Latest news with #Justified
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Walton Goggins' ‘White Lotus' Emmy chances, by the numbers
With Prime Video's 'Fallout,' HBO's 'The Righteous Gemstones' and now Season 3 of 'The White Lotus' (also HBO), Walton Goggins' fame has exploded. With his buzzy portrayal of Rick, a man obsessed with avenging his father's death, in 'Lotus,' an Emmy might finally be in the cards for the actor, a veteran of many critically beloved shows. 'Lotus' is the sixth Goggins show, after 'The Shield,' 'Justified,' 'Gemstones,' 'The Unicorn' and 'Fallout,' to receive an … ... or better aggregate Rotten Tomatoes critics' score. Yet Goggins has never won an Emmy and has received only … ... nominations: supporting drama actor (2011) for his charismatic criminal Boyd in 'Justified' and drama lead (2024) for bounty hunter the Ghoul on 'Fallout.' It could be … ... his material that's the issue. Goggins' gritty and/or Southern-fried shows are not the kind that inspire Emmy voters' rapture. Despite its secure place in the TV pantheon, 'The Shield' drew three fewer nominations over seven seasons than … ... the more awards-friendly 'Fallout' — a stylish, thoughtful video game adaptation often helmed by Jonathan Nolan — did in its first season. But love for 'Fallout' … ... is a trickle compared with the tsunami of nominations for 'Lotus' over its first two seasons. The show already has won … ... Emmys. Although … ... all that attention means Goggins might share this year's drama supporting category with co-stars Jason Isaacs, Sam Nivola and Sam Rockwell. But … ... that does not necessarily mean splitting 'Lotus' votes. Murray Bartlett won a limited series supporting Emmy for Season 1 against fellow 'Lotus' actors, and Jennifer Coolidge prevailed twice in supporting categories crowded with co-stars. Indeed … ... of nominated 'Lotus' performers whose characters, much like Rick, faced extreme challenges have won.
UPI
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
'Last of Us' family helped calm the nerves of S2 newbie Kaitlyn Dever
1 of 2 | Kaitlyn Dever and Pedro Pascal star in "The Last of Us" Season 2, wrapping up Sunday. Photo courtesy of HBO NEW YORK, May 25 (UPI) -- Justified, Last Man Standing, Unbelievable and Dopesick alum Kaitlyn Dever says she has had a long personal history with The Last of Us and felt overwhelmed with emotion when she was hired to star in HBO's adaptation of the blockbuster video game. "it was like all of the feelings. I was nervous. I was anxious, but also very excited. I've been a huge fan of this game and the show for a very long time," Dever, 28, said in a recent virtual press conference. Season 2 of the post-apocalyptic drama wraps up Sunday. Created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the show follows Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) as they trek from Wyoming to Washington state to exact revenge against Abby (Dever) and the group of soldiers who executed their surrogate father Joel (Pedro Pascal) in front of them after Joel saved Abby's life. Just when I thought I couldn't miss them more. #TheLastOfUs HBO (@HBO) May 23, 2025 The heartbreaking murder came after Joel killed numerous people, including Abby's father, a doctor, at a hospital in an effort to protect Ellie, one of the few people in the world immune to the virus that killed billions and caused the breakdown of civilized society, in Season 1. When Dever was younger, she had been considered for the role of Ellie in a movie version of the game, which never got off the ground. "The world of The Last of Us is so large. You can definitely feel that in wardrobe fittings when you're first in prep and then, finally, getting on set," Dever said. "I felt less nervous once I got onto set just because of this wonderful group of people and being held by Craig and Neil. It really felt like I was being cared for and taken care of in a way that I haven't ever really experienced ever before. So, it was really a thrill as a person and an actor." Dever said she played the game with her real-life father Tim and felt like getting the Job on the show was something of a full-circle moment. "I loved what [Mazin and Druckmann] did in the first season. It was just pure magic. It was really so wonderful. I was a fan of the game. It was like a real bonding moment for me and my dad playing it together," she recalled. "When it did come back around, it felt surreal because it really kind of felt like, 'Oh, well, things that are meant to be in your life will happen if they're supposed to.' And it just felt right. Abby felt right. It was very cool." Mazin said Dever was the perfect fit for the character. "Kaitlyn did things that I'm not sure you even should have done. I don't know how you did them," he told her. "We knew her, obviously, as an actor and what she could do, but when you then meet the person and you're like: 'Well, what can you actually do? What are you comfortable with?'" Mazin continued. "And Kaitlyn just would never say, 'No.' And it was amazing. And when you see how physically tremendous her performance is, it's kind of insane." Mazin said he thinks the show's casting is the best contribution he and Druckmann have made to expand the story in a meaningful way for television. "I can't wait for you to see what they do and how they interact with each other. It's amazing," he said, referring to the other members of the ensemble present, including Ramsey, Pascal, Merced, Gabriel Luna, who plays Joel's brother Tommy, and Young Mazino, who plays Dina's boyfriend Jesse. The series has already been renewed for Season 3. Pedro Pascal's career: hit series, films, red carpets Pedro Pascal arrives on the red carpet at the premiere of "Game of Thrones" Season 4 in New York City on March 18, 2014. Pascal portrayed Oberyn Martell on the series. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
UPI
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Neal McDonough: 'Rodeo' is 'Rocky' on a bull, 'Justified' family reunion
1 of 5 | Sarah Jones and Neal McDonough star in the new family drama, "The Last Rodeo." Photo courtesy of Angel Studios NEW YORK, May 23 (UPI) -- Neal McDonough says his new family drama, The Last Rodeo, reunited some of his favorite people from the iconic TV series, Justified. Directed by Jon Avnet and in theaters Friday, the film follows widower and retired professional bull-riding star Joe Wainwright (McDonough) as he returns to the ring to compete for the money to save his beloved grandson Cody (Graham Harvey) from the same type of brain cancer that killed his beloved wife Rose (Ruve McDonough). Helping him get back in the game -- over the objections of his worried daughter Sally (Sarah Jones) -- are Joe's estranged friends Charlie (Mykelti Williamson) and Jimmy Mack (Christopher McDonald). "The guy who cut my arm off [in Justified] happens to be now my best friend in this movie," McDonough, 59, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "How does that happen? Because Mykelti Williamson, in real life, is one of my best, dearest friends on the planet. I love him. What a great actor! He's a thief. He stole every scene he was in with me. It was awful," McDonough laughed. Avnet said his relationship with McDonough and Williamson dates back more than 20 years to the crime drama, Boomtown. "That's when I cast Neal with [Justified writer-producer] Graham Yost and Mykelti and they got to know each other, so when we got to work together all on Justified, it was a reunion, and it gave us an economy of words and the ability to explore things," the filmmaker said. "These are real pros and they're just great." Even Jones guest starred on Justified in 2011. The only main cast member who didn't have some connection to the show was McDonald, but McDonough said he was quickly embraced by The Last Rodeo family. "He showed up swinging for the fences," McDonough recalled. "He walks in a situation, which he's never worked with Jon before and there's me and Mykelti in our own shorthand and then Jon and I have our own shorthand, and here he comes into this like, 'How do I fit into this party?' And you know what he did? He manned up and he crushed it. Chris McDonald is a beast." Avnet agreed. "He wants to make sure he knows the character," Avnet explained. "It's not like they walk in and they're fearless. They care and they worry and they work to overcome that because they want to be worthy of the characters, worthy of the friendship, worthy of the respect," Avnet said of his cast. McDonough wrote the film with Avnet and Derek Presley after he was away on a film shoot, missing his wife Ruve and wondering how he would survive if anything happened to the mother of his five children. "This idea from above came into my head -- write a film about Rocky on a bull, about a grandfather that has to save his grandson because he's dying of the same brain tumor that his wife died of," said McDonough, who is a devout Catholic. "I'm a pretty smart guy, but I didn't come up with that myself and, within a week, we had the first draft, within another week, Ruve helped me raise the financing and the distribution through the amazing Angel Studios," he added. "They said, 'Who do you want to direct it?' And I said, 'There's only one choice for me -- the greatest director I've ever worked with, a guy who has been a mentor to me, but, also, like a big brother to me for all these years, and that's Jon Avnet.'" Catch these two powerhouse actors in The Last Rodeo - a story about family, brotherhood, and rodeo! In theaters May 23! Get your tickets now at ️ The Last Rodeo Movie (@lastrodeomovie) May 22, 2025 Avnet -- whose credits include Risky Business, Less Than Zero, The Three Musketeers and Fried Green Tomatoes -- said the aspect of the story that most intrigued him was the loving, but tense relationship between Joe and his daughter. "I've got two daughters, two older sisters, my wife has two sisters, there are three women in her family, and [I know] dads don't do the greatest job often communicating with their daughters," Avnet noted. "It's hard to figure out how to fix that. So, that interested me very much, and I thought it's really universal message of the whole film." Avnet also wanted to take a closer look at the friendship with Charlie that Joe abandoned when he sinks into his grief over Rose's death and why Charlie forgives Joe after their long estrangement. "He's become a kind of narcissistic, self-involved character that really has gone inside and he's hurt so many people who love them and the sad circumstances that forces him to ride also gives him the opportunity to, perhaps, mend the friendship with Charlie and, perhaps, have a second shot with his daughter," Avnet said. The filmmaker also was happy to see his longtime friend -- who is frequently cast as villains on shows like Justified, Tulsa King and Yellowstone -- finally get to play the hero. "I believed he could be something he hasn't been in films before -- the leading man in the mold of Clint Eastwood or John Wayne or Gary Cooper or Jimmy Stewart," Avnet said. "I believed if i did my job well, the audience would see him the same way and because he has that gravitas and, what people don't know about him unless they're close friends with him, is he is so emotionally accessible. He's just there and I knew he could bring that out in this character in film." Avnet offers as an example an emotional scene in which thousands of people stand and pray for Joe's family when he walks into the bull-riding ring. "It's so moving and Neal says nothing," Avnet said. "You just see on his face this private guy, this tormented guy, this guy who never knew how to mourn the loss of his wife, standing there and seeing these strangers sending their prayers and love." But McDonough credited Avnet for polishing the script he handed off to him and weaving the whole story together through his thoughtful direction. "He pulled so many amazing things out of the actors and their performances and there's a trust that we have with Jon because he protects the actors," McDonough said. "More than anything, he wants the actors to have complete comfort on a set and the ability to do something different and to try things and to build characters and build moments." McDonough said he doesn't generally play heroes because he refuses to do intimate scenes with anyone but his spouse. Luckily for him, Ruve played his late wife Rose in flashback scenes, so McDonough finally gets to kiss the girl on screen. "I'm famous for one or two takes [filming a scene], but I think I got to 13 takes that day before my daughter London got so disgusted, saying, 'Dad, that's enough.' So, I had fun. This is my moment," he said. "I'm the most blessed dude that I know."
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Walton Goggins talks being 'a sex symbol at 53' in 'SNL' monologue: 'Feels fantastic!'
Walton Goggins feels great about becoming a "sex symbol" in his 50s, but less great about some of the headlines around the subject. In his "Saturday Night Live" monologue on May 10, the actor noted that "the internet seemed to find" his "brooding" character on "The White Lotus" attractive. Goggins played Rick, a man seeking to avenge his father's death, in the HBO anthology's latest season. "Some of my friends have even asked me, 'Walton, what's it like to become a sex symbol at 53 years old?' " Goggins said. "And you know what? If I'm being honest, it feels fantastic! At least, it did until I Googled myself and read some of the headlines." Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox The "Justified" actor proceeded to show a series of headlines from news reports about himself, one of which said that "White Lotus" fans were attracted to his "receding hairline." Goggins fired back, "I've had the same hairline since I was 7! It's not receding. It's holding its ground." "His Hair Is Greasy. His Eyes Are Bulging. I Think I'm in Love," read another headline, referring to Goggins. He jokingly applauded the "beautiful journalism" on display before showing a third headline: "Hollywood's Newest Heartthrob Is a Greasy, Depressing Little Man Whom No One Saw Coming." The actor quipped, "For some reason, the part of that headline that offends me the most is the word 'whom.' It just sounds pretentious." Because the episode aired on the eve of Mother's Day, Goggins devoted the rest of his monologue to his mother, who was seated in the audience. He described her as the "most important person in my life" and recalled that "growing up, whenever my momma couldn't afford a babysitter, she would take me with her to honky-tonks." Goggins then invited his mom up on stage, where the two shared a clog dance. Cecily Strong returns on 'SNL': She played Jeanine Pirro to Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth Goggins starred in a variety of sketches throughout the episode, including one that saw him play a server who flirts with moms (played by Sarah Sherman and Heidi Gardner) during Mother's Day brunch. Their sons (Mikey Day and Andrew Dismukes) become increasingly uncomfortable as Goggins' character speaks suggestively and unbuttons nearly his entire shirt. 'White Lotus': Walton Goggins was 'as lost as Rick' in Thailand after wife's death Goggins hosted "SNL" a few weeks after after his "White Lotus" co-star, Aimee Lou Wood, called out the show for making fun of her teeth in a sketch spoofing the HBO series. The actress previously told Entertainment Tonight she wouldn't join Goggins on "SNL" but added, "I loved working with Walton. It was the best thing ever." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Walton Goggins 'SNL' monologue discusses being 'sex symbol at 53'
Los Angeles Times
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Walton Goggins hosts ‘SNL' for the first time, bringing his oddball energy to the show
The worst thing 'Saturday Night Live' could have done on an episode featuring rising character actor Walton Goggins, who was hosting for the first time, was play it safe. Though many new fans may know him from his recent turn on Season 3 of HBO's 'The White Lotus,' Goggins has spent a career playing misfits, weirdos and southern charmers including on shows like 'Justified' and 'The Righteous Gemstones,' which recently wrapped its fourth and final season. Smartly, this week's 'SNL' was calibrated to both sides of Goggins; he's an excellent dramatic actor even when he's doing comedy, and he's good at playing ridiculous characters such as Uncle Baby Billy on 'Gemstones.' Following a President Trump-themed cold open that included the welcome return of Cecily Strong as newly appointed U.S Atty. Jeanine Pirro, Goggins appeared as a very horny waiter at a Mother's Day brunch, a Second Amendment-pushing Founding Father named Matt and a man with very small feet in a Jane Wickline musical number. They were each strong sketches with great turns by Goggins. He was also an actor in a play performing for an audience of 20 service dogs undergoing training, a pre-taped sketch about a boss (Goggins) and his wife (Sarah Sherman) who have peculiar pooping habits, and one about a horror-themed restaurant whose waitstaff (Bowen Yang and Ego Nwodim) struggle to make it feel scary. Goggins was consistently funny and solid throughout, even if he stumbled on a few lines early in the show. His commitment to the bits was strong and it was a good appearance overall; he'll likely be back. And maybe he'll bring his 'White Lotus' co-star Sam Rockwell with him again — he appeared briefly in the tiny feet video. Speaking of oddball energy, musical guests Arcade Fire performed 'Pink Elephant' and 'Year of the Snake.' On the latter, lead singer Win Butler tried unsuccessfully to smash his guitar, then held it up for the audience to see the words 'The Machine is Broken' on it. He broke a guitar on 'SNL' back in 2007. In this week's cold open, it looked like the show would continue its tradition of Mother's Day openings featuring cast members' real moms. But that conceit was punctured quickly with yet another monologue by James Austin Johnson as Trump. This week's riff touched on Pope Leo from Chicago ('Like Da Bears, but Da Prayers') and Christianity in general. Trump praised the Popemobile as his favorite mobile next to Weiner and Bat, but revealed his disdain for holy water. 'Why's that stuff burn so bad when it hits your skin?' he asked. The cold open took off when Cecily Strong showed up as Pirro, armed with a wine holder she called a 'Cozy for my Merlotzy.' Pirro was pleased to join an administration full of 'Russian assets, booze hounds and people famous for the little baby animals they've killed.' Colin Jost appeared as embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who kept getting red wine spit on him by Pirro. Before the third time, he handed her a pint of his preferred liquor and opened his mouth to get some of the alcohol he says he doesn't drink. Some 'SNL' hosts use the monologue to show off their singing skills. Goggins used it to address what it's like to be a sex symbol at 53 ('It feels fantastic!') but pointed to unflattering headlines that have accompanied all the attention, including Cosmopolitan's, 'Are We All Horny for Walton Goggins's Receding Hairline?' Goggins shifted gears to talk about being raised by a single mom, aunts and a grandmother in Atlanta. He invited his mom, who was in the audience, up on stage to dance with him. When a slow Al Green tune turned into a more fast-paced and impressive dance number , it became a moment of pure joy. The Goggins gift for playing characters who are both sleazy and incredibly alluring was on full display in this Mother's Day sketch about a brunch that gets very, very dirty. Sherman and Heidi Gardner are moms dining out with their sons (Mikey Day and Andrew Dismukes). Goggins, with many shirt buttons undone, is a libidinous waiter who takes his flirting with the mothers to extremes. 'Just cuz your momma baked you don't mean other men don't wanna see the oven,' he says as he admonishes the sons when they protest his behavior. Goggins has a lot of fun in this one and delivers some very funny lines. For those who are suckers for clever and original songs, it's been fun this season to watch new cast member Jane Wickline make her mark, mostly in 'Weekend Update' appearances. This time, she takes the spotlight in a music video about a tiny baby shoe found in the Central Park Zoo. It turns out the shoe belongs not to a cute baby, but to a full-grown man with little feet (Goggins). The song takes a turn when the man insists they date. Wickline's not having it. That's when Rockwell appears as himself to mansplain the Cinderella conceit and to make balloon animals. Oh, and he's got tiny feet as well. It's a strange sketch, but the song is good and Wickline continues demonstrating that she brings something unique to the show. This week's 'Update' featured three guests: Marcello Hernández, who brought back his Movie Guy character to discuss 'Sinners' and other movies he hasn't seen; Gardner played a woman visiting New York who only knows what's she's read on Facebook about the city; and Mikey Day was a guy who just walked into a spiderweb but is there to talk about tariffs. Of the three, Day's was perhaps the most impressive since these kinds of 'Update' appearance are usually wordy monologues. Instead, Day got on his feet, began freaking out as he took off his shirt and fell over multiple times. It was a committed and funny piece of physical comedy, especially for the arachnophobic.
