The Righteous Gemstones’s Seann William Scott Had No Idea

Spoilers follow for the series finale of The Righteous Gemstones, “That Man of God May Be Complete.”

When Seann William Scott was cast in the final season of The Righteous Gemstones, he had no idea that his character, Corey Milsap, would have such a pivotal role in the series finale; all he knew was that it was an opportunity to work on his “favorite show.” So he was surprised to learn that his character — the seemingly good-natured son of Eli Gemstone’s season-long love interest and Aimee-Leigh’s former best friend, Lori (Megan Mullaly) — would be the show’s final antagonist. The way he plays it in his performance, showing just subtle flashes of the darkness he has lingering below the surface, the twist is surprising for the audience, too.

In the series finale, it’s revealed that, for years, Corey had been manipulated by his father, Cobb (Michael Rooker), into helping him intimidate, assault, kidnap, and murder every one of his mom’s lovers in an attempt to win her back. Having killed his father for attempting to do the same thing to Eli the episode prior, he snaps and goes on a rampage, non-fatally shooting Jesse, Judy, and Kelvin Gemstone before taking a retaliatory bullet to the head himself. Finally lucid and full of regret, he asks the Gemstones siblings to pray over his dying body, and their prayers are the final meaningful lines of dialogue each of them delivers in the series. Scott sells the emotion of the scene with quietly labored breathing and a face of calm resignation. For fans who primarily know him for broad comedic roles in movies like American Pie and Role Models, it’s an impressive introduction to his dramatic range.

Meaty acting opportunity aside, Scott is grateful to have played a part in the finale of this beloved show, partly because it helps him cope with its ending as a fan. “What they did for me is give me lifelong bragging rights,” he says. “But it won’t feel like it’s over for me, because I’ll be able to go and rewatch all these episodes.”

What was your relationship with The Righteous Gemstones before you were cast in it this season? 
Well, it’s my favorite show, so that was my relationship. But I’d actually met Danny McBride and David Gordon Green years ago at a production company at Universal; this was before Pineapple Express. They had an incredible script that I wanted to do, and we just hit it off right away. We had this article that we’d gotten from The New Yorker about this thing called nerd camp for genius kids, and we got David and Danny to come on to write the script, and David wanted to direct it. This was 2004, I think, and I reread it 21 years later, and it still holds up! But then David was like, “Universal is dragging their feet, and I can’t wait around anymore.” Then, of course, they did Pineapple Express, and it exploded. They came to visit me on Dukes of Hazzard, but I hadn’t seen them since then until this show.

How did the opportunity to play Corey come to you from there? 
I learned from the cast when we were doing the show that, when he writes, Danny typically has someone in mind for each role. I’d actually been trading emails with David over the years, just checking in out of love and to find something to do together, and then I got a call from my agents and they were like, “There’s this role in The Righteous Gemstones, and it’s a pig farmer.” And I was like, “I’m fucking in!” They sent over three scripts, so I had no idea what the arc for the character was. All I really knew was that he was a pork salesman, and his mom starts a relationship with Eli, and he has a difficult time with that but then he kind of accepts it. I was just like, I don’t care. I just want to be a part of this.

So you didn’t know that you would play such a pivotal role in the series finale?
I had no idea. But then I talked to Danny afterwards and he was like, “We’ve got some juicy shit planned for you.” I’m like, “Fuck, I love juicy shit! What is it?” He’s like, “We’re going to find out that your dad has been taking out all of his mom’s lovers, and you helped him.” I was like, “Holy fuck, you guys didn’t tell me that. All I got was ‘pig farmer’!”

I didn’t know until I got to Charleston and I was doing wardrobe fitting, and the designer was like, “I just read the finale.” At that point, I’d read the second-to-last episode, and I’d just called Danny to go, “Holy shit, man, you made me a hero!” And he goes, “Just wait, buddy …” And that’s when the wardrobe designer was like, “We got to get you suited up for a Michael Jackson outfit!” I was like, “Excuse me?” And then she told me about the dance, and I was like “Holy shit.” And then she told me about what happens, and I was like, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

What was it like trying to find your footing within this ensemble that already has so much rapport and chemistry? 
I was so intimidated, to be honest. It’s not a normal thing to get the opportunity to work on your favorite TV show, and with this cast of comedy killers. But then two things happened. First of all, the cast and crew could not be nicer, and that all starts with Danny. And then, the first day of filming, I had to get up early to cover my tattoos, and I woke up and I was like, Holy fuck. I feel so bad. I just thought, This sucks, man. It’s my first day on Righteous Gemstones. I can’t just call in sick and be like, “Hey, I can’t make it.” I only had this one scene, but I was in such a fog.

Then I showed up on set four days later, and they were like, “Maybe you want to stay in your trailer. Some of the people came down with COVID.” And I was like, Oh no!  I’m patient zero, dude. I got everybody sick! So I had COVID for the first couple weeks, and I think that almost helped me keep the nerves at bay a little bit, because I was just navigating that. But it was surreal. There were times when I would do scenes, and I was just watching everybody and laughing, and then it got quiet and I’d be like, Oh, fuck, my line!

The Righteous Gemstones is known for man-child characters with misguided swagger, and that’s a role you’ve played a fair bit in the past. But Corey is nothing like that. From your perspective, why do you think they wanted you for this part?
I think because this is already such a different role for me than what people are used to, it might be more impactful when things start to break down in the finale. Obviously, Danny had a master plan: Let’s take this guy and have him play the most unassuming, normal character. That’s already going to throw people off. Then, when we get to the finale, you’ll be like, Oh, fuck. I didn’t expect that.

Over the course of the season, there are flashes that indicate Corey has some darkness lingering beneath the surface, but they’re very fleeting. How much were you trying to leave bread crumbs for the character’s twist? 
Danny and I talked about it. For it to have the most impact, you don’t want to be watching episode six and be like, That guy’s going to lose his mind. So I think it was just enough for it to all make sense. I remember we did the scene at the steak house in one of the earlier episodes where my character gets really upset when it’s confirmed that Eli and his mom are hooking up. We did some takes where it was much more heightened and much more intense, but when I watched the cut they used, I was like, Oh, this is so much better. It was just enough to where you’re like, Oh, this guy’s got something going on.

When you learned how much of the series finale was going to rest on your shoulders, was it a lot of pressure? 
When I got the script, I just felt enormous gratitude to get to do something like this in this show. But it was all on the page. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, and I spoke to Danny about it, and he was just so supportive. I was like, “This is a classic story of a good person doing a terrible thing due to circumstance and abuse.” When we started to film it, Danny was really pleased with what I was doing, so I was able to put the pressure aside a little bit and just be like, Okay, we’ve got to commit to this and make sure it works.

What was it like filming the Michael Jackson choreography sequence? Did the dance take a long time to learn?
I think it’s maybe a little bit of a stretch to call it Michael Jackson choreography. I did attempt to moonwalk. Listen, the choreographer is incredible, and when he first showed it to me, it was like, Oh, fuck me. It was stressful! But then it was like, God, this is such an incredible character moment. It’s out of nowhere, and you realize this character is breaking down and he’s not well. I can’t remember how many hours I put in to practice it. But then, once we started doing it, it became something totally different. The choreography was definitely in there, but then weird shit just happened. I don’t recall there ever being so many pelvic thrusts. But the choreographer was there, and he was like, “I love it. Do what you’re doing.”

I wanted to talk about how you approached the death scene. It’s such an important scene for the siblings and their character arcs, but at the same time, you’re also dying on the floor, and you need the emotion of that to play too. How did you balance that?
I don’t remember what I was thinking when we were shooting it, but it was probably, The more grounded it is, the more effective it will be. We shot my part first, and I remember it all being really emotional. This character loves these guys — he wants them to be family. It’s not like this whole time he’s been filled with envy and he secretly hated them. He just snapped, and when he gets shot and he’s dying, all of a sudden, he gets clarity again. He can’t believe what he did.

As the star of one of the most successful teen film franchises of all time, I have to ask: What are your thoughts on Uncle Baby Billy’s Teenjus? Do you think it has legs?
Oh my gosh, dude, I laughed so hard at the music-video part. I don’t remember that in the script. What do you think? Do they do a spinoff of Baby Billy and Teenjus? Because The Chosen — that show is huge! I think Teenjus would be a monster hit.