What Longmire's Robert Taylor Loved About Playing Walt & How He Did It His Way
Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire is one of the more recent additions to the Legion of Detectives, iconic in no small part due to his portrayal by Australian actor Robert Taylor, who brings the character to life in six seasons of the series "Longmire." The show's final season was released on Netflix back in 2017 and remains fondly remembered and missed.
When "Longmire" Season 6 was first coming to Netflix, Taylor spoke to TV Insider about his five-year span playing the character on both the show's original A&E and later Netflix incarnations. Taylor was asked about whether he was disappointed over stepping away from Longmire's hat and boots.
"Sorry? Yeah, but it hasn't sunk in yet," Taylor said. "I guess when we get to March, when we are usually heading back to Santa Fe to get the band back together, that will be weird. I love this show so much, and I love the people I work with." When asked whether his time on "Longmire" made him feel that he was an honorary cowboy, Taylor's answer was interesting and showed how his affection for the role came from his personal background. "I would be very honored to think that, and I guess I do," he said. "Growing up in Australia, the similarities between the American West and the Outback are amazing. People speak a little differently, but that's about it."
Taylor drew a comparison between the American west and his native Australian outback
Robert Taylor went on to reveal that the similarities he saw between his homeland and the show's milieu informed his portrayal of Walt Longmire: "I was so happy when the role showed up. I remember thinking, 'Oh, I know how to do this.'" Elsewhere in the interview, Taylor dropped a tantalizing prospect for fans of "Longmire" that, unfortunately, as of this writing, hasn't panned out yet: "There have been formal talks about doing some 'Longmire' movies; I know that all of us would like to do it."
Given Taylor's obvious affection for the character, it's not a surprise that he would be eager to return to the world of "Longmire" for some feature-length mysteries.
Taylor also went into a little detail about the way he managed to claim ownership of the character over the course of the series. "We were about the quiet people, and I love that. I wouldn't do stuff that didn't seem true," he said. "Pretty early on I was left alone to do that. I let everyone know, that I know how to play this guy, and I'm going to do it my way. You can come along for the ride or not, I don't care. And everybody did."
Judging by Taylor's performance in the role and the show's popularity, that seems to have been the correct call.