Timothy Olyphant Handpicked The Best Part Of Justified
Timothy Olyphant handpicked Walton Goggins for his role as Boyd Crowder.
Justified is on its way back for one more run of episodes and fans couldn’t be happier. Well, they could be a little happier if Walton Goggins decided to return as the villainous Boyd Crowder, but Timothy Olyphant’s Raylan Givens will be going up against a new foe played by Boyd Holbrook instead. Fans should count themselves lucky that we even had Goggins in the original run of the FX series, as Olyphant said that he actually had to convince the actor to take the role.
In an interview with Rolling Stone back before the final season of Justified began, Olyphant talked about getting Goggins to sign on saying “when we first mentioned the idea of him playing Boyd, he had concerns — the stereotype of the Southern racist and all that,” adding “He’s from the region so he was sensitive about putting that out there in a one-dimensional way.” Of course, Goggins eventually took the role, and Olyphant said “we had a list of people we had in mind for Boyd, and the more I looked at his name on that list, the more I kept telling everyone involved, ‘Look, I stand corrected,” adding “I’ve been saying anyone could do it, but we really need to get this specific guy to play Boyd.” Olyphant couldn’t have been more right, as Goggins truly stood out in the role and brought something that it would be hard for another actor to bring to the table.
Walton Goggins’ eloquent and intense approach to the character, who always seemed one step ahead, was the perfect villain for the series. He was also the perfect foil to Olyphant’s smooth yet angry Gary Cooper-esque lawman. While Justified could have stood on its own with its sharp writing and engaging storylines, it didn’t hurt having two lead actors who fit their roles to a tee.
The original run of Justified was based on the character Raylan Givens from the novels by Elmore Leonard. The series followed Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens, who returns to work in his home state of Kentucky following a shootout in Miami. Throughout the duration of the series, a rotating cast of villains played by actors like Margo Martindale, Michael Rapaport, Neal McDonough, and Sam Elliott brought their own special flavors to the series.
Justified received plenty of critical acclaim during its original run and won two Primetime Emmys along with eight nominations. Thus, it’s no surprise that there was a demand to bring the series back for more episodes. We’ll be getting exactly that with Justified: City Primeval.
Justified: City Primeval is based on the Elmore Leonard novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit and will follow Raylan Givens as he hunts down Boyd Holbrook’s Oklahoma Wildman in Detroit. Raylan’s daughter will be around for the ride as well, played by Olyphant’s real-life daughter Vivian Olyphant. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Aunjanue Ellis, Adelaide Clemens, Vondie Curtis Hall, Marin Ireland, Norbert Leo Butz, Victor Williams, and Ravi Patel.
Other than Olyphant as Givens, no other characters from the original series have been announced for Justified: City Primeval. It’s certainly possible they could be keeping things close to the vest to get fans hyped. There hasn’t been any word that Walton Goggins would be appearing in the series at all, but we can always cross our fingers that we’ll get to see him return as Boyd Crowder in a cameo when the series hits FX later this year.
