Tag: Walton Goggins

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Walton Goggins & Aimee Lou Wood cleared the air big-time in a Variety cover story

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One of the biggest stories of the year was “what the hell happened between Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood while they filmed The White Lotus?” They were incredibly close during the production, frequently posting photos together on social media, then they abruptly unfollowed each other and didn’t promote TWL together whatsoever. There were other stories in April which indicated that they had a falling out, like Walton not defending Aimee when she spoke out about SNL’s sexism and mockery of her teeth. Well, Walton and Aimee understood that their relationship/beef had become the story, so they agreed to this: a Variety cover story in which they sat down together and cried and explained how they’re besties for life. Whoever masterminded this is a genius. It’s an absolutely brilliant way to shut down months of speculation and rumors. You can read the full Variety piece here. Some highlights:

Aimee on how they were introduced: “He said, ‘I’m Scorpio,’ and I said, ‘I’m Scorpio moon.’ And then we both didn’t know what to say after that. ‘See you in Thailand!’”

They bonded quickly in Thailand: “I think we were there for a day or two without meeting because I was so f==king in my head alone,” Goggins says. Then he texted her to come over for lunch. She remembers, “I didn’t know what to order. I was like, ‘Can you pick for me?’ I was so nervous.” Goggins was nervous, too. “The minute she walked around the corner, I felt, ‘This is gonna work,’” he says. “Two minutes into the conversation, it felt like I’ve known this person for 100 years.”

He was working on ‘Fallout’ while ‘TWL’ aired, that’s why they didn’t see each other: “I probably wouldn’t have gone anyways,” he says at first. But within 15 minutes of discussing the finale, both are tearing up and he admits to Wood, “I wish I would have been able to watch this with you. It was so cathartic and so painful, and I regret that. I really do.”

When they saw each other for the Variety shoot: Visibly emotional seeing each other, the two embraced for 30 seconds as the Variety team suddenly felt we were intruding on a private moment. The laughter then began almost immediately, and their photo shoot transitioned into a dance party. After, they asked to step outside for a quick break. “We were saying outside, ‘We can’t start crying!’ We’re the two most emotional, sensitive people!” Wood says with a laugh. But there’s a reason for the emotion.

Aimee on Walton doing SNL after the mean & sexist parody: “I was so upset when people [said that]. For f–k’s sake, of course Walton should do ‘SNL.’ That’s got nothing to do with me. He’s f–king had a career for, like, how long?” Without missing a beat, Goggins responds, “70 years.” Wood continues, commenting on the sketch show: “I said it, and then the next minute, [lowers her voice,] ‘Aimee caught crying over ‘SNL’ skit.’ I was not crying over the ‘SNL’ skit. I was over it the minute I said it. This is an important moment for me, because what I would usually do is see it and turn the anger inward. I thought, I’m just gonna say it, so I don’t spiral.”

Walton says there’s no feud: “There is no feud. I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me,” he says, getting choked up. Goggins turns to look at Wood. “This is Goldie Hawn. This is Meg Ryan. She can do anything, and she will. You watch what the next 20 years of her experience will be. I’ll be on an island, I think Greece. But she’s special. There is no feud. She is love and I know that I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply.”

Aimee on the Instagram unfollowing: “I think it’s such a comment on where we’re at culturally. Why is everyone obsessing over Instagram? That is irrelevant. We don’t give a shite about Instagram. Why not have conversations about the story and Rick and Chelsea and enjoy it?”

Goggins on the unfollowing: “If I may add, just to put this to bed? The following or unfollowing. I’m a grown-ass man.” Long story short, Goggins isn’t good with goodbyes. “When I left ‘Justified,’ I went up to Tim [Olyphant], and I hugged him and I said, ‘I love you, and I hope I see you in rooms for the rest of my life.’ I didn’t talk to him for almost two years. I’ve done that with every single thing that I’ve done.”

Being in Thailand was different for Walton: In 2004, his wife died by suicide. He spent the next three years traveling and searching for peace. It led him to Thailand, then to Bangkok. When he arrived in Bangkok on set, he realized he was in the exact same place. “My catharsis in this experience was different than other people’s, because of my history in this place. I knew what we had gone through, and I knew how close that we had gotten, and I needed to begin to process saying goodbye to Rick and Chelsea,” Goggins says, beginning to cry. “And I knew that that was going to take a while for me, so I let her know, this is what I’ve gotta do. And she was extremely supportive about that.” After filming ended, “I needed to just back away from everyone,” he says. “I haven’t spoken to anyone. I couldn’t handle it. Judge me or don’t. I don’t give a f–k what you think. This is my process. Rick means everything to me, and Chelsea means everything to me. And so that’s what I needed to do for me to process all of this.”

[From Variety]

I didn’t know that about his relationship with Olyphant, that they didn’t talk to each other for two years after Justified. Damn, Walton really IS bad at goodbyes. And that really does explain the Instagram unfollowing and the awkwardness around them during TWL’s run and promotion. Anyway, he and Aimee told each other “I love you” about a million times in this piece and they cried together and it was all very sweet. I’m happy they did this and cleared the air. They gave this to the fans as well – people were starting to feel weird about them, but now we have the confirmation that they really do love each other and it was all real.

Photos courtesy of HBO/Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Variety.

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Walton Goggins: ‘There is no space left’ for unconventionally hot actors

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I made “everyone is hot for Walton Goggins in The White Lotus” into the lead link recently, thinking that everyone would agree that yes, he’s really hot in The White Lotus. Of course he is! That’s why people on the internet were going feral for him. But nope – people did not agree. To be fair, I’m an old-school Goggins-is-hot fan, back when I first saw him in Justified. He’s wonderful in Justified (as is Timothy Olyphant), and they let him play around with his inherent weird/quirky/dirtbag sexiness. Anyway, love him or hate him, Walton Goggins is here and working on back-to-back projects in film and television. After he wrapped on The White Lotus, he went straight to work on the latest season of The Righteous Gemstones, and then after that, he went to work on the second season of Fallout. He’s booked and busy (and sexy). He recently spoke to GQ about his life, his work and why he’s such an oddity in Hollywood in this era.

He keeps things simple: “I smoke and I drink coffee and I drink cocktails and I fast almost every day for 14 hours”—from dinner until the next afternoon, when he’ll usually reach for a couple of boiled eggs.

An unconventional leading man: “I don’t think people truly knew what to do with me. I’m not Brad Pitt. I’m never going to be Brad Pitt. But I am Walton Goggins, and very few people fit in my lane.” But he agrees that—once upon a time—it was probably easier for a Walton Goggins–esque actor to make it as a big-screen sex symbol. “There is no space left. Like, Scott Glenn—where are those actors? Who is sexy right now? Who doesn’t speak to your heart, but speaks to your loins? Where is Bill Holden? Where’s Warren Oates? Where’s Bruce Dern? I mean, where’s f–king Nicholson, man?”

He think Jeremy Allen White is unconventionally hot too: “I mean, Jeremy Allen White. He’s not conventionally good-looking. But he’s got f–kin’ game. He’s got swagger. He’s got rizz. And he’s become sexy because he’s authentic. And if people look at me that way, I hope it’s because of what I find sexy in other people, and that is a life well lived. It’s a life dedicated to experiences, and the accumulation of that wisdom. I don’t have a ton of lines on my face, but I have a ton of lines on my heart. And I’ve seen a lot of things in my life.”

Growing up in Georgia, being raised by a single mom: “It’s served me well. But I also spent a lot of time alone. In the sense that I don’t know if I ever slept in the same bed for more than six days in a row until I left home. I had a lot of babysitters along the way and would stay at a lot of different people’s houses. I feel like I was always waiting on someone to pick me up, you know what I mean? Being ferried around and not in control of your own environment, and all the rest of it—I think all I ever wanted to do was be in control of my own environment and just get out and do my own thing.”

It’s crazy that he’s lived this life: “When I say my life is improbable, there is no bookie in f–king Vegas that would take this bet—[that I] would ever, ever, ever have the life that I’ve led. And I don’t take it for granted, man. If my life ends tomorrow, don’t weep for me, man, because God, whoever she is, has always been looking out for me. And protecting me. I was alone, so often, in my life. I was a latchkey kid once I convinced my mom that I didn’t need a babysitter anymore. I was eight when I convinced my mom, like, ‘Hey, I got this.’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, okay, just call me when you get home.’”

More on his mother: “And my mother worked for the employment department, finding people jobs. And it’s just, like, one of those things. Where your mother makes $12,000 a year, for years, until the day that she’s laid off. And then she’s not able to provide anything for you other than heat—which was questionable—and a whole lot of love. And I guess the ability to kind of believe in yourself, whenever she wasn’t around. But she did give me that. And I—and I—y’know, the first time that I made”—his voice breaks on the last word—“more money in a day than my mother made in a year of work was the greatest and the worst day of my life. What do I do, really? I just tell stories. And some people like them. And then this woman is working every day, to provide for this child that she doesn’t even get an opportunity to really see.”

[From GQ]

Are we going to discuss the fact that he name-checked William Holden as an unconventionally hot guy?? William Holden was HOT, no qualifiers needed. He was a good-looking man who could also act his ass off. But I do agree with the general sentiment that Hollywood is full of varnished pretty boys and there’s a real dearth of gritty, unconventionally-attractive men. The conversation about his crazy backstory and his “unconventional look” reminds me of Jeremy Renner. This is Renner’s thing too – having an offbeat sexiness and an absolutely bonkers backstory.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red & HBO.

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Ella Purnell on working on Fallout: ‘every single day was just absolutely bat-sh-t’

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Minor spoilers for Season 1 of Fallout.


Alright, who’s watched the first season of Fallout on Prime Video? The series, which is based on the video game about the world post-nuclear war, dropped in full in mid-April. Mr. Rosie and I watched it over the course of a week. I didn’t really want to watch it when he first made the pick, but ended up really getting into it. I was confused about characters and what storlines after episode 2, so I went online and read more about the video game. Learning the background really helped me. It was just renewed for a second season, too! I’m excited.

Ella Purnell, who plays heroine Lucy MacLean, did a big interview in this month’s British GQ. Ella’s been acting since 2010, when she made her debut as a younger version of Carey Mulligan’s character in Never Let Me Go. She was also a teenage version of Maleficent in Angelina Jolie’s movie of the same name, as well as Kate in 2021’s Army of the Dead and Jackie in Showtime’s Yellowjackets. During the GQ piece, which you can read in full here, Ella talked about what it was like filming the show and waiting three years for it to finally be released. She also talked about working with Walton Goggins, described what it was like to film that finger scene, how she felt about the finale, and how “bats-it crazy bonkers” it was to work on the show every day.

She found out about Season 2 through Instagram: “I found out when you guys found out. I found out on Instagram. When they officially picked it up, I was still relieved. I didn’t make any assumptions, because I didn’t want to be disappointed.”

On being a part of the Fallout/Openheimer nuclear war zeitgeist: “It’s funny, because it feels like everybody wants me to have this humongous reaction,” she says of Fallout’s success. “It’s actually such a relief to be able to talk about everything, finally, after three years.”

On seeing Walton Goggins without prosthetics for the first time: “I actually remember the first time I saw Walton without his prosthetics. I knew what he looked like, obviously, because I’d Googled him, and I’d seen his work. We were all staying in the same hotel, and I came home, and he was standing outside, enjoying the view. I walked by him, and I went, ‘That looks just like Walton…’ And I was like, ‘Wait! That probably is Walton!’ And then I went up and I was like, ‘Hey, we’ve not actually met out of prosthetics, I didn’t even recognise you.’ He’s the nicest guy, so charming, he’s got so much charisma; he has stories for days.”

How they shot ‘the finger’ scene: “We filmed that towards the end, actually. I wanna say five or six months in. By that time, you’ve formed a good relationship with your co-stars, you’ve formed a good relationship with your director, and you’ve formed a good relationship, crucially, with your stunt team. Had we filmed that at the beginning, there probably would’ve been a lot of rehearsals. That tiny little scene where he lassoes me, pulls me back, grabs me, picks me up — we filmed that, I sh-t you not, in about an hour. We were losing light, [so] we were rushing. I think we used Hannah [Scott], my incredible stunt double, for dragging me back on the lasso, and then there was a lasso stand-in who actually [lassoed] me. But it was mostly [Walton and I].”

The reality is, they’re using the same finger [for every take]. I’ve got sticky, gross blood that tastes like nail varnish remover in my mouth. I’m probably biting Walton’s actual finger a little bit too hard. There’s dirt in my hair, in my eyes, there’s sand in my eyes; my harness is digging into my ribs. It’s incredibly uncomfortable. But you don’t feel any of it. You’ll wake up the next day, and because of the adrenaline, and because… honestly, you’re just having so much fun.

Every day was “bat-sh-t crazy bonkers:” The baby deer, the one by the lake [in episode three]? I got to play with the baby deer! I got to feed a baby deer. That’s never happened to me before. I got to pet an ox. I got to pet some chickens. Every single day was just, absolutely bat-sh-t crazy bonkers.

No period dramas for her: Here’s the truth: I hate doing period dramas. I’ve only done one, and it was great, but I hate doing period dramas because I hate being poised, and pretty, and together, and refined. I hate it. I love being sweaty, and dirty, and covered in blood, and vicious, and biting off an irradiated ghoul’s finger.

She gets imposter syndrome: I always used to get a lot of impostor syndrome, and feel like I was a bad actor, because I don’t do actor-y things like [use emotional memory]. It’s kind of like a last resort for me. I have more of a technical approach to acting, where research is the bulk of it. Making sure that I understand every single thing that’s on the page, every word. I know what my character’s favourite colour is, I know how she sounds, I know how she walks. I know what her f–king middle name is.

On British actors who get crap for sliding in American accents during interviews: British actors get a lot of sh-t for losing their English accent, and doing a slight American accent when they’re doing interviews, and I don’t think that’s fair. When you’re living in America, or staying in America, and acting in an American accent, you have American accents, maybe an American partner — we’re actors, of course we’re gonna lose our accents a bit! It doesn’t mean we’re renouncing our citizenship, it just means that we’re chameleons, and we’re changing, and learning.

[From British GQ]

OMG, I can only imagine just how bonkers it was to film that show because the plot itself is bonkers! Lucy’s adventures were such nonstop insanity that I felt like I was watching a post-apocalyptic version of 24. I like that she touched upon her researched-based acting style, too. How crazy that she never met Walton Goggins before they started filming when he was wearing his Ghoul prosthetics! In a separate interview, Walton shared that he filmed all of his Ghoul scenes during the first six weeks of filming before playing the Ghoul’s pre-war persona, Cooper Howard. I also thought it was funny that she brought up the grief that some British actors get for their accents changing the more time they spend in America. Hey, I get that. I live in South now, but grew up on Long Island. My accent has neutralized a lot over the past 15 years, even if certain words (water, saw, mirror, drawer, etc) will always give away my natural accent, ha.

Photos via Instagram and credit: Prime Video and Laurent Vu/Avalon