Reboots rarely equal their beloved predecessors, so it comes as a joyous surprise to discover that Justified: City Primeval (currently airing weekly on FX) is just as great as the six-season 2010-2015 show that preceded it. And credit for that triumph—even beyond its fantastic writing, directing and supporting cast—goes to its peerlessly cool star, Timothy Olyphant.
Once again donning a Stetson and jacket-and-button-down uniform, a holstered pistol poised on his hip, Olyphant slides comfortably back into the role of U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens in Justified: City Primeval, an eight-episode adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel City Primeval that gives him a change of scenery (Detroit, vs. his native Kentucky) and pits him against a fresh foe (Boyd Holbrook’s menacing “Oklahoma Wildman” Clement Mansell).
Despite a different environment and adversary, however, Raylan remains the most compelling gunslinger in modern fiction, a hybrid of old-school quick-draw stoutness and laconic confidence, and new-school wit and impudence. He’s a bad (i.e., good) man with a badge, and he’s the lifeblood of the series’ return, which boasts the spirit of its ancestors and, also, of Leonard’s inimitable crime stories.
The 55-year-old Olyphant has lent his talents to myriad film and TV efforts over the course of his decades-long career, but Justified remains his crowning achievement, and one that—along with HBO’s tremendous Deadwood—forever solidified his Western bona fides.
One second playfully charming and mischievous, the next steely-eyed and intimidating, Olyphant’s Raylan is a character who’s both preternaturally composed and always struggling to harness his wayward impulses (such as his notorious desire to shoot first and ask questions whenever). He’s a cocky hero with a rebellious streak, dedicated to doing things the legal way but also compelled to take matters into his own hands when the situation demands it, and Olyphant embodies his contradictions with a charisma that’s second to none.
Justified: City Primeval proves another great vehicle for Raylan and, consequently, its headliner, providing him with a tangled-up case that grows messier, and more thrilling, by the minute. It’s a revival that plays a familiar tune in a thoroughly new key, and better still, its forthcoming finale (not to be spoiled here!) suggests that it may be the start of an entirely new Justified run.
Ahead of that highly anticipated Aug. 29 conclusion, in an interview conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, we spoke with Olyphant about revisiting Raylan, working with his daughter, and what the upcoming bombshell ending means for the series’ future.
There’s no movie or TV line I quote more frequently than Raylan’s statement, “If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole.” Is there a particular Raylan line that you often hear, or particularly like?
First of all, that quote—a man named Graham Yost deserves all the credit for that. I had nothing to do with it; I just said it. That was one of the good ones. And it’s not lost on me, how those writers gave me so many cool things to say. That’s why we’re sitting here talking. So I thank them.
As for quotes, there are so many fucking good quotes! I can’t help but always go back to the beginning. I remember Damon Herriman, when he says, alright, I’m going to go outside and then I’m going to come back in! [laughs] I remember that moment being so good. I remember sitting across from Walt [Goggins], when he asked me if that story was true about giving a guy 24 hours to get out of town, and then he said, how about I give you the same deal and give you 24 hours to get out of town, and I got to say back to him, “Now you’re talkin’.” [laughs] I remember reading that in the script—it was from the short story—and I thought, God, that’s so good.
I don’t know if people appreciate how good a reply that is—“Now you’re talkin’.” Not to make a meal out of this question, but it went back to the previous scene where he [Walt’s Boyd Crowder] was talking about all the problems in the world are the Jews, and he’s not the problem, and I’m basically saying, I don’t know what the hell you’re saying. But when he says, I’ll give you 24 hours and then I’ll kill you, I’m like, OK, now I understand the words that are coming out of your mouth. That’s amazing.
Did you always see yourself as someone cut out to be a Western-style hero?
There’s no upside, Nick, to me saying yes to that question [laughs]. You understand that, right? Why would it have been a big surprise to anyone, you know? Anybody who knew me freshman year in high school would have said, oh, this guy’s going to be a badass on TV one day! As they duct-taped me to a pole, they thought, this guy might one day be the coolest dude on television. And I’m not saying I am! I’m just saying, that’s what you’re implying.
No, I didn’t see it coming! Look, man, I hadn’t even thought about acting until I was in my twenties. I came to it late; I didn’t figure it out for a while.
Following Justified and Deadwood, you’ve done some other roles (in Fargo, and The Mandalorian) that play off that Western persona…
No, Nick—I am cashing in, buddy! I’m milking this thing for all it’s worth. I have no qualms about it.
But did you ever fear that you might get pigeonholed in such parts?
I’m going to tell you a story, and forgive me for dropping a name, but the most amazing, talented Eric Stonestreet said he read an article where they asked me if I was concerned about being typecast. He read that and said out loud to himself, “As what—a badass?” [laughs] Like, what’s the fucking problem? Who’s had trouble with that problem?”
So no, I’ll take it. It’s been a ball. And you know what, they still let me step out of it and go play goofballs in other things and come back. I’m getting away with murder and having a good time.
Do you own a personal collection of Stetsons?
I have hats. I do have hats. Not the one like he wears, but I’m a fan of the hat.
The Deadwood revival (Deadwood: The Movie) came about because the series never received a proper end. Justified, however, definitely wrapped itself up.
If it [City Primeval] doesn’t work, we’ve got no one to blame but ourselves.
Because of that situation, was there any hesitation about revisiting the show?
No. I had so much fun working with these folks. I told them, even when we were ending it, give us a couple of years and let’s talk again. I thought the time away would give us an opportunity to come back and look at it fresh, and to have just as much fun if not more fun. It would free us up creatively.
I’m super-proud of the result, because I thought the writers took a big swing. The willingness to take Raylan out of Kentucky, to bring in essentially an entirely different cast, and to trust that we wouldn’t lose the audience and that it would still feel like the show. My experience doing it, and now having seen it, is that it’s such a subtle but brilliant idea. It was so much fun, it brought so much energy to everyone involved. It was a really fun game to play: how different can we make it, and yet trust that it’ll still feel like Justified.
Did you discuss how to retain the show’s spirit, given those big changes?
We had the book to work from, and that jump-started the conversation. So we had a skeleton. Then we had the story of Raylan having a teenage daughter. Those two things excited us. I think those two ideas, of putting him in a totally different location where he feels a bit like a fish-out-of-water, and then taking a teenage daughter with him, both excited us. We just trusted that between Elmore’s book and the fact that we all did the show for six years, we wouldn’t be capable of not making it our show. It would inevitably speak the same language.
We had the opportunity to screen it in Austin with an audience, and it was so gratifying to hear how much they enjoyed it. The laughter was so lovely to hear, and reminded us of how funny it was, and how cool it was. You could just feel they were blown away at the end of that episode. And I was like, Jesus, if they like this, wait until they see the next two—episodes two and three are just like, holy crap! They have no idea what’s coming after that.
Have you seen the ending?
I have seen the ending, and I know we’re not allowed to spoil it. But I can tell you that when I watched it on an early weekend morning, I nearly woke everyone up with my cheering.
[laughs] I had nothing to do with that ending. Dave Andron, Michael Dinner and the gang—that was their baby. I simply said, fuck yeah, go for it.
But I admit, though—the first time I watched it, I was really shocked. [laughs] And I knew it was coming! It was so strange and wild to see that ending. I honestly told them, because it kept bugging me for days, I kept thinking, wow! You can’t do that ending if you don’t deliver everything prior, you know? That ending doesn’t work. So I was like, guys, it’s a bold idea! [laughs] As far as I’m concerned, they pulled it off. And everything that precedes the ending holds up.
I don’t want to say anything that counts as a spoiler…
It’s all right, I don’t think we’ve said anything so far that ruins it. But perhaps it only makes people can’t wait to see it.
I also know creatively, if we were to bring this show back again, and there was a way to do another chapter, these characters—the ones that are still standing [at the end of City Primeval]—I would want to see them all again. Which is a real testament to what the writers achieved in a single season.
As far as new characters go, the main one is homicidal Clement Mansell, who’s played—fantastically—by Boyd Holbrook. Were you happy that they introduced a new adversary, versus immediately going back to the established Raylan-Boyd Crowder well?
First of all, I’m thrilled to hear you say that. It’s a testament to Boyd Holbrook’s work, and I don’t disagree with you—I thought what he did was amazing. I’m not going to lie to you, I had concerns. I didn’t have concerns about the storyline, and the idea of bringing in this new villain. To some degree, we did it in the show. We always had the luxury, because we had the Boyd character and Walt Goggins, and he brought this electricity that is still, to this day, unmatched. It’s just marvelous what he did. But we had seasons where Margo Martindale was the villain of the year. And I’ve seen James Bond movies, I know how it works.
So I didn’t have a problem with the concept. I was actually concerned that we weren’t going far enough away. There was a part of me that was voting for not doing the character from the book; we strip it for parts and we make the character completely different, and maybe a totally different ethnicity—that kind of thing—just to get further away from that part of the region of the country. That’s why it’s more of a testament to what Holbrook did, because I thought what he did was totally different than anything we’d seen before.
He really does find a way to match Raylan’s magnetism, which is no small feat.
I’ll tell you another confession—I’m also a little guilty of thinking, is he too cool? [laughs] Because part of the dynamic between Walt and I was that Walt had this electricity, and quite frankly, that’s what lets me be more subtle and understated, because you’re playing off this other energy. That’s what make those things work. But Holbrook brought this weight, this gravitas, where I think people will feel like, oh no, this guy will fuck Raylan up. He could kill Raylan. This is one of the scariest bad guys Elmore Leonard’s ever created. He’s a scary dude, and he doesn’t seem altogether there, because he seems to genuinely have aspirations of rock stardom, which is one of my favorite things [laughs]. He's really concerned about his singing voice.
Anyway, I think he did a great job. I’m thrilled to hear you enjoyed it. But I wouldn’t tell Aunjanue Ellis that you thought he was the biggest addition to the show, because I thought she was a force to be reckoned with as well.
I don’t mean to take away from her great work! Or, for that matter, from anyone else’s, because the new cast members—including Vondie Curtis Hall, Marin Ireland and Norbert Leo Butz—are all so great. And that includes your daughter Vivian, who co-stars alongside you. How did that come about?
It came about like, my wife asked, there’s a teenage daughter in the show? And I’m like yeah. She goes, Vivian could play that part. And I was like, I guess you’re right [laughs]. She was going to live with us for the summer, so why not get her a decent job?
Vivian has always wanted to be an actor. She’s acted in school plays; we’ve just never let her act professionally when she was a kid. But I’ve known her her whole life, and she’s an actor. I didn’t know I was an actor until my mid-twenties, but I knew when she was like 4, this girl is an actor.
When the opportunity was right there in front of us, my wife and I discussed it. When you discuss something like that, you have to discuss it assuming it will be a success. It’s not, should we let her audition and she’s never going to get the job. We have to say, should we let her audition knowing she could get this job, and then, as parents, are we sending her on a path toward something that could be somewhat regrettable, even in success? [laughs]
You obviously decided it was a risk worth taking.
We both thought, no, she’s got it. She can handle it. We brought it up to her and she was interested as soon as I mentioned there was an opportunity. I told her she’d have to audition, and I’d let the producers know that if she’s going to audition, they could expect her tape to be submitted to the casting director. She worked really hard. I read opposite her for her audition, so when she sent it in, I knew how good it was. I knew that everyone was really nervous to get it, and how uncomfortable a conversation with me would have to be when they say, oh, it was really great, Tim, but…
But that’s not what happened. As soon as she delivered it, within like minutes, my phone started blowing up. They were like, holy shit, has she acted before? I said, no, school plays. I told those guys, look, I wouldn’t have mentioned it to her if I didn’t think she could do it. It was really fun, just working with her on the audition. She was really willing to work hard.
Anyway, you know the rest. She got the gig. I did not engage in those conversations; I said I’m going to stay out of this because I know it’s uncomfortable for everybody involved. They sent me an email saying, we’ve looked at everyone and she’s our first choice. And I said, I can’t wait to tell her. It was a very special experience.
Lastly, are you hopeful that, following City Primeval, there’s more Justified to come?
I was texting Michael Dinner this morning, and I’ll tell you what I told him, which is, I love this show. I had a blast doing it. And I hope we get to do more.
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