With a career spanning three decades, Walton Goggins has had an impressive run in film and television. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Georgia, Atlanta, Goggins moved to Los Angeles at age 19 to pursue a career in acting. Since then, the actor has starred in several big-budget movies and TV shows, particularly as a character actor.
Like Walton Goggins, Hollywood is filled with several actors who remain criminally underrated despite their impressive range and prolific work rate. Besides his two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, Goggins hasn’t received major accolades or recognition. Over the years, Goggins has earned a reputation for playing both sides of the law as a villain and law enforcement officer. His versatility and impressive work rate in the past decade, with little recognition, make him an underrated gem in Hollywood.
Walton Goggins’ Impressive Television Roles
Although Walton Goggins made his screen debut in 1989 on television, it wasn’t until 2002 that he landed his first major TV show project. From 2002 to 2008, Goggins played Det. Shane Vendrell as one of the main cast of the FX crime drama The Shield. The series received six Emmy nominations throughout its run. In 2010, Goggins starred in FX’s neo-Western crime drama Justified as Boyd Crowder. His character was a complex and charismatic antagonist who became a rival and occasional ally to the main character, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant). Boyd’s moral ambiguity, charm, and personal code made him one of the most compelling characters in the critically acclaimed show.
Justified was the first time Walton Goggins was nominated for an Emmy, being nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2011. Goggins also guest-starred in FX’s action crime drama Sons of Anarchy from 2012 to 2014 as Venus Van Dam. He co-led the HBO comedy Vice Principals with Danny McBride as vice principal of North Jackson High School. Walton Goggins spent the late 2010s starring in History’s military drama series Six (2017–2018), Fox’s British espionage thriller Deep State (2019), and the CBS sitcom The Unicorn (2019–2020).
Since the start of the 2020s, Walton Goggins has taken on more critically acclaimed roles. From the iconic Baby Billy Freeman in HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, the miniseries The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2022) and George & Tammy (2022–2023) to Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout, Goggins’ has portrayed some of television’s memorable characters. Not taking a break any time soon, Goggins joined the cast of The White Lotus in season 3 in 2025 as Rick Hatchett.
Walton Goggins’ Journey on the Big Screen
Not one to be pigeonholed into roles, Walton Goggins’ career trajectory has been anything but conventional. Despite not receiving his rightful recognition, this has contributed to his staying power as an actor. While his most notable roles have arguably been on television, Goggins continues to impress with his supporting roles on the big screen. With his film debut in 1992, Goggins spent the next two decades appearing in supporting roles in top and B-rated films.
However, 2010 marked a turning point in his career after being cast as a part of the star-studded ensemble cast of Predators (2010). Co-starring alongside Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Topher Grace, and Laurence Fishburne, Predators was a Box Office hit, grossing $127.2 million against its $40 million budget. Since then, Goggins has starred in several big-budget films, including Cowboys & Aliens (2011), Lincoln (2012), Django Unchained (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), and The Hateful Eight (2015). Goggins also starred in Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), Tomb Raider (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and more recently, The Luckiest Man in America (2024).
Why Walton Goggins is Deserving of More Recognition
Hollywood has always placed a strong emphasis on “star power,” where certain actors (classified as A-list stars) can carry films and shows on their shoulders to success based on their name alone. However, Goggins thrives in the background, taking roles that might seem insignificant on paper and turning them into unforgettable performances. His work is rarely flashy or over-the-top but rather marked by subtlety and realism. Goggins’ commitment to the art of acting has led him to take roles often underappreciated by mainstream audiences.
This, in large part, has seen many of his performances overlooked. Thankfully, his exceptional performance as The Ghoul/Cooper Howard in Fallout received recognition from the Academy. However, Goggins lost to Hiroyuki Sanada’s performance in Shōgun. Understandably, the category was heavily contested. While his nomination was a step in the right direction, Goggins’ work rate in film and television, especially his ability to breathe life into characters, must be honored with a major award win. Walton Goggins may not be the biggest name in Hollywood, but he is undoubtedly one of its finest actors.
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