According to Deadline, HBO’s comedy The Righteous Gemstones has added a holy trinity of actors to their second season with Eric Roberts (Runaway Train, Inherent Vice), Eric Andre (The Eric Andre Show, Bad Trip) and Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, Bored to Death). Each actor will have a reoccurring role in the Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals) created series, which is currently in production for its nine-episode sophomore season.
The Righteous Gemstones, which follows the eponymous televangelist family and their less-than-upstanding hijinks, first aired on HBO in 2019. Though the series was blessed with second season shortly after its release, the COVID-19 pandemic halted production. In addition to McBride the series stars John Goodman (The Big Lebowski, Roseanne), Adam Devine (Workaholics, Pitch Perfect), Edi Patterson (Vice Principals, Knives Out), Walton Goggins (Justified, The Hateful Eight), Cassidy Freeman (Longmire, Smallville), Tony Cavalero (School of Rock, SuperMansion), Tim Baltz (Shrink, Bajillion Dollar Propertie$) and Greg Alan Williams (Remember the Titans, Greenleaf).
Deadline, which has provided brief descriptions of The Righteous Gemstones newest additions, reports that Schwartzman’s character Thaniel will be introduced as “a journalist working on story about the ministries.” The A.V. Club points out the inherit comedy in the naming of Schwartzman’s character, who may just stumble upon one of the Gemstone family’s many unsavory activities in the course of his investigation. After his recent stint in Fargo, Collider asserts that “Schwartzman is an exciting veteran actor to add to the cast.”
Lyle Lissons, Andre’s characters, is described as “a megachurch pastor from Texas who befriends Jesse and Amber” (Deadline). Jesse and Amber Gemstone are the imperfect married couple played by McBride and Freeman. This will mark the second recent project for McBride and Andre, who starred together in the Netflix animated film The Mitchells vs. The Machines.
Lastly, Roberts’ addition to the cast as Junior seems to indicate a further exploration of Goodman’s patriarch Eli Gemstone’s past, particularly his childhood. Deadline describes Roberts as a childhood friend of Eli’s who “suddenly re-enters his life.” The Righteous Gemstones fans will just have to wait until season two to find out why Junior reappears and what he stands to tell audiences about Eli’s upbringing.
There has yet to be a trailer or release date for season two of The Righteous Gemstones, but Collider posits that “by the looks of these recent cast additions, the second season of The Righteous Gemstones could be even better and crazier than the first.”