Righteous Gemstones’ Tim Baltz Talks Fighting A Naked Man

The right gems is extremely dedicated to being a family-friendly show, and also being the least family-friendly show on television. Usually that means piles of colorful cushions seasoned with a bit of comedic nudity, or an ongoing plot where the Gemstone Youth Ministry forms a task force called the Smut Busters to raid porn stores and dump their inventory. (trying to get them out of business by giving them lots of business).

Creator Danny McBride is about as serious about creating a dick joke as Tom Cruise is about jumping airplanes in Mission: Impossible. To extend the Mission: Impossible metaphor, the Burj Khalifa in The right gems season 3 is a long frontal fight scene with an angry naked man.

In the current season, The right gems finally gives BJ Barnes (Tim Baltz), the shy husband of Judy Gemstone (Edi Patterson), time to shine. He becomes more assertive and relishes his new job as a tour guide on the campus of the Gemstones’ mega-church, and tries to sort out his crumbling marriage to Judy. Judy, meanwhile, is having an affair with Stephen (Stephen Schneider), a musician on her gospel music tour who she dates regularly.

Photo: Jake Giles Netter/HBO

According to Baltz and Patterson, it is the emotional core that The right gems always takes it seriously, and why you can create a fight between BJ and a naked Stephen and have it both funny and resonant.

“There’s a lot of emotional turmoil for both of our characters,” Baltz says. “And I think BJ has always looked at Judy and understood her flaws or imperfections and loves her despite that, and that pushes him to a point that really tests that love and that commitment, and forces them both to look at the relationship and figure out who they are, you know? And like any couple who goes through this, ask yourself in a very real and very naked way: what do we need to do to get over this? »

“It was ultimately very important and great for me that it was Never never that Judy doesn’t like BJ,” adds Patterson, who also writes on the show. “She is just damn.”

It culminates in this week’s showdown, where BJ, after being coached and loaned brass knuckles from Jesse (McBride), goes to Stephen’s house to kick his ass. But in classic Precious stones fashion, a moment of toxic catharsis turns into a parade of humiliation, as BJ walks in to find Stephen buck-ass naked in his bed, masturbating furiously. Stephen then beats the crap out of him.

Photo: Jake Giles Netter/HBO

The fight is both steamy in its own right, making sure Stephen’s genitals are in the frame as much as possible, but also a well-choreographed brawl that Baltz really had to prepare for.

“That flight scene was the last two days of work for me this season, so we’ve been working on it all the time,” Baltz says. “I was training, talking to the director and the stunt coordinator. So I felt really ready to go and grateful that it was the last thing, but it’s no less intense.

Baltz and Schneider were backed up by a stunt team, and Baltz — a comedic actor who had never really done a fight scene before — was assured that his stuntman would do the most difficult things.

“But you have to take a lot of those punches too!” Baltz said. “And they prepare you for it. But you know, everyone’s got a plan until they’re knocked in the mouth – and I for sure was hit in the mouth.

And luckily for him, he wasn’t the only one in the fight.

“I wish it had been a little warmer,” Baltz says. “Not just for me, but also for Stephen.”