Bradley Cooper made a surprise guest appearance in the recently aired season 4 premiere of The Righteous Gemstones.
The hit HBO satirical comedy series finally returned with its fourth and final season. However, they went on a different direction in its premiere as it focused on the story of the Gemstone family's ancestor played by an A-lister.
Bradley Cooper Appears as Surprise Guest Star in The Righteous Gemstones Season 4
Cooper showed up in the premiere of The Righteous Gemstones season 4 as Elijah Gemstone in the flashback-heavy episode titled "Prelude."
The Oscar nominee's appearance came as a huge surprise for fans since his guest role was being kept under wraps up until the airing of the episode.
"Prelude" focused on the titular family's ancestor Elijah Gemstone during the Civil War period as he established himself as a powerful religious figure in the South.
However, we learned that Elijah became a clergy in the most unexpected way possible as he found himself becoming a military chaplain during the Civil War for the sake of money.
It gave viewers context on the true history of the Gemstone family's religious dynasty and how his story may have influenced future generations as they continued the megachurch business until today.
Why Did Bradley Cooper Agree to Guest Star in The Righteous Gemstones?
In a recent interview, showrunner/star/director Danny McBride explained how they managed to recruit Cooper to do a special guest appearance in The Righteous Gemstones' season 4 premiere.
He revealed that Cooper was their dream casting and he praised the actor's commitment in playing the role during filming.
"I threw it off the cuff to my producing partners… 'It needs to be somebody really good, somebody with charisma who everybody likes — someone who’s really good, has charisma and that everyone likes. Someone like Bradley Cooper.' One of the producers was like, 'Why don’t we just ask him?'" McBride said.
"I assumed that Bradley Cooper’s not going to want to come down to Charleston for no money and be in a Civil War period piece, but I was wrong. We sent him the script and he instantly got back to me. He dug the material and was flattered we asked."
McBride added, "I never thought we’d get a guy of his stature to wear a period piece wool costume in 90 degree weather for 10 days straight. And for no money. It takes a very dedicated person to commit to that."
What do you think of Cooper's guest appearance? Let us know in the comments!
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