The Righteous GemstonesWalton Goggins on Baby Billys season 3 payday.
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Walton Goggins is game for anythingThe Righteous Gemstonesasks of him.
What is success, and what does it mean for him?
Will he always be in search of that or always need that from other people?
I would think so, but selfishly, I hope not.
But you know, at the end of the day, were all dreamers.
This interview, conducted prior to the SAG strike, has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Youve said:Nobody makes me laugh the way somebody from the South can make me laugh.
That made me laugh.
It tickles me to read other peoples story lines as much as it does my own.
But I think the thing that was so heartening to me was you know what?
Im looking at Danny McBride right now.
Look at this guy.
Youre so unbelievably sexy.
He was purely self-serving, and just open and free to do anything.
Hes the perfect nexus and creates the perfect opportunity for all of these families to come together.
TheBaby Billys Bible Bonkersset is so elaborate.
Theres a gigantic sign of your face.
Youre singing and doing stand-up as the host.
I was able to walk through it and understand the scale of it.
When you get that opportunity, you want to open that gift and play with every part of it.
We have these wonderful choreographers.
I said, This is great, but what if we do none of this?
[Laughs] Im a 72-year-old man.
And we did it, man.
I was overcome, really, with excitement and joy.
Its about an eight-minute take.
I cant believe that Im not doingBaby Billys Bible Bonkersright now.
I cant believe its not my real job.
The Gemstone children arent living as you would expect a pious, religious family to live.
It is overtly religious, and it is cleansing, isnt it?
Everything is gone, and maybe thats what this family needs.
Maybe thats what this fucking country needs.
Maybe thats what weve all needed, as a world.
They bicker and fight, but they also love each other and care for each other.
When they were filming that, we all had our moment with the locusts.
You just turn yourself over to imaginary circumstances, and the locusts are coming.
I didnt know I was going to do that.
Thats when you know you had a good day, when you could make these guys laugh without trying.
You cant make a run at make them laugh.
You just live your truth and you do it with conviction, and thats what they find funny.
Thats what I find funny.
Can you talk about your friendship?
I did that with Bob Duvall onThe Apostle.
I was a big fan of Owen Wilsons, and then we didShanghai Noontogether, and we became friends.
Danny was in that group of people.
He said, I have this thing Im working on; Id like you to read it.
I read it and we talked, and that was it.
Baby Billy singing is now such a fixture of the show.
I trust them implicitly.
But Danny writes to peoples availability and what they can give.
Id not seen this before.
I didnt anticipate it.
No one showed me any drawings.
I put it on and I felt the way that Baby Billy feels about himself.
[Laughs]He feels that special.
I was really blown away by it.
Id been working on the song for the better part of a month.
I did not anticipate the performance going that way.
He would set up his shots and say, You gotta get from here to here.
However you get from here to here, its up to you, baby.
It was so freeing.
And its been that way for the better part of what, almost a decade?
This scene, with drugs, sex, and someone who might be Gene Hackman, is completely different.
I asked them, Can we get Shea Whigham for that?
Because no one will deliver like Shea in that moment.
We did get him, and Shea was gracious enough to come and play with us.
We got to work that day and it was as if wed never met.
No words were exchanged.
Got in the car, didnt talk, until they rolled and yelled Action!
We did it maybe two or three times and that was it.
We got everything that we needed, and Im forever grateful to him.
Hes the sauce, hes the special, special sauce.
We had a glass of wine I think abottleof wine and said, Here we go.
[Laughs] Its like, Wait a minute, youre supposed to police this!
When you have Jody Hill behind the camera, you know hes gonna do something very specific.
I think we probably did it 15 times.
Im going to fuck you too!
We just got to that place.
Its just trust and honesty.
Afterward, we both laughed to no end.
You gotta tell me, what did you think of the sex scene?
Were you surprised by it?
Did it make you laugh?
Did it make you gasp?
So on the one hand, maybe Uncle Baby Billy slept with Dusty Daniels.
[Bursts into laughter]
On the other hand, Im not surprised by that at all.At all!
I think words are very powerful, so the idea ofplayinga character makes you separate from that character.
I dont look at it as getting into character.
I look at it as, Im there to play pretend.
Thats my job, and I take that job very seriously.
I like to be alone when Im working.
I dont like to talk about whats going on.
I dont like to talk about me, or Walton, or anything in my life.
I dont want anything to take me out of the ability to play pretend.
Everybody has their process, and its all very private.
I move through my day that way.
I enjoy that part of the process.
[Laughs] I leave my phone in my room for the most part.
Im there to play pretend, and thats what I get from it.
Selfishly, its what I get from it.
Then as soon as we wrap, I leave it at work.
Baby Billy is no exception, and hes exhausting.
Its hard to be that fucking insecure all day long.
Baby Billy so clearly adores his wife, Tiffany.
It always feels like theyre in on a joke no one else knows.
Its the scene in the church, and I dont know her, and she doesnt know me.
But then when the clothes come on and you walk out of the trailer, youre not Valyn Hall.
Youre Tiff, and youre the love of my life.
And that was that.
She trusted me and I trusted her, even without talking about it, even without having that conversation.
Well, how do you feel?
People dont discuss how they feel that often.
What if we just see what happens?
Im not getting anything from her … except maybe idolatry.
[Laughs] She idolizes him, but its so much deeper than that.
[Laughs] Its so fucking stupid.
When you look back on Baby Billys arc this season, do you think hes happy?
Hes very settled now into being a father and husband.
But hes also still chasing fame throughBaby Billys Bible Bonkers.
I think that thats him.
Is his appetite for being seen insatiable?
What is success, and what does it mean for him?
It means true respect for himself.
He loves his wife, hes happy in his marriage, hes happy as a father.
Is he happy about where he is as an artist or his recognition?
Will he ever get that?
I would think so, but selfishly, I hope not.
But you know, at the end of the day, were all dreamers.
What Im hearing is that there should be a Walton Goggins travel show.Oh, absolutely.
That would be the category that I would kill in.
Its a very specific category.
[Laughs] Its not going from specific to general.
Its really, really specific.
