Cory DeMeyers, the Emmy-nominated stunt coordinator behind The Righteous Gemshad to tackle a number of ridiculous scenarios in the third season of the HBO comedy about a deeply dysfunctional family that runs a megachurch in the South. There was a brawl in which one actor was completely naked. There was an elaborate chase. But perhaps the wildest scene of all involved a monster truck called The Redeemer, built specifically for the occasion. A monster truck is not to be trifled with.

“You even have to constantly remind the stunt people and the crew, ‘Yes, everything is going great, everything is working the way we want it to, but we can’t rest on our laurels too much because we’re working with a ten-thousand-pound killing machine on set and we have to respect them and their performance,'” says DeMeyers.

Gemstones received two nominations for stunts: one for DeMeyers for Outstanding Stunt Coordination in a Comedy Series and another for Outstanding Stunt Performance in the episode “Burn for Burn, Wound for Wound, Stripe for Stripe.”

In the episode, the Gemstone children Jesse, Kelvin and Judy – played by creator Danny McBride, Adam DeVine and Edi Patterson – are kidnapped by their ex-uncle’s (Steve Zahn) militia. Jesse’s son Gideon (Skyler Gisondo) eventually helps them escape in a Deus Ex monster truck scenario by destroying the property with the Redeemer while his father and siblings flee with their aunt (Kristen Johnston).

This particular monster truck was built specifically for the show, DeMeyers explains, so when he was looking for the right driver for the scene, he turned directly to one of the experts. Ryan Disharoon, now also an Emmy nominee, is a professional monster truck driver who helped build The Redeemer. DeMeyers recruited him to be the driver.

“One of the things we do as a stunt coordinator is to help minimize risk,” says DeMeyers. “We do that by hiring the best people for the job and making concrete plans for the action. And no one is better suited to drive the monster truck than the guy who built it and does it every weekend across the country and the world.”

Driving on a farm in suburban Charleston, South Carolina, is much different than driving in an arena, as the pilot has less visibility behind the super-high steering wheel. Meanwhile, the Gemstones crew had to bring in stunt and extra actors to make the chaos believable. And as for The Redeemer’s destructive rampage, like plowing through an outhouse and a windmill? They only had one shot to get it right.

Although security is a major concern, Gemstones Set also allows for spontaneous moments of inspiration. Later in the episode, Jesse tries to Starsky & Hutch-style slide over the hood of a car as he flees. The idea for this came from McBride, and then his double Mike Endoso came up with the idea of ​​a “really funny fall” where Jesse falls to the ground.

“He did one and Danny laughed heartily and immediately thought, ‘Yep, let’s do that,'” says DeMeyers.

Jokes are obviously central to much of the plot in Gemstonesbut DeMeyers not only tries to make the material funny, he also constantly tries to improve on what is on the page, which is often written in a hyper-realistic way to contrast with the humor. In the second episode of the season, for example, he added what he called a “sidewinder” to a chase scene, where at a certain point “the front of a vehicle collides with another vehicle,” causing one of the cars to spin out.

Director Jody Hill originally wanted a car that sideswiped a dump truck, but DeMeyers said that would have been too dangerous. He suggested the Sidewinder alternative, and it went smoothly, even when a storm swept through the city. “It was the last shot of the day, and we did it,” he says. “Everyone was thrilled.”

Gemstones gives DeMeyers and his team the opportunity to do stunts you don’t necessarily see in other comedies, in part because the Gemstones themselves are so wealthy. “Their financial resources as a family are unlimited, and so very absurd situations can arise,” he says. “I think the variety of stunts we get to do on the show is probably the best part of my job as a coordinator.”

In addition to the creative outlet the series provides DeMeyers, McBride and his company, Rough House Pictures, have created a realistic family environment at their South Carolina filming location.

“If I could work with these guys every now and then throughout the rest of my career, I would really appreciate it because they are just so welcoming,” says DeMeyers.

This story first appeared in an August single issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine and subscribe, click here.