Walton Goggins owns one of the coolest characters on television (Exclusive Interview)
By Michael Aaron Gallagher of StayFamous.Net
Actor Walton Goggins participates in FX’s “Justified” panel at the 2013 Winter TCA Press Tour at The Langham Huntington on January 9, 2013 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)
When Emmy-nominated actor Walton Goggins (The Shield) first took on the role of Boyde Crowder in the FX drama Justified, there was no promise that he would return beyond the pilot episode. Yet for the show’s writers and for the actor himself, there was a richness to his character that could not be denied. Now, after four seasons in his role as the elusive and mysterious nemesis of Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant), some have called him the coolest character on television.
In 2010, Walton explained to StayFamous.Net what made the show so unique (click here to read the story), beyond the superb writing of legendary author Elmore Leonard, whose short story inspired the series.
“I think another reason that people will hopefully tune in and stay tuned in will be an opportunity to explore a world that isn’t being explored on the rest of television, and that’s the South, this very specific place in Harlan County, Kentucky,” Goggins said at the time. “It’s nice to see things and to see people reflected in our art that are not just from urban areas… I think it’s important to reflect all cultures in our society, and I think that that will be an opportunity for people that don’t live in New York or Los Angeles or Chicago to see something that is familiar to them.”
Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder. Photo by James Minchin/FX.
As Justified nears the close of its fourth season on FX, Goggins shared what impresses him the most about his co-star Timothy Olyphant.
“I personally have an obsessive-compulsive disorder when it comes to many different things in my life. I obsess over things because I care about them,” Goggins told me recently. “And rarely have I worked with another actor who obsesses on the same level as I do. Fortunately, for Tim, I don’t know that that applies to the rest of his life but I know it applies to Justified. And he leaves no stone unturned four times. So he’ll take every stone and turn it over then turn it back over and turn it on its side and turn it on its other side. He’s as curious and as tenacious and as obsessive as I am, in his approach to the work and specifically to the show. His commitment is unparalleled and that’s something that allows me to feel like I don’t need to go see a psychologist on a weekly basis, because there’s somebody else out there that is as obsessive about Justified as I am.”
Overall, Goggins compares the series to a hearty meal, which offers a little something for everyone.
“It’s pretty easy to digest, you know. It’s like eating a good meal,” Goggins said. “You get to taste a lot of different flavors and we mix a healthy amount of humor and absurdity with the drama that we try to offer up. I’m trying to think of another show on the air right now that really does that… at the end of the episode, you can kind of lay it down and it’s almost like reading a book. There’s a narrative – a literative kind of quality to it which, feels at least for me, it feels like, “Oh wow, I read that chapter. Oh, man, I can’t wait to read the next chapter.”
Justified airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on the FX network.
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Walton Goggins owns one of the coolest characters on television (Interview)
Copyright 2013 by Michael Aaron Gallagher
Photographs courtesy of FX Networks
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