In his second collaboration with Academy Award-winning Quentin Tarantino, Walton Goggins stars in the writer/director's THE HATEFUL EIGHT. He plays the integral role of 'Chris Mannix,' a southern renegade who claims to be the new sheriff.
In the last few years Goggins has had pivotal roles in films by two of Hollywood's most important auteurs: Quentin Tarantino, in DJANGO UNCHAINED; and Steven Spielberg in LINCOLN. He has also appeared in such diverse films as AMERICAN ULTRA, G.I. JOE: RISE OF THE COBRA, Robert Rodriguez's PREDATORS and MACHETTE KILLS, Jon Favreau's COWBOYS & ALIENS, and Rod Lurie's STRAW DOGS.
Goggins next stars opposite Danny McBride in the upcoming HBO series "Vice Principals." Created by McBride and Jody Hill, who also created "Eastbound & Down," "Vice Principals" is a dark comedy about a high school and the two people who almost run it, the vice principals. McBride and Goggins star as the V.P.'s who are in an epic power struggle, vying for the top spot: to be school principal. The half-hour series is slated for 18 episodes to air over two seasons.
For more than a decade, Goggins has been one of the most magnetic and intense actors on television. He received an Emmy® nomination and four Critics Choice Award nominations for his mesmerizing portrayal of 'Boyd Crowder' on FX's Peabody Award-winning Drama series "Justified," which ran for five seasons. Goggins' 'Boyd' was the long-time friend, yet ultimate nemesis to U.S. Marshal 'Raylan Givens' (Timothy Olyphant). Elmore Leonard, executive producer and writer of the short story "Fire in the Hole" on which the show is based, says of 'Boyd,' "There has never been a more poetic bad guy on television in the way that he sees the world." "Justified" completed its fifth and final season earlier this year.
Goggins' critical turn as the complex transgender prostitute 'Venus Van Dam' on the FX drama series "Sons of Anarchy" earned him two Critics Choice Award nominations and helped shed a fresh light on the transgender community. The role reunited Goggins with series creator Kurt Sutter, who was also a writer on "The Shield."
He previously garnered much acclaim for his complex and edgy portrayal of 'Detective Shane Vendrell' on FX's gritty, award-winning drama series "The Shield." He was nominated for a Television Critics Association (TCA) Award in the category of "Individual Achievement in Drama."
In the last ten years, Goggins has also taken his turn behind the camera. He recently collaborated with writer Adam Fierro ("The Shield") on the pilot "Gringo" which sold to FOX. Goggins' prior collaborations with his partners at Ginny Mule Pictures include winning an Academy Award® for their short film, THE ACCOUNTANT, which he produced and starred in. The team produced, directed and starred in their first feature, CHRYSTAL, starring Billy Bob Thornton, which was accepted into the 2005 Sundance Film Festival's Dramatic Competition.
For their third collaboration, Goggins produced and starred in the feature RANDY AND THE MOB, which won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2007 Nashville Film Festival.
Goggins and his Ginny Mule partners completed their fourth feature, THAT EVENING SUN, starring Hal Holbrook and Goggins. The film made its world premiere at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, TX in March 2009, where it won the Narrative Feature Audience Award and received the Special Jury Award for "Best Ensemble Cast." The film continued winning awards at over 14 film festivals, culminating with the honor of the "Wyatt Award" from the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) and two Independent Spirit Award nominations.
Goggins also takes time to lend a hand to various non-profit organizations and has joined forces with City Hearts, whose focus is bringing the arts to underfunded schools. He has also worked closely with Global Green USA, which is committed to sustainable development and the legislation to support it.
He enjoys traveling the world and has spent time in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Central America, Morocco and India last spring. Goggins is an avid photographer and has captured many of his journeys on film.
