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

variety.com:

Ethan Shanfeld “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.