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Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder “dug coal together,” but by the end of Justified‘s six-season run, Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins weren’t exchanging many words together — to hear at least one of the actors tell it.
In Peter Biskind’s November 2023 book, Pandora’s Box How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV, Goggins is quoted as saying that he and Olyphant “weren’t talking” by the end of Justified’s run.
“We had a tough time towards the end of Justified,” Boyd’s portrayer elaborated in a recent interview with Trent Crimm The Independent. “We were so deep into these people we were playing, and they were so polar opposite at this point in the story… I think we were both obsessed with our own points of view, just carrying the weight of this conflict.”
But now, some nine years later, the former co-stars clearly have patched things up — as evidenced in part by their recent “reunion” in Thailand, where Goggins is filming The White Lotus Season 3 and Olyphant is shooting FX‘s yet-to-be-titled Alien franchise series. “We just needed to take a break in order to come back together,” Goggins told The Independent.
Olyphant was asked in a new Vanity Fair Q&A about Goggins’ POV. Hailing his onetime on-screen foe as “a real actor,” Raylan’s portrayer proceeded to offer “my version” of things.
“I adored working with Walt from the jump, but these actors, they’re a pain in the ass. They get really into their work!” shared Olyphant, with a grin. “There was this thing where, as the show went on, and especially as the thing came to an end, I would come from the writers’ room. They’d add things that were like, ‘Here’s what we need Walt to do in order to get to this finale we want.’ Then Walt would say his character would never do that, and then I’d be like, ‘Goddamn it.’ We’d get really frustrated with each other.”
Olyphant also posited that “people have a hard time saying goodbye,” such as when a TV series’ run comes to an end. And as a result, “Some people make it easier to walk away.”
Goggins — now the star of the already-renewed Prime Video hit Fallout — of course put in a top-secret cameo at the very end of FX’s Justified: City Primeval miniseries that aired last summer, and has hinted again and again that he’d be game to saddle up for a full-on Boyd/Raylan reunion.
Olyphant told Vanity Fair, “I’ve always adored [Walton] and I love working with him, and he’s something special. I’d work with him again in a heartbeat.
“And I’m assuming if we do it again,” he added with a laugh, “he’ll be more predisposed to listen to me.”
Holy crap, don’t scare me like that. I adore those two actors. They are two of my favorites. They were magnificent in Justified, together.
They are class acts. Whatever the issue was, they spoke about it openly only after the resolution- and still are dancing around the specifics. Neither badmouthed the other one or used it for tabloid fodder/publicity
This☝ I wouldn’t be able to continue to watch and rewatch this series if I thought they didn’t get along now.
Actors have never had real, adult, jobs. The transitory nature of their jobs mean that they rarely have to continue to put up with someone they really don’t like. Until that point in their careers, neither had been stars on TV shows. Lots of movie and short recurring roles. If you don’t like someone, choke it down for a few months, and you won’t have to see them for a few years. It isn’t like when your cubicle neighbor and you hate each other and can do zero about it.
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On network TV, even if you hate a coworker, by year 6 everyone is making so much money that it paves over any concerns. But Justified wasn’t paying F U money, so it was just too coworkers who were rubbing each other wrong at that point.
Walton Goggins was on The Shield for 89 episodes before this.
Loved the series. Nine years?? Time does fly.
God bless him, but Olyphant is an odd duck. I’m not sure why he is an actor when he absolutely hates the idea of acting being anything other than parroting lines on a paper in the tone that the director tells him to use. His constant wet-blanket insistence that fictional characters are fictional implies he somehow doesn’t know that we all KNOW that but are choosing to engage in creativity and empathy imagining the inner lives of characters. He’s just over here trolling going “it’s faaaake”.
Almost all of his characters come out almost completely the same, b/c apparently he just has the “Raylan on/Raylan off” switch. He’s a little bit cardboard, not bad, just a little…two dimensional. Which is fine when you need a cutout to stand next to characters with actual, ya know, character. But honestly there’s just no doubt Goggins is more creative and flexible, even if he – gasp – dared to open his mouth to writer. He’s got the career to prove it now, too. I get wanting to get on with it at work, but I think it’s also nice to just, ya know, lighten up, dude. Hopefully if they work together again Tim’ll be more of a grownup.
This is quite a take. I would argue instead that placing your own perception of character over what the story requires is rather selfish. And it IS just a job for people who do it- actors aren’t changing the world- those who think they are often teeter on becoming insufferable. Audience can and should empathize all they want-performers move from set to set and collegues to colleagues.
That said, love both of them. They have both had amazing run on TV and hope to see a lot of them together now that they have made up.
Seems a little similar to how the Succession cast was feeling about Jeremy Strong towards the end, they all just wanted to get on with it but he had a very different style of acting. For Tim and Walton I’m sure the stress of long hours and wanting to get the final season right did weigh on the both of them but I’m happy they’ve put that behind them and enjoy one another’s company now.
You guys are awesome together!! Justified is my all time favorite
I love every single role Timothy Olyphant has played, especially in Deadwood which is probably my all time favourite TV show, but when I think of him as a person I’m always reminded of the Kevin Smith story about working with him.
Where might I find this story? I don’t recall hearing it. Was it on one of his podcasts?
When I think of Olyphant, I find myself thinking of his Conan appearances. (Which I know is still a performance to some degree.)
Bring it on!