‘Righteous Gemstones’ Stars Edi Patterson and Tim Baltz on Judy and BJ’s ‘Cosmic’ Love and ‘Succession’ Comparisons

“The Righteous Gemstones” is jam-packed with comedy, action, music and religion. But the beating heart of the HBO megachurch series is the charmingly bizarre romance between middle child Judy (Edi Patterson) and her sheepish husband BJ (Tim Baltz).

Created by Danny McBride, the show — whose seventh episode (of nine) aired on Sunday — offers a gold mine of opportunities for Patterson and Baltz to unravel their strange and hilarious relationship. At the beginning of Season 2, at the Gemstones’ weekly church lunch, it’s revealed that the pair got hitched at Disney World and didn’t invite the family.

“It was BJ’s dream wedding destination, so we did it Nike style, dog. We just did it,” Judy says, before Amber (Cassidy Freeman) asks mockingly whether Donald Duck or Goofy officiated the wedding.

Enter BJ with a deadpan line Baltz apparently improvised: “It was Prince Eric, for your information… the hottest guy in the entire Disney catalog.”

The scene is not only a perfect encapsulation of Judy and BJ’s brazen relationship, but also a prime showcase of Patterson and Baltz’s comedic performances.

“My take on Judy is to approach it like a drama, like she’s real,” Patterson, who also writes for the show, tells Variety. “I don’t try to be funny, because the funniest stuff is when things are played in earnest. The genuine gut-laugh comedy comes when every character just means it.”

Both Patterson and Baltz cut their teeth in improv comedy before landing TV gigs. Patterson performed for Austin’s Theatresports and L.A.’s The Groundlings, while Baltz got his start at Chicago’s Second City. That training, coupled with a cast featuring McBride, John Goodman, Adam Devine and Walton Goggins, among others, makes “The Righteous Gemstones” a comedic playground.

“Each scene presents different opportunities to use improv tools. Improvising on camera is fun because every scene is different, so the little openings for improv always look different,” Baltz says, adding, “The show is so well-cast that a sharp nonverbal reaction or one word can count just as much as any improv that we go for.”

Season 2 of the series sees the sprawling world of the Gemstones expanding further, both geographically and with plenty of new characters. One of the new episodes centers around BJ’s baptism, complete with a grandiose party and the introduction of his family. Upon reading the script, Baltz says he was “ecstatic” to be able to deepen his character and BJ’s backstory.

Baltz says of the writing team, “It’s a rewarding, reciprocal relationship, where you give everything you have and take direction and do your best — and then you get the scripts, and it’s like Christmas morning.”

This season, “The Righteous Gemstones” has drawn comparisons to “Succession,” HBO’s other premium display of ultra-privileged generational squabbling. But according to Patterson and Baltz, the similarities between the Gemstones and the Roys are only “skin deep.”

“Maybe there’s some bones that are similar, but those are two very different looking bodies,” Patterson says.

While both series focus on an uber-wealthy family business and three siblings sparring for power and Daddy’s love, Baltz sees his on-screen relationship as “radically different” from its “Succession” parallel.

“With Judy and BJ, there is a love that runs incredibly deep,” Baltz says. “That is not a marriage of convenience; they are two weirdos who happen to have complementing frequencies that you can’t quite explain. It’s unconditional. With Tom and Shiv, I never really felt that.”

Adds Patterson: “That shit’s cosmic, baby.”

As for the recently announced Season 3, Patterson says she hopes to go even deeper on the characters and continue to make the show “feel epic.”

“With everyone, Judy and BJ included, we’ll keep going below the basement and getting glimpses of the guts inside — how these people became these people and why these people are these people. I can’t wait.”

“The Righteous Gemstones” airs Sundays on HBO at 10 p.m. ET.

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