Copyright AL.com
Walton Goggins turns 54 today. To wish the Birmingham native a happy birthday, we want to look back at some of his finest work. Having worked with Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Jon Favreau and Robert Duvall, it’s tough to narrow down his phenomenal work to just a handful of movies and shows that we love the most. Busier than ever, Goggins even hosted “Saturday Night Live,” cementing his mainstream status as one of the hardest working kings of television, always stealing scenes on some of HBO’s most popular shows. Beaming with a big smile and charisma to spare, Goggins never disappoints on a screen, big or small. Read our picks below. (Warning: Several of the clips shared below contain profanity.) The Hateful Eight (2015) In the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious (and violent) characters. Tarantino’s gory Western/chamber play sees great performances from Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh and others, but the ugliness of the people and environment challenge your patience, especially with the near-three-hour runtime. It’s Walton Goggins’ Chris Mannix, a chatterbox who may or may not be a newly elected sheriff, who injects life and impulsiveness, particularly in the stagecoach ride to Minnie’s Haberdashery. “You done got me talkin’ politics!” he says, evading certain death as Jackson holds a pistol to his temple. The Shield (2002-08) Shawn Ryan’s gritty corrupt cop drama started as a showcase for Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey, but seven seasons let the talented cast stretch their arcs and show off some talent, namely Goggins as Shane Vendrell, who meets a horrifyingly tragic end when his slimy detective sees no way out. Justified (2010-15) Many still consider Goggins’ Emmy-nominated work as Boyd Crowder, a white-supremacist-criminal-turned-born-again-Christian-criminal, his finest to date. Adapting Elmore Leonard’s stories about U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, Graham Yost’s modern Western had a protagonist (Timothy Olyphant) who needed a worthy series-long foe, and Goggins and Olyphant proved the perfect dance partners for six seasons. And after the “City Primeval” revival in 2023, it appears, we may get more Boyd Crowder after all. Vice Principals (2016-17) When Danny McBride couldn’t cast Goggins on “Eastbound and Down,” he and partner Jody Hill did not hesitate signing him on as a co-lead on this woefully underrated dark comedy series about high school colleagues battling it out to become the next principal. The actors have rare chemistry, never more apparent or hilarious when they hurl some of the most creative, explosive and hilariously profane insults at each other in their respective quests to assume the throne. The Righteous Gemstones (2019-25) Goggins’ true masterwork, and no one can tell me any differently. The scheming brother-in-law of the Gemstone family patriarch and self-proclaimed visionary, Baby Billy Freeman is one of the greatest comedy characters in television history -- up there with Barney Fife, George Costanza, Randy Marsh. A habitual liar with absolutely no shame in abandoning friends and family or bleeding people dry, Baby Bill just can’t help himself. And Goggins’ pitch-perfect delivery (and understanding of Southern culture and accents) make every precious second of screen-time appointment viewing. Fallout (2024-present) If Goggins has proven anything in his decades-long career, mostly as a supporting character actor, it’s that he deserves a lead role. In Amazon’s adaptation of the popular post-apocalyptic role-playing video game, he’s front and center as The Ghoul, a former Hollywood actor who mutated into gunslinging bounty hunter during the Great War. Goggins earned an Emmy nod for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, proving he can carry a franchise. The White Lotus (2025) In season three of Mike White’s watercooler hit, Goggins played against type as Rick, the cranky, tight-lipped boyfriend of Aimee Lou Wood’s free-spirited Chelsea. It took several episodes to finally reveal his vengeful agenda in Thailand, but our patience was especially rewarded during his encounter with an old pal played by Sam Rockwell. The Oscar-winner’s extended (and shocking) monologue didn’t just captivate millions of viewers at home, but the stunned look on a mostly silent Rick’s face told the whole story. He was all of us, and Goggins couldn’t have played it more beautifully.
