Season three of "Justified" kicks off next week on the FX Network, and it's the best drama the winter schedule has to offer. It's a show that has managed to make Timothy Olyphant the star he always deserved to be and significantly raise the profile of several of Hollywood's best character actors, many of whom have been toiling away in bit parts for decades. It's clear that showrunner Graham Yost -- who also wrote for "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" -- has a keen appreciation for underappreciated acting talent.
Before the season kicks off, I thought we'd take a closer look at many of the show's fine cast members. Before we do, however, here are a few interesting tidbits on the show itself: It's set in Kentucky, but it's filmed in California (although, the pilot episode was filmed in Western Pennsylvania). Timothy Olyphant's character, Raylan Givens, is based on a character from two Elmore Leonard novels, Pronto and Riding the Rap. Leonard also wrote a short story centered on Givens, "Fire in the Hole," which became the basis for the pilot episode of "Justified." In fact, "Fire in the Hole" was the first working title of the show; at one point, it was also called "Lawman" before they settled on the title they have now. Oh, and the brilliant theme song comes from a group of musicians called Gangstagrass, which combine bluegrass and rap. This is the long version of the song.
1. Timothy Olyphant was a nationally ranked competitive swimmer in high school and continued to swim through college at USC, where he graduated with a degree in fine arts. His first big break came as the lead in a stage production of David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries (What?). At one point, Olyphant was also considered for the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man. Olyphant served as an on-air, unpaid sports commentator for an L.A. radio show through 2009. He's also been married to his (seldom photographed) college sweetheart for 20 years (they have 3 children together); that's her over there on the right.
2. Natalie Zea's (Winona Hawkins) first big break came as a soap actress on Passions, where she replaced Liza Huber, who then replaced Zea two years later. They look nothing alike. You may also know her from "Dirty Sexy Money," and stints on both "Californiacation" and Hung." She was ranked #80 in Maxim's top 100 in 2008, for good reason.
Her longtime partner, since her Passions days, is Travis Schuldt, who many may recognize as the meek boyfriend of Sarah Chalke's character in "Scrubs."
3. Walton Giggons (Boyd Crowder) is an Oscar winner. He starred in and produced an Oscar-winning short film called "The Accountant" that inspired the Drive-By Trucker's song, "Sinkhole." While he was on "The Shield," Walton's wife -- who suffered from depression -- committed suicide by jumping off a Los Angeles' building.
Goggins also starred in this awesome Ram Trucks commercial.
4. In 1991, Jeremy Davies, who plays Dickie Bennett (and who you may remember as Daniel Faraday in "Lost"), starred in this Suburu commercial in which he compared the car to a punk rock song. It basically launched his career.
5. Margo Martindale, who played one of the 10 Best Single Season villains in the history of television, began her career in a series of Downy Fabric Softener commercials in the late 70s and early 80s as the "foot tickler." She was apparently very recognized. I cannot for the life of me find either a video or even an image from any of the spots, however. She was also a looker back in the day; she was crowned Ms. Jacksonville (Texas) during her senior year in high school. Also, the real Mags, the woman with whom her character was based, lived to be 101 years old. Martindale also originated the role of Truvy in Steel Magnolias when it was an off-Broadway play (Dolly Parton played Truvy in the film).
Oh, and Margo gives one hell of an Emmy Speech.
She totally made Olyphant cry.
6. Neal McDonough, who has basically been in everything (most notably, perhaps, "Band Of Brothers" and Minority Report) is set to play one of the big bads in season three, a Detroit mobster in a sharp suit who comes to Kentucky with visions of becoming a crimelord. He was also a cast member of "Boomtown," the brilliant but canceled show that "Justified's" showrunner, Graham Yost, wrote and produced. McDonough plays a lot of villains, but in real life, he's very Catholic. He voices Jesus in "The Truth & Life Dramatized audio New Testament Bible," a 22-hour celebrity-voiced, fully dramatized audio New Testament. He was fired from another show called "Scoundrels" because he refused to do sex scenes, citing his Catholic faith. McDonough also played Lt. Hawk in Star Trek: First Contact, a character that was supposed to be the first openly gay character in the Star Trek universe, but all references to his sexuality were subsequently omitted. It's too bad; he would've been a great gay character.
7. You may have little or no memory of this, but Joelle Carter -- who plays Ava Crowder -- was in the opening sex scene of American Pie 2, the one where Jim's Dad walks in on Jim having sex in his college dorm.
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8. I’m going to name my first born Raylan, regardless of gender.
9. Actor Jacob Pitts (who plays former sniper Tim Gutterson) still has no idea where he parked his car.
WHY HAS NO ONE MENTIONED MY EXCELLENT MOVIE REFERENCE YET? IT HAS BEEN 15 MINUTES.
27 MINUTES.
Good one DG. I refuse to acknowledge his character name and me and my brother only refer to the character as “Eurotrip”
Thank you.
Jacob Pitts once had a mechanized dildo inserted into his rectum by Xena, Warrior Princess.
I was going to, but Im not witty enough. All I could think of is him getting that chick to rub her boob and Club Vandersexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Jacob Pitts cannot pronounce “fluggaenkdechioebolsen” correclty
8. It is not considered gay if you are sexually attracted to Timothy Olyphant.
Ohhh Natalie Zea. The horrible things I would do if you asked me to.
Natalie Zea > Carla Gugino > Margo Martingdale > Joelle Carter
Looking forward to the return of the show, but don’t like Neal McDonough as he’s a complete arsehole apparently.
Also: Zooey>Emily
Now, now, just because he set back video game adaptations by about fifteen years doesn’t mean he’s a COMPLETE arsehole.
@Flex – Nope: Emily > Zooey
@Evil Twin – He wants less boobs on television, therefore: arsehole.
Carla Gugino > breathing
#8 just turned American Pie 2 from a movie I’m quite sure I haven’t seen to one of my favourite movies.
Cool post, great show. I highly recommend reading “Riding the Rap” and “Pronto” if you like the show. Actually most of Leonard’s books are really good.
Just started really reading him. “The Hot Kid” was good, and I have an anthology of his early Western short stories that makes for delightful reading on the crapper.
Natalie Zea. *explodes*
I’m gonna be honest, I hate the theme song for the show. I think it’s the worst thing about the series.
Seriously? I’m trying to convince my fiance they should play at our wedding
+1
Absolutely. The music on the show is excellent, but the theme song is crap.
I love bluegrass, and I love hiphop, but they go together about as well as lobsters stuffed with tacos.
I don’t care what you say, lobster stuffed tacos are delicious.
Also a sexual position.
I saw Gangstagrass live. It blew my fucking mind. But Im from the south, so anything that has banjos automatically gets a pass.
#10 Nick Searcy aka Chief Deputy Art Mullen endorsed Herman Cain for president and appeared in a campaign video for him.
[thehill.com]
Come now no Nick Searcy love?
He’s also been married to his (seldom photographed) college sweetheart for 20 years (they have 3 children together); that’s her over there on the right.
Holy shit, she looks just like him! Who’s the chick standing next to her?
Nerd question: The most surprising thing on here for me was that Olyphant was considered for Iron Man. Any idea if was for the version that was supposed to be done by Chris Colombus with Tom Cruise later attached or the version we ended up with by Jon Favreau with RDJ?
Also I heard a radio interview with Goggins last year and he said that Boyd wasn’t meant to have survived the gunshot he received in the pilot, it was only after they were done that the creatives liked him enough to write the first season around him and make him a series regular, which I thought was surprising.
Walton Goggins has many powers, including making television executives change their minds.
He doesn’t have the power to stop his church members get killed and hung up by their boots though.
And thank god they didn’t go with that. Goggins has been stellar.
That Dodge Ram commercial is reminding me to wonder when Justified will finally get Sam Elliot on the show…
I still can’t figure out why Carla Gugino is going to play a US Marshall, who knows Raylan from Miami, with the first name Karen, but the character won’t be Karen Sisco (who Gugino played in a previous Elmore Leonard tv show).
I’m thinking either they can’t get the rights to the character- Karen Sisco was an abc or cbs show I think, or she got married. I feel like this is one of those things that’s going to bother me all season if she ends up being a completely different character.
#11. Neither Timothy Olyphant nor Walton Goggins have ever been in my kitchen.
I’m sorry Cliff, but that is incorrect.
And if that wasn’t a reference to the Cliff on “Jeopardy” episode of “Cheers”, mea culpa.
Margo Martindale also had a small but pivotal role in the screen gem that is Practical Magic.
So…given his religiosity, we probably won’t be getting lots of joint scenes in which Olyphant & McDonough take their shirts off for no reason whatsoever??
Favorite post of the day. Love Justified, and I love the backstories of the actors. Well done!
/Bring back Matt
Another neat tidbit worth mentioning — a bunch of Deadwood actors have appeared on the show.
Sepinwall breaks it down pretty well here:
[www.hitfix.com]
I was gonna mention this. And not just on Justified either, but the other FX shows like American Horror Story and Sons of Anarchy. That network loves Deadwood actors, and rightfully so.
I’ve noticed this a lot too. I just watched the entire series of Deadwood (don’t stone me, I didn’t have HBO when it was on). Watching Deadwood lead to my watching Justified so I could pretend that Seth Bullock got transported to the future, where he got amnesia and bought the wrong color hat.
Did you watch John from Cincinnati for the three or four weeks it was on? Same deal there with Deadwood alums. They must have some sort of collective bargaining agreement with the SAG.
I love wikipedia too
Just when I thought I couldn’t love T.O. more you go and tell me he’s been married to his college sweetheart for 20 years. He’s giving Joel McHale a run for the top spot on my list now.
Also, regarding Gangstagrass, I think it certainly helps to have lived in the South. I love them, but I spent the major portion of my childhood in GA and SC. I fought getting an accent, but apparently hillbilly music got through.
If you’re impressed by Olyphant, check out what Clive Owen’s been married to for years.
Zea’s a total babe, way to go Dudemeister. Elliot was a bitch to you anyways.
They didn’t just settle on the name Justified instead of calling it Lawman. Steven Seagal necessitated the change.
Right after that Subaru commercial, Jeremy Davies ran. He ran so far away.
Great post, Dustin.
Eva > Winona
Ava
Travis Schuldt is a douchebag.
Seriously though, Walton Giggons is very good and I’m sorry about his late wife.