Official JUSTIFIED Discussion Thread UPDATE: They BACK new mini series! Justified: City Primeval
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The most overlooked show on television....I'm going to miss this show when it's gone
Justified’s Ending Is Still Up in the Air
FX's Justified is nearing its series finale, but that doesn't mean the show's producers are any closer to a concrete ending. "We absolutely don't know how this is going to end," executive producer Graham Yost said at a TCA panel Sunday, according to Variety.
Deadline added that the Justified team has so far shot ten of the last episodes and is outlining No. 12. The decision to end the series after six seasons reportedly came in part because the producers didn't want the show to overstay its welcome, but also because novelist Elmore Leonard, whose books inspired the TV series, died in 2013. The show's final season premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. on FX. No pressure, you guys.
FX's Justified is nearing its series finale, but that doesn't mean the show's producers are any closer to a concrete ending. "We absolutely don't know how this is going to end," executive producer Graham Yost said at a TCA panel Sunday, according to Variety.
"We've been talking about the ending. ... It changes every year."
Deadline added that the Justified team has so far shot ten of the last episodes and is outlining No. 12. The decision to end the series after six seasons reportedly came in part because the producers didn't want the show to overstay its welcome, but also because novelist Elmore Leonard, whose books inspired the TV series, died in 2013. The show's final season premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. on FX. No pressure, you guys.
‘Justified’ Ending Not Yet Set , EP Graham Yost Says – TCA
“We don’t have the ending yet,” Justified EP Graham Yost said today of the show that’s starting its final FX season Tuesday. “We’ve shot [episode] 10, and have a script for 11 … And we’re outlining 12, and then get to 13.
“We’ve all been talking about it. But Elmore didn’t outline,” Yost said at Winter TV Press Tour 2015. The prolific crime writer Elmore Leonard, who died in August 2013, wrote the novels that are the basis for the series, which stars Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens.
“He’d just start writing and then, if he did not like where it was going, he’d throw out the pages and start again,” Yost said. “You can’t do that with a television show, except…when doing an ending. We have to do it quickly, but we absolutely don’t know how it’s going to end yet.”
This being the show’s final Press Tour Q&A, Olyphant got asked to navel gaze about what the series’ end means to him.
“All I’m prepared for – I’m unemployed and I’m going to have to say ‘yes’ to some shitty-a** jobs,” he said. “All those jobs I’ve said, ‘No,’ to in the last five years, I’m going to say, ‘Yes,’ to. F***!”
A critic later asked the show writers/EPs how they thought the show ending was going to work out for Olyphant.
“Finally someone asked a good question: how’s it gonna work out for me?” Olyphant joked, maybe. “My wife is asking the same: ‘Now what the f***, Tim?'”
“I think Tim can do whatever he wants. He’s smart,” EP Michael Dinner said, telling the actor they would “get you out of the house.”
“I got to work – the kids. Three of them. Jesus,” Olyphant said, uncomfortable-makingly.
Yost added he hoped someone would cast Olyphant in something that took advantage of all the skills he displayed on Justified.
“And then, there’s the dancing,” Olyphant chimed in.
One year ago this month, FX CEO John Landgraf confirmed Justified would end its run with Season 6, explaining the decision had been made by Yost and Olyphant.
“A lot of it was just figuring out how much story we had left,” Yost said back then. “Our biggest concern telling these stories is that we don’t run out of story and start repeating ourselves. Although there were financial incentives to keep it going, it really felt in terms of the story of Raylan Givens in Kentucky, that six years felt about right.”
http://deadline.com/2015/01/justified-finale-not-written-graham-yost-tim-olyphant-fx-tca-1201352923/
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/jus...know-how-this-is-going-to-end-yet-1201408486/
you and me both fam
Timothy Olyphant on Why He'll Miss Justified
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01...ell-miss-justified-as-the-final-season-begins
Justified begins its final 13-episode season Tuesday night, which means anything can happen, now that the story of Raylan Givens is wrapping up. In fact, when I spoke to star Timothy Olyphant about this season, he told me, “Raylan dies in episode seven. People are going to be a little shocked!”
He was joking, I promise (unless he was really playing a mind game!), but obviously, things are going to be different knowing the end is coming.
As a reflection of that, as Season 6 begins, Raylan is finally out to truly take down Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), after the two have been at odds, yet always occupied with other obstacles, since the series began.
Olyphant noted that having Raylan and Boyd continue to interact, yet not actually go after one another through the years, “Was always the trick. Because otherwise, you don’t want to just keep doing the same bit over and over. That was always the catch, trying to figure out how to keep it fresh.”
He was happy to have more time working with Goggins though, noting, “It’s been a kick. Whenever Walton’s on the set, it makes my job really easy.”
Raylan’s a hard guy to rattle, but Olyphant noted, “The bad guy defines the good guy in this situation so the more s**t you can throw at him, the more fun it is to watch.”
Season 6 also includes more of Mary Steenburgen’s Katherine Hale’s, along with the introduction of Sam Elliott in the crucial new role of Avery Markham. Said Olyphant, “They just allow the world to open up, those characters. You’re going after Boyd, but going after Boyd you start lifting up these other stones and you find these other folks and try to figure out what everyone’s up to and how it all fits together.”
As intense and badass as Raylan (and Justified) can be, the show also has a great sense of humor – a reflection of the work of the late, great Elmore Leonard, who created Raylan Givens. Speaking to the frequent humor on the show, Olyphant remarked, “Yeah, it’s not by accident. We’re aware of that. We’re always trying to find the funny. The whole thing is like a comedy show to me. You name it, it’s funny. I can’t think of a sequence that we didn’t find it.”
Justified is still in production, but Olyphant does know how it ends. He explained to me that rather than being told what Raylan’s fate was, as a co-executive producer on the series, he helped come up with it, alongside showrunner Graham Yost and the Justified writers.
Or, as he put it, “I was kind of in there making the pie. We all just kind of came up [with it]… we discussed it over the break and committed. It sounded like a good idea at the time. We’ll see how it plays out!"
Olyphant is clearly going to miss Justified. When I asked him about the decision to end the series with Season 6, and if it simply felt like the right time, he joked, “I don’t know whose idea it was to end the show, but that person should be fired! It seems like a terrible mistake, yes. I did a scene with Sam Elliott and I figured we could have done two f**king seasons with him alone. But it’s been fun.”
He added, of playing Raylan, “It’s a dream gig. He’s cool, he’s funny, he kicks the s**t out of people. It’s a good gig.”
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01...ell-miss-justified-as-the-final-season-begins
Justified begins its final 13-episode season Tuesday night, which means anything can happen, now that the story of Raylan Givens is wrapping up. In fact, when I spoke to star Timothy Olyphant about this season, he told me, “Raylan dies in episode seven. People are going to be a little shocked!”
He was joking, I promise (unless he was really playing a mind game!), but obviously, things are going to be different knowing the end is coming.
As a reflection of that, as Season 6 begins, Raylan is finally out to truly take down Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), after the two have been at odds, yet always occupied with other obstacles, since the series began.
Olyphant noted that having Raylan and Boyd continue to interact, yet not actually go after one another through the years, “Was always the trick. Because otherwise, you don’t want to just keep doing the same bit over and over. That was always the catch, trying to figure out how to keep it fresh.”
He was happy to have more time working with Goggins though, noting, “It’s been a kick. Whenever Walton’s on the set, it makes my job really easy.”
Raylan’s a hard guy to rattle, but Olyphant noted, “The bad guy defines the good guy in this situation so the more s**t you can throw at him, the more fun it is to watch.”
Season 6 also includes more of Mary Steenburgen’s Katherine Hale’s, along with the introduction of Sam Elliott in the crucial new role of Avery Markham. Said Olyphant, “They just allow the world to open up, those characters. You’re going after Boyd, but going after Boyd you start lifting up these other stones and you find these other folks and try to figure out what everyone’s up to and how it all fits together.”
As intense and badass as Raylan (and Justified) can be, the show also has a great sense of humor – a reflection of the work of the late, great Elmore Leonard, who created Raylan Givens. Speaking to the frequent humor on the show, Olyphant remarked, “Yeah, it’s not by accident. We’re aware of that. We’re always trying to find the funny. The whole thing is like a comedy show to me. You name it, it’s funny. I can’t think of a sequence that we didn’t find it.”
Justified is still in production, but Olyphant does know how it ends. He explained to me that rather than being told what Raylan’s fate was, as a co-executive producer on the series, he helped come up with it, alongside showrunner Graham Yost and the Justified writers.
Or, as he put it, “I was kind of in there making the pie. We all just kind of came up [with it]… we discussed it over the break and committed. It sounded like a good idea at the time. We’ll see how it plays out!"
Olyphant is clearly going to miss Justified. When I asked him about the decision to end the series with Season 6, and if it simply felt like the right time, he joked, “I don’t know whose idea it was to end the show, but that person should be fired! It seems like a terrible mistake, yes. I did a scene with Sam Elliott and I figured we could have done two f**king seasons with him alone. But it’s been fun.”
He added, of playing Raylan, “It’s a dream gig. He’s cool, he’s funny, he kicks the s**t out of people. It’s a good gig.”
Review: 'Justified' back on target for final season
The writing of the late, great Elmore Leonard that inspired "Justified" — which begins its sixth and final season tonight at 10 on FX — could be incredibly self-aware at times. Characters in Leonard stories tend to be big fans of popular culture, and they know exactly which archetypes to compare themselves to, which roles they are playing (or think they're playing) in their particular story, and even like to predict how the story is will conclude.
That level of meta commentary has waxed and waned over the previous five seasons of "Justified," but it's at top volume early in the new year (I've seen the first three episodes). Raylan (Timothy Olyphant), Boyd (Walton Goggins) and Ava (Joelle Carter) all know the story they've been tangled up in these last few years is about to finish up, and the only question is how.
There's much talk of the way Harlan County itself has begun its death rattle, and Boyd sadly tells an old partner in crime, "It's all coming to an end." Raylan and his recuperating boss Art (Nick Searcy) discuss ways in which the attempt to use Ava as an informant to build a RICO case against Boyd could go, and Art wonders if Raylan is planning to once again maneuver his opponent into a position where he'll be allowed to kill him under the cover of the badge he wears.
"Or, Raylan, there's another way it goes," Art suggests, "where you try and you fail, and the bullet finds you."
"Unlikely," Raylan says, confident as ever, even though we know anything can happen when a cable drama reaches the finish line.
"Justified" is coming off a down season, where virtually everything that could go wrong creatively did. A show that had so often had such a brilliant knack for casting for some reason thought Michael Rapaport would be convincing as the Florida swamp rat at the head of the Crowe crime family, and compelling as the season's big bad. (Meanwhile, more charismatic villains were either kept in minor roles, or in one case bumped off early because the actor was unhappy.) Ava, who needed some toughening up to prepare her for this season's undercover arc, went to jail, and her scenes felt like they were part of a wholly different, less interesting show. Whether with the Crowes or on his own, Boyd's adventures became hopelessly convoluted — a dull, blatant stall for the Boyd/Raylan battle the show had to save for this final season.
The good news is that nearly everything that went wrong last season goes right at the start of this one. Raylan's pursuit of Boyd has always been the show's most compelling storyline, but it's been on hold more often than not over recent seasons. (In years when the show had a great villain like Margo Martindale's Mags Bennett, it could get away with keeping its two leads mostly separate; when the best the show could give us was Daryl Crowe, the foot-dragging became an irritant.) Now it's what the entire season is about — along with the question of whether Ava is loyal to Boyd, to ex-lover Raylan, or only to herself — and everything feels quicker, more confident and more gripping than it has going back at least to season 3, if not to the show's season 2 peak.
"Justified" has a tendency to overcomplicate its stories, but everything here is heading down the same narrow, thrilling path. Even the introduction of new villains played by Garret Dillahunt and Sam Elliott is tied closely to what's going on between Raylan and Boyd, and to the business Boyd has going with Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns, not used a lot in the early going, but still marvelously reacting to the craziness of Harlan) and Katherine Hale (Mary Steenburgen). All the loose threads have tied back together into one taut rope, which is certain to string up a whole lot of people before the end.
That the big guest stars are played by Dillahunt (the show's latest reunion between Olyphant and one of his "Deadwood" co-stars) and Elliott (shorn of his trademark mustache, in a role that ultimately feels like the ol' handlebar wouldn't belong) is also incredibly reassuring. Not only are both excellent actors — Dillahunt's alternating amusement and bewilderment at how things are run in Harlan is a delight — but you watch them (and "Friday Night Lights" alum Brad Leland, who pops up as a sketchy realtor) and wonder how it took "Justified" so long to bring them in.
It's still early in the season, with plenty of time for things to get too busy again before the end. But "Justified" was a show that had a clear end game from the moment producer Graham Yost decided to spare Boyd's life at the end of the first episode. (In "Fire in the Hole," the Leonard short story that led to the series, Raylan kills him.) Over the weekend at press tour, Yost admitted he still wasn't sure exactly what shape the finale would take, but it seems sure to involve one last showdown between Raylan and Boyd. And as a result, "Justified" is again fun and scary and thrilling — in some ways more, because both the show and the people on it know how little time they have left.
http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-justified-back-on-target-for-final-season
The writing of the late, great Elmore Leonard that inspired "Justified" — which begins its sixth and final season tonight at 10 on FX — could be incredibly self-aware at times. Characters in Leonard stories tend to be big fans of popular culture, and they know exactly which archetypes to compare themselves to, which roles they are playing (or think they're playing) in their particular story, and even like to predict how the story is will conclude.
That level of meta commentary has waxed and waned over the previous five seasons of "Justified," but it's at top volume early in the new year (I've seen the first three episodes). Raylan (Timothy Olyphant), Boyd (Walton Goggins) and Ava (Joelle Carter) all know the story they've been tangled up in these last few years is about to finish up, and the only question is how.
There's much talk of the way Harlan County itself has begun its death rattle, and Boyd sadly tells an old partner in crime, "It's all coming to an end." Raylan and his recuperating boss Art (Nick Searcy) discuss ways in which the attempt to use Ava as an informant to build a RICO case against Boyd could go, and Art wonders if Raylan is planning to once again maneuver his opponent into a position where he'll be allowed to kill him under the cover of the badge he wears.
"Or, Raylan, there's another way it goes," Art suggests, "where you try and you fail, and the bullet finds you."
"Unlikely," Raylan says, confident as ever, even though we know anything can happen when a cable drama reaches the finish line.
"Justified" is coming off a down season, where virtually everything that could go wrong creatively did. A show that had so often had such a brilliant knack for casting for some reason thought Michael Rapaport would be convincing as the Florida swamp rat at the head of the Crowe crime family, and compelling as the season's big bad. (Meanwhile, more charismatic villains were either kept in minor roles, or in one case bumped off early because the actor was unhappy.) Ava, who needed some toughening up to prepare her for this season's undercover arc, went to jail, and her scenes felt like they were part of a wholly different, less interesting show. Whether with the Crowes or on his own, Boyd's adventures became hopelessly convoluted — a dull, blatant stall for the Boyd/Raylan battle the show had to save for this final season.
The good news is that nearly everything that went wrong last season goes right at the start of this one. Raylan's pursuit of Boyd has always been the show's most compelling storyline, but it's been on hold more often than not over recent seasons. (In years when the show had a great villain like Margo Martindale's Mags Bennett, it could get away with keeping its two leads mostly separate; when the best the show could give us was Daryl Crowe, the foot-dragging became an irritant.) Now it's what the entire season is about — along with the question of whether Ava is loyal to Boyd, to ex-lover Raylan, or only to herself — and everything feels quicker, more confident and more gripping than it has going back at least to season 3, if not to the show's season 2 peak.
"Justified" has a tendency to overcomplicate its stories, but everything here is heading down the same narrow, thrilling path. Even the introduction of new villains played by Garret Dillahunt and Sam Elliott is tied closely to what's going on between Raylan and Boyd, and to the business Boyd has going with Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns, not used a lot in the early going, but still marvelously reacting to the craziness of Harlan) and Katherine Hale (Mary Steenburgen). All the loose threads have tied back together into one taut rope, which is certain to string up a whole lot of people before the end.
That the big guest stars are played by Dillahunt (the show's latest reunion between Olyphant and one of his "Deadwood" co-stars) and Elliott (shorn of his trademark mustache, in a role that ultimately feels like the ol' handlebar wouldn't belong) is also incredibly reassuring. Not only are both excellent actors — Dillahunt's alternating amusement and bewilderment at how things are run in Harlan is a delight — but you watch them (and "Friday Night Lights" alum Brad Leland, who pops up as a sketchy realtor) and wonder how it took "Justified" so long to bring them in.
It's still early in the season, with plenty of time for things to get too busy again before the end. But "Justified" was a show that had a clear end game from the moment producer Graham Yost decided to spare Boyd's life at the end of the first episode. (In "Fire in the Hole," the Leonard short story that led to the series, Raylan kills him.) Over the weekend at press tour, Yost admitted he still wasn't sure exactly what shape the finale would take, but it seems sure to involve one last showdown between Raylan and Boyd. And as a result, "Justified" is again fun and scary and thrilling — in some ways more, because both the show and the people on it know how little time they have left.
http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-justified-back-on-target-for-final-season
overcomplicate its stories...
that is a pretty silly statement
that is a pretty silly statement
I expect Raylan to let loose on the trigger this final season
Lights out Dew-Dew
Boyd Crowder didn't have any flowers around so he told Dewey to look at the picture - then he did a "Carol" on him
Boyd Crowder didn't have any flowers around so he told Dewey to look at the picture - then he did a "Carol" on him
Boyd Crowder didn't have any flowers around so he told Dewey to look at the picture - then he did a "Carol" on him
No fucks was giving when he killed Him.
And then he was hovering over AVa. Thats how it is when you start thinking exit strategy. He is trying to make sure he gets out clean.
RIP Dewey he said "can I throw one more bone in ya" at the diner in his last 48
Can't decide who I prefer to watch Raylan or Boyd
Thought Boyd was gonna ask Dewey about the "rabbits" ? Before going full Steinbeck.
Devil, Dewey, Johnny the whole crew vanishing
Can't decide who I prefer to watch Raylan or Boyd
Thought Boyd was gonna ask Dewey about the "rabbits" ? Before going full Steinbeck.
Devil, Dewey, Johnny the whole crew vanishing
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Before The Bullets: An Oral History Of The Creation Of ‘Justified’
http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/01/justified-oral-history/
Although Raylin Is the coolest, asshole ever. IMO Boyd's story archs have carried the show all theses seasons.
last season was the exception. his story was all over the place
the show is at its best when it can focus on Raylan & Boyd as the ultimate Freenemies.
its getting back to basics with Raylan coming after Boyd for the last time. Ava in the middle and Boyd robbing banks again.
expecting big things outta this show
and further evidence that outside of HBO, FX constiently puts out the best TV (Justified, the Americans, Fargo, the Bridge rip, Sons, the Shield, Sunny in Philly, Louie, You'e the Worst, the League...the list goes on & on)
I believe the story arc was all over the place because the Haitian quit and they had to reroute. As I said before, I would really like to know the area in which the Haitian was going to take the story before the change.
^^^One of my favorite new shows.
And even with Boyd's story being all over the place last season it still made for great unpredictable TV.
Just caught up this morning I'll be back.
Sam Elliott on Joining Justified, His Mustache, His Voice, and The Big Lebowski
Don’t be fooled by online impostors claiming to be Sam Elliott. “I don’t tweet, I don’t do Facebook, I don’t do any of it,” growls the 70-year-old character actor whose famously smoky voice is the exact opposite of a Twitter. Nearly as much as his voice, Elliott is known for his bushy walrus mustache, which is why he’s almost unrecognizable on Justified, as he plays the clean-shaven Markham, a pot baron who returns to his old Kentucky hometown to stir up trouble in the sixth and final season of FX’s crime drama. With his character making his debut tonight, Elliott talked with Vulture about the show, his voice, and hipsters with facial hair.
Were you familiar with Justified before they cast you on the show?
I was. I watched it early on, then I got away from it. I’m not one to sit around and watch anything religiously on TV. But I was fascinated with the quality of it from the get-go. I was tickled when they came my way, to be honest with you.
How does it feel joining the show in its final season?
I tell ya, it’s fuckin’ chaos at the moment. [Laughs.] Walton Goggins is off doing a movie [The Hateful Eight] with [Quentin] Tarantino in Colorado, so everybody was scrambling to get him out of town. The last few days have been particularly difficult for everyone. It’s the nature of the beast, with the ongoing writing right up until the moment of shooting and a lot of different characters to satisfy on both sides of the camera. It’s a challenge, but it’s a treat. For someone who’s been in this game as long as I have, to get back into doing some regular television work, it’s a great experience. It’s a different world from when I was doing TV years ago.
Do you feel like the whole industry has changed?
The game has changed. The worm has turned, no doubt about it. Simply by virtue of the digital world, it’s opened a lot of doors.
Did they explain to you what your character was up to before you signed on, or are you learning as you go along?
We’re all learning as we go along. He had money and got out of Harlan, figuring he was going to get fingered for some crime, and went to Colorado and got into the legal dope business. That’s what brings him back to Harlan: He’s going to try and start buying up land to be ahead of the curve when it gets legalized in Kentucky. I learned that much about him, and the rest unfolds as it goes along. Nobody gets out of there alive, it seems like, so I’m expecting to be amongst the dead before it’s over.
Why did you decide to play this character without your trademark mustache?
I didn’t have it when they cast me, and I didn’t have time to grow one that I wanted to wear on weekly episodic TV. So I left it off, and I’m glad I did. It helped me a lot with this guy to look different than I did in most of the work I’ve done. And I never combed my hair straight back, either, so that’s a new thing. That seems absurd, probably, but it’s that little subtle stuff that makes all the difference in the world.
I don’t know if you’ve been to Brooklyn lately, but facial hair is all the rage with hipsters. How do you feel about that?
We’re all a bunch of lazy bastards. We’re too lazy to shave anymore. I see all these people with 12 o’clock shadows or whatever they’re supposed to be.
They’re on every TV show, and now it’s in commercials as well. It’s like, Jesus Christ! I was one of the first guys who grew hair on his face in the old days. There’s a lot of weird shit going on out there these days that I don’t understand.
Your voice is so distinctive. How old were you when it changed?
I was pretty young. I was in cherub choir — my mom dragged me to church when I was 4 years old. It started to develop, and when I was in middle school, it dropped. I wasn’t going to sing tenor anymore after that. It’s served me well.
Do people recognize you as soon as you open your mouth?
That’s the joke around my house, especially since I shaved off my mustache. Just keep your mouth shut and everything will be cool.
You’re the voice of Smokey Bear. I read you two were born on the same day: August 9, 1944. Was this fated to be?
I didn’t know that until last year, when Smokey turned 70. So the cat’s out of the bag on how old I am. I knew about him when I was a kid because my dad worked for the Fish & Wildlife Service, and I spent a lot of time in the Sierras. Every once in a while, you’d see these wooden statues of Smokey.
The fact that the campaign started the same day I was born is quite a trip.
You narrate The Big Lebowski as the Stranger. Does it surprise you that movie is bigger than ever 17 years later?
It’s surprising to be part of something like that. The Coen Brothers are fuckin’ geniuses, and that’s no secret. They’ve been making good movies from the get-go, and they continue to do so. Everything about that movie spoke to someone. [Jeff] Bridges is the Dude, like it or not. It’s really nuts. They have these reunions every year all over the country, these Lebowski-fests. It’s like, what? Really? Everybody wears bathrobes and gets sloshed on White Russians and sits through a midnight screening. But I’m not surprised. Good work has a way of hanging around.
Do any of your other movies rival its popularity?
It’s The Big Lebowski, Road House, and Tombstone. That’s the big three. And it’s really because they repeat that shit all the time. None of them had great box office, and I wasn’t so good in any of them. You just can’t escape them. They keep showing up.
Your first credited movie appearance was in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, so you got off to a good start.
That did well, but I was literally a shadow on the wall in that movie. I had one line, and it was off-camera.
Even though your wife, Katharine Ross, starred in that movie, you didn’t meet her until you made the horror flick The Legacy together in 1978. Do you ever wish you had met on a better film?
The Legacy, for what it was, was all right. Therein lies the legacy. The legacy was my life with Katharine. I can’t pooh-pooh the movie. I have in the past, but you get smarter when you get older. I look back fondly on falling in love with Katharine that winter in England. It wasn’t a bad place to be.
What’s the secret to your marriage’s longevity?
We stay out of town, and we don’t get in too deep. We don’t believe all the shit in the rags. And we work hard. Katharine and I have a lot in common. We’ve got a 30-year-old daughter [Cleo] that we’re deeply in love with and still incredibly close to. Life’s good. We live in Malibu and have horses and dogs and cats and chickens. We shovel shit, man. That keeps you humble.
Don’t be fooled by online impostors claiming to be Sam Elliott. “I don’t tweet, I don’t do Facebook, I don’t do any of it,” growls the 70-year-old character actor whose famously smoky voice is the exact opposite of a Twitter. Nearly as much as his voice, Elliott is known for his bushy walrus mustache, which is why he’s almost unrecognizable on Justified, as he plays the clean-shaven Markham, a pot baron who returns to his old Kentucky hometown to stir up trouble in the sixth and final season of FX’s crime drama. With his character making his debut tonight, Elliott talked with Vulture about the show, his voice, and hipsters with facial hair.
Were you familiar with Justified before they cast you on the show?
I was. I watched it early on, then I got away from it. I’m not one to sit around and watch anything religiously on TV. But I was fascinated with the quality of it from the get-go. I was tickled when they came my way, to be honest with you.
How does it feel joining the show in its final season?
I tell ya, it’s fuckin’ chaos at the moment. [Laughs.] Walton Goggins is off doing a movie [The Hateful Eight] with [Quentin] Tarantino in Colorado, so everybody was scrambling to get him out of town. The last few days have been particularly difficult for everyone. It’s the nature of the beast, with the ongoing writing right up until the moment of shooting and a lot of different characters to satisfy on both sides of the camera. It’s a challenge, but it’s a treat. For someone who’s been in this game as long as I have, to get back into doing some regular television work, it’s a great experience. It’s a different world from when I was doing TV years ago.
Do you feel like the whole industry has changed?
The game has changed. The worm has turned, no doubt about it. Simply by virtue of the digital world, it’s opened a lot of doors.
Did they explain to you what your character was up to before you signed on, or are you learning as you go along?
We’re all learning as we go along. He had money and got out of Harlan, figuring he was going to get fingered for some crime, and went to Colorado and got into the legal dope business. That’s what brings him back to Harlan: He’s going to try and start buying up land to be ahead of the curve when it gets legalized in Kentucky. I learned that much about him, and the rest unfolds as it goes along. Nobody gets out of there alive, it seems like, so I’m expecting to be amongst the dead before it’s over.
Why did you decide to play this character without your trademark mustache?
I didn’t have it when they cast me, and I didn’t have time to grow one that I wanted to wear on weekly episodic TV. So I left it off, and I’m glad I did. It helped me a lot with this guy to look different than I did in most of the work I’ve done. And I never combed my hair straight back, either, so that’s a new thing. That seems absurd, probably, but it’s that little subtle stuff that makes all the difference in the world.
I don’t know if you’ve been to Brooklyn lately, but facial hair is all the rage with hipsters. How do you feel about that?
We’re all a bunch of lazy bastards. We’re too lazy to shave anymore. I see all these people with 12 o’clock shadows or whatever they’re supposed to be.
They’re on every TV show, and now it’s in commercials as well. It’s like, Jesus Christ! I was one of the first guys who grew hair on his face in the old days. There’s a lot of weird shit going on out there these days that I don’t understand.
Your voice is so distinctive. How old were you when it changed?
I was pretty young. I was in cherub choir — my mom dragged me to church when I was 4 years old. It started to develop, and when I was in middle school, it dropped. I wasn’t going to sing tenor anymore after that. It’s served me well.
Do people recognize you as soon as you open your mouth?
That’s the joke around my house, especially since I shaved off my mustache. Just keep your mouth shut and everything will be cool.
You’re the voice of Smokey Bear. I read you two were born on the same day: August 9, 1944. Was this fated to be?
I didn’t know that until last year, when Smokey turned 70. So the cat’s out of the bag on how old I am. I knew about him when I was a kid because my dad worked for the Fish & Wildlife Service, and I spent a lot of time in the Sierras. Every once in a while, you’d see these wooden statues of Smokey.
The fact that the campaign started the same day I was born is quite a trip.
You narrate The Big Lebowski as the Stranger. Does it surprise you that movie is bigger than ever 17 years later?
It’s surprising to be part of something like that. The Coen Brothers are fuckin’ geniuses, and that’s no secret. They’ve been making good movies from the get-go, and they continue to do so. Everything about that movie spoke to someone. [Jeff] Bridges is the Dude, like it or not. It’s really nuts. They have these reunions every year all over the country, these Lebowski-fests. It’s like, what? Really? Everybody wears bathrobes and gets sloshed on White Russians and sits through a midnight screening. But I’m not surprised. Good work has a way of hanging around.
Do any of your other movies rival its popularity?
It’s The Big Lebowski, Road House, and Tombstone. That’s the big three. And it’s really because they repeat that shit all the time. None of them had great box office, and I wasn’t so good in any of them. You just can’t escape them. They keep showing up.
Your first credited movie appearance was in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, so you got off to a good start.
That did well, but I was literally a shadow on the wall in that movie. I had one line, and it was off-camera.
Even though your wife, Katharine Ross, starred in that movie, you didn’t meet her until you made the horror flick The Legacy together in 1978. Do you ever wish you had met on a better film?
The Legacy, for what it was, was all right. Therein lies the legacy. The legacy was my life with Katharine. I can’t pooh-pooh the movie. I have in the past, but you get smarter when you get older. I look back fondly on falling in love with Katharine that winter in England. It wasn’t a bad place to be.
What’s the secret to your marriage’s longevity?
We stay out of town, and we don’t get in too deep. We don’t believe all the shit in the rags. And we work hard. Katharine and I have a lot in common. We’ve got a 30-year-old daughter [Cleo] that we’re deeply in love with and still incredibly close to. Life’s good. We live in Malibu and have horses and dogs and cats and chickens. We shovel shit, man. That keeps you humble.
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