The Big Picture

Season 3 of The Righteous Gemstones sees Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin taking over their family televangelist empire and facing challenges. The relationship between Kelvin and Keefe evolves, showing their emotional growth and deepening friendship throughout the season. Kelvin finds his voice and earns respect within the Gemstone family, stepping out of his siblings’ shadows and taking on a more prominent role.

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 3 of The Righteous Gemstones.]From creator Danny McBride, the third season of the HBO series The Righteous Gemstones sees Jesse (McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson) and Kelvin (Adam Devine) taking the reins of the Gemstone family televangelist empire and further solidifying their legacy, now that their father Eli (John Goodman) is easing into retirement. Now that they’re in charge, they’re going to have to overcome their differences and their own greed, in order to keep everyone else, including some long-lost cousins with questionable motives, out of their business.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Devine and Tony Cavalero (who plays Keefe, the ex-Satanist best friend that has really become the most important person in Kelvin’s life) talked about the evolving relationship between Kelvin and Keefe, that Kelvin is finding his own voice and place in the Gemstone family, looking cool during the fire-dancing performance, that highly anticipated kiss, and those matching rocking chairs.

This interview was conducted prior to the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Collider: Who knew that the Gemstones would be the most well-adjusted family on HBO?

TONY CAVALERO: That’s so true.

Image via HBO

What were you guys most excited about with this season, when it came to the relationship between your characters?

ADAM DEVINE: It’s nice that our characters are growing a little bit and you see how much they care for each other this season. Last season, it was a lot with the muscle men and that was really fun, but I feel like our relationship was a little bit lost in the sauce there and we didn’t get to have a lot of one-on-one scenes. This season, emotionally, we become very, very close.

CAVALERO: I feel like last season there was a lot of reputation on the line, with Kelvin and the muscle men. This season, they’ve just grown emotionally. And you get to see a rift in the relationship and what happens with that. It grounds them as people and in their friendship, and what blossoms out of that, more than any other season.

Adam, a lot of what happens with Kelvin has always been him being disrespected by Jesse and Judy. Now that they’re trying to run things together, do you feel like he’s finding his voice a bit more? Do you feel like he earns a bit of respect, by the end of the season?

DEVINE: Yeah, I feel like he is stepping into being his own man and trying to get out of the shadow of his brother and sister, who cast a long shadow. Through the things that are going on, specifically with Judy, he’s able to leapfrog her in the hierarchy of the family pretty immediately this season, just with what she’s going through with her relationship. He’s able to step up a little bit.

Image via HBO

Tony, Keefe has quite the fire-dancing performance this season. What was it like to shoot that? Even if all the fire wasn’t there, for safety reasons, what was it like to do all that? Can you appreciate how cool it looks?

CAVALERO: It’s one of those things that, as an actor, I was so excited to practice and learn and do whatever it was. I had been practicing and practicing for weeks, learning all these moves. We shot it, and then, the next day, we had to do like a little bit of extra coverage. The day we shot it, I didn’t eat anything before the dance, just because I wanted to be lean and mean and ready to move. I wanted to be really sexy. And then, the next day, I had two hot dogs and four chicken strips, and showed up and Danny [McBride] was like, “Oh, man, the sunset is so much better today.” So, I had to do it four times with two hot dogs and four chicken fingers in my belly.

DEVINE: Tony, you looked sexy, buddy. Even with a belly full of chicken tenders, you still pulled it off. I know that for a fact, dude.

CAVALERO: One of the highlights of being able to do this show is being able to do stuff like that. Our stunt guy was so awesome too, who used the actual fire, but I do think they use a lot of me in the footage.

Kelvin and Keefe is truly the love story that we all need. Whose idea was it to finally have them kiss? Was that something you talked a lot about?

DEVINE: Was that the very first day of shooting, or maybe the second day of shooting for me and you? It was Tony’s idea, initially. Danny really liked it, and had also had that idea. So then, it happened. It really jumped me into this season, I’ll say that.

CAVALERO: I think it was our second day of shooting.

DEVINE: I was like, “Really? We’re not warming up to it? All right.”

CAVALERO: The night before, I called Adam and was like, “What do you think? All the other siblings are kissing?” And then, we showed up the next day, and Jody [Hill] walked right up to both of us and was like, “Did Danny talk to y’all?” And we were like, “No.” And he was like, “Okay, we’re gonna try one with a kiss.” And both of us were like, “All right.”

DEVINE: It was the second day and my wife, Chloe, asked me, “How was work?” And I was like, “You know, I just kissed my buddy while he had a belly full of chicken strips.”

Image via HBO

When everything has been leading to that moment for them, did you want to talk about it and rehearse it to make sure you got it absolutely perfect, or is it better not to think about it and just jump in and shoot it?

DEVINE: There wasn’t much talking about it. We just did it. You can very easily overthink something like that.

CAVALERO: One hundred percent. And Adam’s a great kisser. That’s the bottom line. It was easy, breezy. We’re also really good buddies. We’ve been working together and doing this silly show for so many years that both of us trust each other like crazy. He literally saved me from a milk bath with my junk out in Season 1, so it’s cool.

It feels like you have to be soulmates when you can have matching rocking chairs.

DEVINE: Yes. How beautiful were those things? I’m sure someone has them.

CAVALERO: In the second take, he kicked it and kicked part of it out.

DEVINE: I put my foot right through the chair on the second take, and they were like, “Cool, maybe kick it less hard.” Little did I know that I have some thunder thighs that can really donkey kick something.

CAVALERO: Yeah, dude.

DEVINE: Not only do I have some soft, pillowy lips, I have some donkey-kicking thighs.

The Righteous Gemstones is available to stream at Max.