"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," McBride says of casting his surprise Civil War-set final season opener. "And for no money.

Danny McBride on collaborating with his 'Aloha' costar for th ambitious Civil War-themed prologue that opens the show's fourth and final season

Note: This story contains spoilers "The Righteous Gemstones" Season 4, Episode 1. From its very first episode, "The Righteous Gemstones" has had no shortage of top-tier actors behaving ridiculously. After all,

The HBO series, which follows the hijinks of a famous televangelist family, is wrapping up with its fourth season.

This show has managed to survive — through COVID, through strikes — and we were able to still tell the story we wanted to tell and end it on our terms and wrap it up in a way

I sent him the script and he called me back pretty quickly,” McBride tells PEOPLE before explaining what happened nextBradley Cooper may have needed just a little nudge to sign on to appear in the fourth and final season of The Righteous Gemstones.

The Righteous Gemstones -- the HBO original series about a world famous (and quite dysfunctional) televangelist family -- is nearly back for its fourth season. It's also the final season of the show,

Prelude, plays like a Civil War movie. Graphic, violent, touching, and a tiny bit sadistic. Bradley Cooper plays a Gemstone ancestor and he carries the Episode. His scheming, unscrupulous crook who lives for the money goes from belonging to the trash of humanity to finding his idea of honor and redemption.

After The Righteous Gemstones' thrilling season 4 premiere set during the Civil War, I'm convinced Danny McBride should make a western for HBO.