15 Little Known Facts About Walton Goggins
Goggins fever is sweeping the nation, and here at Looper, we've got it bad. Walton Goggins has been delighting audiences on screens small and large since 1990. This Georgia peach is perhaps best known for being a character actor who can make you laugh to the point of tears or quake in your boots with fear. He has a knack for playing bad boys and antiheroes, like outlaw mastermind Boyd Crowder in "Justified," crooked cop Shane Vendrell in "The Shield," and the deliciously psychotic school teacher Lee Russell in "Vice Principals."
Goggins has been acting in such a wide range of products for decades, and he seems set for some decades more. He's finally shifted out of strong supporting roles and attained big-time name recognition for his role as Cooper Howard and the Ghoul in the post-apocalyptic epic series "Fallout," and he's been added to the cast of Season 3 of "The White Lotus," HBO's hit dark comedy anthology series about awful tourists.
Now that his name is on everyone's lips — and his gleaming teeth are on everyone's mind — it's the perfect time to look back through his life and career for facts that might've gotten passed over the first time around. Get your dancing clogs on, and read on for 15 little known facts about Walton Goggins.
He was raised by a pack of 'extraordinary, highly dysfunctional, crazy Southern' women
Walton Goggins was born in Alabama, raised in Georgia, and grew up as a child of divorce. As such, he grew up in a nontraditional household full of colorful women who sound like characters from one of his TV shows. Goggins told Vulture (via Slate) his grandmother was an actress in the 1930s, then a nurse, and her husband was buddies with Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "I was mostly raised by extraordinary, highly dysfunctional, crazy Southern women," Goggins said. "I had a front row seat to the real 'Steel Magnolias.'"
Those steel magnolias included an aunt who worked as a publicist for B.B. King, Wolfman Jack, and Phyllis Diller. Stories and visitors were the entertainment of choice in Goggins' childhood. Another aunt did dinner theater, and Goggins got to hang out with her backstage from a young age, which gave him the acting bug. Being raised by women gave him a communication bug, overall.
"Most of the men that I am attracted to, that are friends of mine, are a balance of masculinity and femininity," Goggins told The Sydney Morning Herald. "I was raised by women. So, for me, being open and being a good listener or, not being withdrawn emotionally, that's never been my experience. I've been this way since I was born, whether it's nature [or] it's nurture. This is just kind of how I live my life."
He once talked himself into a role in The Next Karate Kid
Even if Walton Goggins is known for his scene-stealing bad guy roles these days, back when he was a young pup trying to make it in Hollywood, he couldn't even get a role playing a major bad guy. He told Marc Maron on his podcast, "WTF with Marc Maron," that he was up for his first bad guy role when he was in his early 20s, in "The Next Karate Kid" with Hilary Swank. "I was called back four times," he told Maron, then lost the role after a neck-and-neck audition process.
Goggins said that, dejected, he returned to his job selling cowboy boots at L.A.'s Thieves Market but couldn't accept his big brush with fame had swept past him. "I knew they liked me," he explained to Maron. So he said he called producer Jerry Weintraub's office and asked the film's director, Christopher Cain, if he could read for the role of the bad guy's best friend. Goggins told Maron that Cain was shocked: "He said 'You would do that?' And I said, 'Are you kidding me? Yes, please!'" Cain told Walton the role was his, and it ushered in a steady new era of work.
He started his own valet parking company
When Walton Goggins was an enterprising young actor starting out in L.A, he avoided the typical actor job of waiting tables. "I could never work in a restaurant, man, 'cause I'm not good at people telling me what to do," he laughingly told Marc Maron. So instead, he cobbled together a living selling cowboy boots, working as a personal trainer, and starting his own valet parking business.
"[I had] the audacity to walk down Ventura Boulevard with a three-piece suit and a s****y briefcase that I got as a graduation present and just walk into these restaurants, these big restaurants, to say, 'Hello, how are you? My name is Walton Goggins. I'm from Atlanta, Georgia — just moved here. I see that you have valet parking. I'd like to bid for your business,'" Goggins told Vanity Fair. Goggins got the business off the ground, along with some actor friends, and by the time he handed it over to an actor buddy, he could count nine L.A. restaurants as clients. Sometimes audacity really pays off.
He was almost fired from The Shield
You may know Walton Goggins for his series-long role as Boyd Crowder on "Justified" — which wasn't supposed to happen. "When we shot the pilot, Boyd was dead at the end," show creator Graham Yost told NPR. "And then we tested the show and we had all just fallen in love with Walton [Goggins] and the chemistry between Walton and Tim [Olyphant], so we decided to keep him alive."
Goggins' role-expansion is rosy here, but not so much when it comes to "The Shield." "You know, I was supposed to be fired after the pilot of 'The Shield'," Goggins told Nashville Scene. "The brass at FX saw the pilot, and they thought, 'Who is this f***in' guy? I don't know — is he irritating?”" Goggins said Shawn Ryan, the show's creator, fought for him and wrote the show's second episode to make his case. "It was after FX saw that that they began to understand what Shawn saw from the very beginning," Goggins explained about how he — and Shane Vendrell — stuck around until the bitter end.
He had a powerful experience playing a transgender woman
"Sons of Anarchy" boasted a star-studded ensemble cast — including Walton Goggins in a surprising role. In Seasons 5 through 7 of the FX motorcycle gang drama, Goggins played Venus Van Dam, a transgender prostitute who falls in with the SAMCRO crew at first through a goofy blackmail subplot, and later as a genuine addition to the world of the show.
Venus isn't treated like a joke in "Sons of Anarchy," but a fully-fledged human. The role is refreshing — yet surprising — and had a major impact on Goggins. "She's touched a different, a real place in me that I just didn't know existed," Goggins told The Sydney Morning Herald. "She's allowed me to see the world through her point of view. It's forever changed me; I get emotional thinking about it. She is here and present and I think the fact that she's transgender is just awesome." Goggins also said his 2024 "Fallout" series character would agree. In a Collider interview about the Ghoul, Goggins says: "I think he would love Venus. I think he would enjoy her immensely." Really, who wouldn't?
He owns his own spirits company
Walton Goggins seems like he'd be fun to hang out with. His talk show appearances and in-depth interviews alone show the man is downright convivial. So it only makes sense that he co-owns his own distillery, dedicated to "craft something truly special for our friends ... old friends, new friends, and the friends we haven't met yet."
Mulholland Distilling is an L.A.-based company from Goggins and his photographer friend, Matthew Alper. Their offerings include award-winning gin, vodka, and whiskey. The company's name is as tied to the film world as Goggins is. "What is the name that represents Los Angeles? What is the artery that ties this together? What is one of the most famous drives in the world? That's Mulholland Drive," Goggins told Loam Baby. "For me, a poor kid from Georgia, thinking about Los Angeles, Mulholland Drive was the first road I wanted to see."
Maybe you've seen one of Goggins' great "Inspirations" commercials for Mulholland. The campaign blends just enough style and silliness to keep the spirit of Goggins — or should we say, Gog(GIN)s — alive.
The man can clog
You know Walton Goggins, but do you know Walton Cloggin' Goggins? Goggins grew up in Lithia Springs, Georgia, where, he told Conan O'Brien, he was a champion hog-caller, as well as a clogger at concerts for a family friend, blues legend B.B. King. "It's a little like Riverdancing, but different," Goggins said on "Conan," then he briefly demonstrated alongside the equally talented dancer J.B. Smoove.
The outlaw Boyd Crowder did a little clogging on "Justified," but Goggins' cloggin' feet really got their chance to shine on "The Righteous Gemstones." Goggins' fancy feet also got a callout when his role was first announced in Deadline. "Goggins will play Baby Billy, a former child star who clogged and sang for Jesus," quotes the industry rag. His clogging skills were showcased in a tap number when Baby Billy sings and dances along to his hit country song with his sister Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles), "Misbehavin'." Hand to God, Goggins has some blessed moves.
He's won an Academy Award
That's right — Walton Goggins has won an Academy Award. No, it wasn't for "The Hateful Eight." No, it wasn't for "Django Unchained." And no, it wasn't even for his role in "The Apostle." Goggins' Academy Award comes from a short film he made with another god-tier character actor with a tendency toward southern drawls and moral gray areas.
"The Accountant" won the 2002 Oscar for best live action short. Written and directed by Ray McKinnon (of "Deadwood" and "The Blind Side" fame) and produced by Goggins, Jolly Dale, and Lisa Blount, the dark comedy stars McKinnon as a unique accountant and Goggins as a struggling farmer in need of one.
The acceptance speech moment for the award is an all-around lovely thing, with young Goggins obviously mesmerized by the little gold man in his hand. At one point, he hoots and hollers while pumping the statue in the air, but in a quiet moment, simply stares at it, and whispers: "Wow."
He lost his two front teeth, twice
Walton Goggins is as toothsome as he is talented, but this wasn't always the case. In two awful incidences in his young life, Goggins' mouth got him in trouble — literally. "I showed up late to baseball practice in fifth grade, and I had to take a lap, and I was running to centerfield, and all I heard was 'Walton,'" Goggins said on "Conan." "And I turn around and I caught a baseball right in my mouth. And literally my two front teeth were on the ground next to me."
Injury was added to injury when Goggins' emergency room doctor, on a dentist's orders, shoved Goggins' two front teeth back into his mouth — with no novocaine at all. Still, Goggins told Conan O'Brien, "They took." Until a year and a half later, when Goggins slammed face-first into the shallow end of the pool with a dive destined to take his two front teeth for a second time.
He first met Quentin Tarantino at a party
Walton Goggins has a knack for finding collaborators he can come back to. Just a handful of those partners include Timothy Olyphant, Ray McKinnon, Danny McBride, and Quentin Tarantino — whom he met in the most Goggins way possible: in Venice, in L.A., at a tango party, 20 years before the pair would ever creatively collaborate.
Goggins said on "WTF with Marc Maron" that he was invited to attend a tango party with Robert Duvall, his friend and co-star in "The Apostle." "This was just after 'Pulp Fiction.' There's like six people [there], and me," Goggins says. And another one of those six people was Quentin Tarantino. "I had a lovely conversation. He was lovely then," Goggins continues. "And now cut to 20 years later, or whatever. I'm two in!" Goggins starred in "Django Unchained" and "The Hateful Eight," and who knows, maybe one day he'll sneak into one of Tarantino's (maybe) final films.
He made a Justified cameo happen in Fallout
The moment we meet the Ghoul in the "Fallout" premiere, we also meet one of Walton Goggins' old friends and screen partners. The bounty hunter Honcho helps the Ghoul bust loose from a trap in order to cut the Ghoul in on a hunt he needs him for. Honcho is played by none other than Mykelti Williamson, who plays butcher and barbecue crime boss Ellstin Limehouse in "Justified."
Goggins is responsible for bringing in his buddy for the part. "This role [for Honcho] was coming up, and they asked me point blank if I knew someone. I said, 'I know the perfect guy: Mykelti. He would be incredible in this,'" Goggins told IndieWire. "Whenever you get the opportunity to work with a friend who you have that shorthand [with], and you know they're going to deliver, you make your phone call to your friend."
He came up with Boyd Crowder's ice cream empire dreams
Anyone who's watched "Justified" for even one episode knows: Boyd Crowder and Raylan Givens dug coal together. And of course, they know that Boyd is the black hat to Raylan's white hat U.S. Marshal. But what would happen if Harlan's resident criminal mastermind applied his genius to something approaching the straight and narrow?
At one point in the show, Boyd thinks about going legit and running a Dairy Queen — which is a notion that Walton Goggins provided himself. It was important to Goggins to include a real idea of Southern success from humble beginnings in "Justified" — even if Boyd never took such a path.
"There was a dude in my hometown whose dad had four Dairy Queen franchises, and he made it," Goggins told UpRoxx. "He was a success. ... As fastidious as Boyd Crowder was, and as great of a compartmentalizer as he was... yeah, I think you would have seen Dairy Queens popping up in places that you never anticipated. ... He would sell more Blizzards than anyone in any state in America."
He stars as the fictional spokesperson for the Ford Bronco
If anyone was going to play the fictional, retro, sorta-cowboy spokesperson for the Ford Bronco, we suppose it would have to be Walton Goggins. What's extra wild is that Goggins has played this character in a short film — not once, but twice.
"John Bronco" is an absurdly silly mockumentary about a (totally made-up) man who embodied the essence of the Ford Bronco, became its pitchman and TV star, then mysteriously disappeared. The film — and its follow-up, "John Bronco Rides Again" — is written by Mark Gilbar and directed by Jake Szymanski, who directed several Andy Samberg films and the first season of breakaway Freevee hit "Jury Duty."
""[Goggins] was absolutely the immediate person on the wish list," Szymanski told The Ringer when discussing the casting. "He's an American treasure. He smells like apple pie, and his smile is like a sunrise." "John Bronco" also united Goggins with his eventual "The Righteous Gemstones" co-star, Tim Baltz, in these Bronco films, which must be seen to be believed.
He says one role he's played is close to his real life
Not all of Walton Goggins' roles are high-key antiheroes. In CBS sitcom "The Unicorn," Goggins plays the Unicorn himself, Wade Felton: a kind, grounded, dad of two — and a handsome widower trying to find love again. The show walks a fine line between grief and comedy, and Goggins says his role is closer to his real life than many of his other characters.
"This is closer to who I am than anything I've ever played," Goggins told The Daily Beast, admitting both his fear and love for the role. "I have in my own life experienced tragedy," he continued, referring to tragically losing his first wife. He added, "It was my community that helped carry me to a new place in life."
Part of Goggins' new place is life as a husband again, as well as a father. Goggins' second wife, Nadia Conners, is a writer and filmmaker. Just like Wade in "The Unicorn," Goggins gets to grow through tragedy and move into a new chapter full of love.
He was sort of in Veronica Mars
Walton Goggins really is in everything, including shows that never get picked up to series. One of his legendary stunted roles is as Jack Vincennes in a TV pilot adaptation of the classic neo-noir film, "L.A. Confidential," which went unsold. Another is his role as FBI overseer Hendricks in a pilot presentation to continue the wisecracking neo-noir detective series, "Veronica Mars," with a fourth season.
"I've known Kristen Bell for 20 years, from Season 1 of 'The Shield.; That was one of her first gigs, and we've been friends ever since," Goggins told TVLine. "So when Rob [Thomas] asked me to come on and do this pilot, this presentation for a different 'Veronica Mars,' I went down to San Diego and helped him with that."
"We streamed it for the network, and they flipped over it," series creator Rob Thomas told Vanity Fair. "Then we got a call saying people didn't like that plan, and it wasn't being picked up." Goggins and Bell as an investigative dream team didn't float the network's boat back in 2007, but now, after the death of the "Veronica Mars" revival, it seems like the perfect time for a reboot. Whether Goggins plays a bad guy with a heart of gold or a good guy with a wild streak, we'll be tuning in. You can clog on it.