Timothy Olyphant Loves Being TV’s Ultimate Cowboy

Timothy Olyphant just can’t stay away from cowboy hats.

In 2019, Olyphant reprised his role as rage-filled Wild West sheriff Seth Bullock in Deadwood: The Movie. A year later, he cameoed on The Good Place wearing the familiar Stetson and other wardrobe from his iconic role as trigger-happy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens from Justified. Later that year, he began a recurring role on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett as Tattooine lawman Cobb Vanth, who was basically Space Raylan.

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And finally, he’s back to playing Raylan for real, in the new FX miniseries Justified: City Primeval, adapted by Justified vets Dave Andron and Michael Dinner from a book by the late, great crime novelist Elmore Leonard (who featured Raylan in several of his other stories). City Primeval finds Raylan far away from his familiar turf in either Miami or Harlan, traveling up to Detroit to drop off a fugitive, and then getting mixed up in a citywide hunt for spree killer Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook).

Earlier this month, prior to the actor’s strike, Olyphant spoke with Rolling Stone about what it’s been like to reprise both Bullock and Raylan, getting typecast as a gunslinger, working with daughter Vivian (who plays Raylan’s daughter Willa), and how changing attitudes about cops — particularly ones who, like Raylan used to, take the law into their own hands — are reflected in this new tale.

When you came back to do the Deadwood movie, you were finishing up a series that didn’t have a proper ending. Justified did, though, and it was an ending everybody liked.
I know. If this one doesn’t work, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Had you ever expected to play Raylan Givens again?
I believe I’m on record as saying, before we wrapped the original show, that while I felt we should wrap the show, I reserve the right to come back later. I thought there might be something creatively beneficial to taking a break. I’d seen Bond movies, and I feel like the breaks served them well.

So how did this return come about?
The gang has stayed in touch. Both with Graham [Yost] and some of the other writers in the room, we’ve all remained in touch, as I’ve remained in touch with some of the folks at the network. Every cocktail had [someone asking], “What do you think? Should we do it?” But there was never enough there to jumpstart a serious conversation. But the book changed that. Elmore gave us a jumping-off point.

In the book, the Raymond Cruz character has a lot in common with Raylan. Both of them carry themselves like they’re modern gunslingers. 
It just felt Justified-adjacent. I don’t think Elmore would take it personally if I said that some of his books, while totally different characters from totally different backgrounds, they’re essentially cut from the same cloth. I wasn’t even particular about City Primeval. I just thought if we could get an Elmore book that we could strip for parts, it might start a conversation. Graham was happy to be involved, but he didn’t want to write it. I think for years, we talked about, “You know, he’s a federal marshal, he can go anywhere.” We always had a fantasy about taking him on the road, taking him to places like Italy. I don’t know how Italy became Detroit.

Did it feel different to you playing Raylan again, versus playing Bullock again for Deadwood?
There were things about the Bullock, about the performance, I wanted to fiddle with. Because over that period of time, I wanted to think I’d gotten better at my job. It was an interesting challenge of, how can I make some adjustments but still honor the character? With this one, I felt, Well, I haven’t gotten any better since we wrapped. This should be pretty easy. [Laughs]

You had already kind of played Raylan a few years ago on The Good Place.
Listen, one could argue I’ve played this role a couple of times since we’ve wrapped.

How did it feel when you you heard about that Mandalorian role? Was it more, I can play this, or, Is this all anyone wants me to do now?
I’ve enjoyed that. I don’t know if it’s a cash grab or I’m just getting lazy, but I’m OK playing the greatest hits right now.

Part of the idea of the character is that he’s a contemporary cowboy. Did it feel different playing that in an urban environment, as opposed to in Harlan?
There were these small concerns about cowboys in a city, but all you’ve gotta do is walk around the streets of any city, and you start seeing cowboys. So I felt like it played. You just want to make sure it doesn’t feel like a cartoon. You want to be mindful about putting Raylan in the world we’re living in, and you don’t want it to seem like a joke. But I thought, you know, it’s the same game. To me, it felt like it rang true. We acknowledge it, but we don’t want to keep pointing it out. I really thought it allowed Andron and Dinner to put their stamp on it. It was just enough of a change, and it excited us.

As much as Elmore Leonard liked the show, he really did not like the hat you wore, which was much bigger than the “businessman’s Stetson” he gave Raylan in the books. In the series finale, the big hat gets shot, and he starts wearing the smaller one he takes off of Boon. But you’re back in the big one here. Was there any discussion of sticking with Boon’s hat?  
There was a short one, where I thought that this time around, I could wear the hat Elmore always wanted me to wear. And then I realized that nobody wants to see that on a poster. How are they gonna know if it’s the same fucking show if you change the goddamn hat? I was like, Tim, come on. Don’t make things difficult. Just go with the flow. When a bus goes by with an ad, it doesn’t even have to be you, but it has to be a silhouette of you and the hat so they know what to tune into. And by the way, it feels like Elmore kind of came around on the hat by the end.

You’re not only in a different city, but working without the supporting cast from the original series. How was that?
There was a personal side of it, where I missed everybody else. I would have loved to have everybody there to celebrate being back together. That’s how it was on the Deadwood movie. What made it so special was to see everybody again. This time around, I got to see all the writers again. And that collaboration, while meaningful, I missed our original cast. I’m very fond of them and had tremendous respect for their work. That being said, we were committed to this exciting idea, and the fact that we got such a ridiculously talented group to come along with us for the ride was such a win. I loved working with these actors. Across the board, crazy talent we have on this one. A deep bench, as they say.

Let’s talk about some of that bench. Tell me about working with Boyd Holbrook. 
A joy, just a dream, the guy was just great. He didn’t try to force anything. Like everyone else, he trusted that what he brings would would fit into our world. And it was amazing how one after another, I’m like, This is not our show. And yet it feels just like our show. He brought a gravitas to the character. And he brought a coolness to the character, which, quite frankly, I was a little concerned about because I was like, If he’s gonna be that cool, am I really as cool as I thought I was? But I think any good Elmore Leonard adaptation needs what he brought: a twinkle in his eye.

OK let’s move onto Aunjanue Ellis, as Mansell’s lawyer Carolyn, who spars a lot with Raylan
[Shakes his head] That woman is a force of nature. Working opposite her, I was like, I’m in trouble. I better come up with some other stuff. That was one of the most exciting casting choices, and I was so thrilled she said yes. It’s one of the most interesting relationships in the show. I can’t wait for people to see her work.

You don’t have a lot of screentime with Vondie Curtis-Hall, but he’s incredible in this as Mansell’s old partner Sweety. What did you think of the work he did? 
He is sensational. I watched a rehearsal between him and Holbrook and Adelaide [Clemens, who plays Mansell’s girlfriend, Sandy], and they were all sensational, and I remember pulling each one of them aside, saying, “Guys, we have a show. I’m not in this scene, and I could watch this scene all day.” Vondie is amazing, and the scenes between him and Aunjanue are some of my favorites. They just have so much depth to them and their performances and they’re bringing the fireworks.

How did your daughter wind up playing Raylan’s daughter?
I made some calls. [Laughs]

Was Vivian interested in acting growing up?
Vivian has been interested in acting as far back as I can remember, and I’ve known her for a long time. We didn’t let her act professionally growing up. She had done school plays, and we thought it was going to be her path. But then singing and songwriting got in there. She was at Berklee College of Music, studying in her freshman year, when this came up. And we knew we were gonna be shooting in the summer, she had started talking about acting again, in addition to the singing and songwriting, and my wife said, “Isn’t there a part in your show for a teenage daughter?” [Vivian] said, “Yes, I want to audition.” I let Michael and Dave know over the phone. They were very polite to me, but I could hear over the phone that they were cringing, already trying to think about how they were going to break it to me that the kid has no talent. It was gonna be uncomfortable. But she worked really hard on the audition. I read opposite her for her audition. And she was really good. I simply told the producers that I wouldn’t have brought up the idea to her if I didn’t think she could handle the opportunity. What kind of father would I be otherwise? Working with her on the audition was really fun. I was very impressed. I didn’t feel like it was a kid actor. She had none of those bad habits, if you will. And she was very present. But I left it to them. I said, I’m not going to get involved. It just won’t be comfortable for anybody. And then they sent me an email a few weeks later saying she was their first choice. That’s great.

Did Raylan feel different to you after all this time? 
I was having a conversation with — forgive me for dropping the name — Elvis Mitchell. And he pointed out that in both the Deadwood movie and this reincarnation of Justified, the characters are doing a lot more listening this time around. They’re trying very hard to be more patient. I thought it was such an interesting observation. And I talked to someone who had only seen the first episode. And they said, “Raylan seems a lot more chill.” And then I talked to someone who had seen the first two episodes, and they said, “I’ve never seen him more angry.” And I think both is a good sign.

In the book, Raymond Cruz is itching for an excuse to shoot it out with Mansell, and Raylan was like that a lot on the old show. Here, Raylan spends a lot of the season trying really hard to avoid this, and even scolds one of the Detroit cops for suggesting that they can let the Albanian mob kill him. How did he evolve, and why did everyone decide that this should be his attitude now?
As I recall, that conversation happened somewhere in the process. A lot of what you see in the show, we came to a lot of it before we picked up the camera. But the [scene] you’re talking about came as we were shooting. But it was like the clouds parted. It was a subtle shift, but I realized that this is where he is. We need to remind the audience, and Raylan needs to remind himself, that the goal here is to do it the right way. He’s trying very hard. He, like the rest of us, has been reading the newspapers, and he’s been going to work, and he’s trying to change. He is part of a federal law-enforcement that’s trying to adapt to a new world. He’s been to the meetings and the seminars, and he’s trying to be better at his job, and the organization is trying to be better, and that’s the world he’s living in.

But in terms of everything in the news, do you think the version of Raylan from 2010 — the guy we meet as he’s maneuvering Tommy Bucks into a situation where Raylan can legally kill him — would work today? 
It’s a different story. I’m not saying the show doesn’t hold up; I’ll let that be for other people [to decide]. But, like all stories, that story is more about the time it was made. Well, I guess it was a contemporary show, so what the fuck am I talking about? [Laughs] But I’m not interested in that story. It’s just not an interesting job if we’re not being mindful of the world we’re living in. By all of us being conscious of the way things have changed, and the dialogue that everyday people are having out there, I think it made it a more fulfilling creative experience. And to do anything else would be sort of cheap.

The first two episodes of Justified: City Primeval premiere tonight on FX, and will stream tomorrow on Hulu. Additional episodes will be released one per week.

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