Walton Goggins and Timothy Olyphant Weren't Talking by 'Justified' Finale, Where They Stand Now

Goggins was only a recurring star in the first season as Olyphant's Givens returned to his home county and took on the Crowder family's unexpected criminal empire. But it was the electrifying chemistry between Olyphant and Goggins that fans couldn't get enough of.

As it turns out, though, that on-screen chemistry had soured so much that by the time the sixth and final season came around, the two stars were hardly talking to one another unless it was with scripted lines.

Goggins first hinted at trouble in Kentucky, where the series was set, in Peter Biskin's 2023 book Pandora's Box: How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV. There, he was quoted as saying the stars "weren't talking" by the end of the series run. He elaborated in a new interview with The Independent.

While standing by his original assertion about their on-camera relationship, Goggins attributed it to their diametrically opposed characters. "We were so deep into these people we were playing, and they were so polar opposite at this point in the story," he explained. "I think we were both obsessed with our own points of view, just carrying the weight of this conflict."

It was a pretty diplomatic response, considering how tense things must have been on the series at the time. Justified ran from 2010 to 2015 across 78 episodes. Olyphant has since returned to the character for Justified: City Primeval, a sequel mini-series that kicked off in 2023 and moves his character to Florida and then Detroit.

When asked about Goggins' comments in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Olyphant seemed to agree with his former co-star's assessment, though with a healthy dose of humor in his reply.

"I adored working with Walt from the jump, but these actors, they’re a pain in the ass. They get really into their work!" he replied, before getting a little more serious as to some of those frustrations.

One issue he brought up was when the writers would try to explain what they needed Boyd Crowder to do in order to progress the story in the right direction. "Then Walt would say his character would never do that, and then I'd be like, 'G--damn it,'" Olyphant said. "We'd get really frustrated with each other."

He also shared that while it can be difficult to say goodbye to a long-running series like Justified, some people have a harder time than others which he suspects leads to "some people making it easier to walk away."

As for whether or not there's still any bad blood between the actors, Olyphant told VF, he's "always adored [Goggins] and I love working with him and he's something special. I'd work with him again in a heartbeat."

He then added as a joke, "And I'm assuming if we do it again, he'll be more predisposed to listen to me."

The pair did reunite recently both on and off the screen. On-screen, Goggins made a surprise cameo appearance in the final episode of City Primeval. He's also suggested he'd be down for a full-on reunion between the characters.

Off-screen, Olyphant and Goggins enjoyed a reunion of their own, with Goggins sharing a snapshot of the two of them together in Thailand, where he's been filming The White Lotus' third season. Olyphant, meanwhile, was there for filming on FX's upcoming Alien series with Noah Hawley.

While they're at it, maybe Rayland can chase Boyd to Thailand for another sequel ... Justified: BFFs Abroad.