‘Justified’ interview: Walton Goggins on Boyd’s thought process, ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ and more

So what in the world is Boyd Crowler going to be up to on the rest of “Justified” season 4? Always one to keep his characters’ cards close to the vest, Walton Goggins was playing coy in a conference call with reporters on Thursday. He teased that there would be more movement in his story with Ava and that the story with Raylan and Drew Thompson would become more complicated from here on out, but what the Emmy nominee was more keen to touch on was Boyd’s journey thus far, along with the benefits that come from working at such a place like FX where creativity is not only supported, but it is embraced.

We began our conversation with Goggins by touching a little bit on this subject, as there is no network that has a better reputation these days for taking care of their own. Just look at how “Justified” executive producer Graham Yost has another show now on the network in “The Americans,” how Goggins is transferred as an actor to “Justified” from “The Shield,” or how Kurt Sutter has been given such freedom to develop new projects after working on “The Shield” along with “Sons of Anarchy.”

So why is it that Goggins has been so loyal to this network all of the years? For him, it is all about the support and friendship from the people at the top:

“[FX President] John Landgraf is the preeminent in his field. He’s the best. When people look back at this period of time in television, and I believe that it is a new golden age, that he will be in the pantheon of people in his position to make these decisions. From John to Eric [Schrier, executive VP of FX productions and head of series development] on down the line, these are all really good friends of mine. I’ve known them all since I was just 29 years old, when they had ‘Son of a Beach’ on. 

“What John does and what they all do is what any great director does: they hire the actor that can do the job, and they don’t second-guess them. That doesn’t mean that they put their feet to the fire and question the decisions that Graham or any other showrunner on FX makes, but they have the showrunners back. Just as important, they have the actors back. To get a call from John Landgraf, I had some of them saved for years. The last episode of ‘The Shield,’ or the finale of season 6, and when you have the president of the network reach out to you personally in that way and thank you for your service and your gratitude and praise it in a way that is sincere and earnest, you can’t beat that. You want to work for people like that for the rest of your life.

“The last thing I’ll say on it, because I know them all so well, is that they all care about the story. As much as the showrunners that they hire and the actors that they hire, they care about these shows. FX really is story-driven, and everyone is motivated by that factor. That’s a great place to be, man. We’re in the business of telling stories, and as long as you’re in the business of trying to get it right and putting your best foot forward, that’s who you want to be in business with.”

For those curious about Goggins’ future as Venus on “Sons of Anarchy,” the actor strongly hinted that there is much more of a story to be told here; and while Sutter has not announced officially that they are bringing him back for any more episodes, we know that the feeling is mutual. (From this perspective, it will likely come down to story and scheduling.)

In moving forward to some “Justified” discussion, Goggins was kind enough to discuss a question that we have been wondering for the past day or so: why was Boyd willing to trust Colton to do the drop-off for Drew Thompson? After what happened with Ellen May, it seems like quite a bit of trust to give him, but Goggins comes back by explaining that this had very much to do with Boyd’s survival instincts:

“You think about it, and you’re right looking at first glance. But we talked about it, and this came from me, Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder talking to Graham Yost. There is no way that I would drop Shelby off, because if something goes wrong, I would be jail for the rest of my life. The one reason that Boyd has for keeping Colton around, in addition to giving him a second chance, is extremely self-serving, and Boyd says it in the episode with ‘are you ready to pay your penance? You have to deliver this guy for me, which means that you have to sacrifice yourself for me. If you get arrested, you go to prison; if you get shot, then something happens and you die.’ Not getting caught was just as important as getting Drew over to the opponent. The fact that Colton didn’t wasn’t Colton’s fault; that’s because the Marshals showed up because Johnny ratted me out! If you look at it from that point of view, that was extremely smart for Boyd. It would have went down the same way if Boyd had been there holding Shelby as Theo came in on the helicopter.”

A special thanks to Goggins for the thoughtful responses and taking the time to chat with us.  Also be sure to read our most-recent “Justified” episode review over at the link here.

Photo: FX