goggins told Looper. "What a joy to be at this stage of my life, and I'm sure John [Goodman] feels the same, [with what] you get this season. I'll always look back on these years in my life of being with these guys, and it's family. It all gets sweeter as one gets older."
Also starring Cassidy Freeman, Tony Cavalero, Gregory Alan Williams, and Tim Baltz — and featuring new cast members Kristen Johnston and Steve Zahn — "The Righteous Gemstones" Season 3 is playing on HBO and Max. New episodes of the series debut Sundays through August 6.