Fallout Video: Walton Goggins Talks No-Nose Acting, Dual Roles and Favorite Old-School Video Game Jams

Matt Webb Mitovich
·2 min read
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Walton Goggins is quick to assure us that, yes, he was in possession of his proboscis while filming scenes as Fallout‘s nose-less Ghoul.

Based on the video game series and binge-dropping Thursday, April 11, Fallout is set 200 years after the apocalypse, where Lucy (Yellowjackets‘ Ella Purnell) — a denizen of a luxury fallout shelter (“vault”) — finds her peaceful nature tested as she is forced to the surface to rescue her father (Twin Peaks‘ Kyle MacLachlan). Aaron Moten (NeXT) plays Maximus, a young soldier rising in the ranks of a militaristic faction called Brotherhood of Steel, while Goggins (in part) plays the Ghoul, a morally fluid bounty hunter.

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The three parties collide when chasing a researcher (Evil‘s Michael Emerson) in possession of an artifact that has the potential to change the power dynamic in this hellscape.

In the TVLine video Q&A above, Goggins reveals how tracking dots were placed on his actual nose, so to as later carve it out it in post-production. “I often think about the other people I’m working with who see this very intimating guy… but also see this pretty great nose with white dots on it!” he says with a laugh.

Goggins proceeds to compare his Fallout prosthetics to his transformation into Sons of Anarchy‘s Venus Van Dam, then details how his roles in Justified, The Shield, Django Unchained and other projects prepared him for an early and “epic” Fallout showdown. “I’ve had a lot of shootouts in my life!” he recalls, while also singing the praises of EP Jonathan (Jonah) Nolan, who directed the first three of Fallout’s eight episodes.

In addition to playing the Ghoul, Goggins in Fallout also plays the family man he was 200 years prior. “I enjoyed being Cooper Howard in that world as much as I enjoyed being the Ghoul in this world,” he enthuses.

Goggins then talks about how Fallout‘s comedic scenes are “so subversive,” such as when the Ghoul first crosses paths with Lucy. The do-right vault-dweller wears “a naïveté of convenience,” Goggins notes, “and I’m going to mess with her.” (Watch a full clip below.)

Lastly, while others may be bugging Goggins about his own experiences playing the Fallout video game, this Gen X reporter was far more curious about his old-school jams. Press play above to find out Goggins’ No. 1 favorite arcade game, plus the others he poured many a quarter into. As he rightly raves, “The ’80s were amazing, dude!”

The Fallout cast also includes Moisés Arias (The King of Staten Island), Sarita Choudhury (And Just Like That…), Leslie Uggams (Empire), Frances Turner (New Amsterdam), Dave Register, Zach Cherry (Severance), Johnny Pemberton (Superstore), Rodrigo Luzzi (Dead Ringers), Annabel O’Hagan (Law & Order: SVU) and Xelia Mendes-Jones (The Wheel of Time).

Want scoop on Fallout, or for any other TV show ? Email InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!

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