- Justified 2010–2015
As career criminal Boyd
Crowder, the Alabama-born
Goggins relished playing
someone from rural America.
“It’s one of the things I’m
most proud of in my life. It
means a great deal to me.” - Sons of
Anarchy 2012–2014
Though other actors from The
Shield appeared on this FX
drama, creator Kurt Sutter felt
he couldn’t cast Goggins
because he was too memora-
ble. So Sutter crafted the part
of a transgender woman
named Venus Van Dam, just for
Goggins. “I said, ‘Man, I’m in,
but we’ve got to do this for
real. This is going to be special
if we treat it with care and
kindness.’ We did.” - Lincoln 2012
After playing wishy-washy
Ohio congressman Clay
Hawkins in Steven Spielberg’s
epic, Goggins wishes
schoolkids spent more time
discussing the 13th Amend-
ment. “I went home every
night with such profound dis-
gust and pain and sorrow in
my heart that this conversa-
tion even needed to happen.” - Django
Unchained 2012
Though he was ultimately cast
as Billy Crash, Goggins was
satisfied to simply audition for
director Quentin Tarantino.
“He let me read for all these
other roles,” Goggins recalls.
“I’ll never forget his kindness. I
walked out literally not caring if
I got to work with him because
I got to work with him.” - Tomb Raider 2018
Goggins couldn’t pass up the
chance to play treasure - Beverly Hills,
90210 1992
In one of his first TV roles,
Goggins played a frat boy with
the unusual ability to bark like
a seal. “I think it was a story
about Donna [Tori Spelling] not
wanting to believe how stupid
T HURSDAY
WALTON
GOGGINS
THE UNICORN’S
After playing so many bad and complicated characters
over his nearly three-decade-long career, Walton Goggins,
47, is looking forward to breaking type as a widower
dad who’s looking to date again on the new CBS comedy
The Unicorn: “I want to play the nice guy. I want to see
what that’s like.” But first, he’s agreed to revisit many of
the not-so-pleasant ones. —LYNETTE RICE
ROLE CALL
it was to be in a fraternity,”
Goggins recalls. “Literally, my
lines were ‘Arf, arf, arf, arf.’ ”- The Next
Karate Kid 1994
Goggins auditioned to play the
lead bad guy. But when he lost
the role to Michael Cavalieri, Gog-
gins called director Christopher
Cain and begged to play Cava-
lieri’s friend instead. “It changed
my life. It gave me a nest egg.”- The Shield 2002–2008
Goggins got emotional on his
first day playing Det. Shane
Vendrell on the gritty FX
drama—and not just because it
was “one of the best pilots I
have ever read.” He discovered
that his old pal Kenny Johnson,
whom he met on Major League:
Back to the Minors, was cast as
a fellow detective. “It was like,
‘Oh my God. I get to be with
you?’ We both started to cry.” - The Bourne
Identity 2002
Goggins was originally cast as
Chris Cooper’s assistant, but
the producers wanted some-
one younger and replaced him.
But they didn’t want to drop
him completely, “so they asked
if I’d play a research tech,”
he recalls. “Go to Prague with
Matt Damon and Doug Liman?
I said sure.”
New Comedy � SEPT—26 � 8:30 pm � CBS↑ Walton Goggins on The Unicorn