Walton Goggins

Early life

Goggins was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Janet Long and Walton Sanders Goggins Sr. He was raised in Lithia Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, graduated from Lithia Springs High School and attended Georgia Southern University for a year.

Career

Goggins moved to Los Angeles at nineteen, working at LA Fitness and a valet parking business while taking acting classes and auditioning.

Goggins played Shane Vendrell in the FX drama series The Shield. He formed the production company Ginny Mule Pictures, which produced four films: The Accountant (a short film which won an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film), Chrystal (Sundance Dramatic Competition), Randy and the Mob, and That Evening Sun (which won the South by Southwest Special Jury Prize). They later created the drama series Rectify. Goggins was set to play the lead and AMC had bought the pilot script, written by McKinnon, a role which went to Aden Young, when the series later went to Sundance TV.

Goggins had a major supporting role as a deadly death row inmate being hunted by the titular antagonists in the film Predators. He played Boyd Crowder in the pilot episode for the FX drama series Justified. Before Goggins was cast, Boyd was intended to die in the pilot episode, but Graham Yost kept the character when the character scored highly with test audiences. Goggins joined the main cast for the second season in May 2010. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role on Justified. In 2011, he appeared in "Code of the West", a commercial for Ram Truck's "Guts & Glory" campaign. He appeared in Cowboys & Aliens as Hunt, a bandit formerly in the employ of the protagonist. He played a sadistic overseer and slave fighting trainer in the western film Django Unchained.

Goggins played a transgender sex worker in the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy. He previously worked with the show's creator, Kurt Sutter, when the latter was a writer and executive producer on The Shield. The name "Venus Van Dam" is a play on the undercover name "Cletus Van Damme" used by The Shield character Shane Vendrell. He played Chris Mannix in The Hateful Eight and Lee Russell in the HBO dark comedy series Vice Principals. The New York Times critic Mike Hale wrote, "Walton Goggins makes a habit of being the best thing about the television shows he's in."

In 2018, Goggins played Lawrence in Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Mathias Vogel in Tomb Raider, and Sonny Burch in Ant-Man and the Wasp. That same year, he made a guest appearance in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory as a jealous husband. In 2019, he played the lead character in the CBS sitcom The Unicorn and starred in the comedy series The Righteous Gemstones, alongside Vice Principals costar Danny McBride. In 2020, Goggins voiced part of the true crime podcast Deep Cover: The Drug Wars.

Goggins was cast as Jay Whittle / The Hero in the Amazon Prime Video comedy miniseries I'm a Virgo. In 2024, he played Cooper Howard / The Ghoul in the Amazon Prime Video drama series Fallout, and Peter Tomarken in The Luckiest Man in America, based on an actual incident involving a contestant on the Tomarken-hosted game show Press Your Luck.

The actor designed a series of active eyewear which he promoted in a co-branded commercial with GoDaddy that aired during Super Bowl LIX in 2025. This was his first appearance in a Super Bowl commercial.

Goggins joined the ensemble cast for the third season of the anthology series The White Lotus.

Personal life

Goggins lost his two front teeth in a childhood baseball accident when he was struck by a baseball bat after he came late for practice, of which he was placed in center field, in his own words "the only thing I heard before my life changed was 'WALTON!', I turned around and the baseball hit me right in the mouth." "It was extremely traumatic, but hey, at least I caught the ball."

In 2001, Goggins married Leanne Knight. Although estranged, they remained married until she died from suicide on November 12, 2004. Goggins married filmmaker Nadia Conners in August 2011 and they have a son together.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

Footnotes

References

References

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2. (July 15, 2016). "Walton Goggins on 25 Years of Playing 'That Guy'". [[Vulture (blog).
3. "Walton Goggins".
4. (July 22, 2020). "Catching Up with Walton Goggins".
5. VanDerWerff, Emily. (January 31, 2012). "Interview: Walton Goggins". [[The A.V. Club]].
6. Meslow, Scott. (June 20, 2014). "Rectify is the successor to Mad Men you've been looking for".
7. Stanhope, Kate. (May 5, 2010). "Justified Promotes Walton Goggins to Series Regular".
8. Stuart Levine. (July 14, 2011). "Nomination reaction: Walton Goggins". [[Variety (magazine).
9. Christopher M. (April 12, 2012). "Walton Goggins Joins "Django Unchained". Celluloid and Cigarette Burns.
10. Highfill, Samantha. (October 9, 2012). "'Sons of Anarchy': Walton Goggins talks Venus Van Dam".
11. Goldberg, Lesley. (February 9, 2015). "'Justified's' Walton Goggins to Star in HBO's 'Vice Principals'".
12. Hale, Mike. (July 15, 2016). "Review: HBO's 'Vice Principals' Features Power Struggles and Potty Mouths". [[The New York Times]].
13. (July 8, 2020). "Walton Goggins To Voice Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Podcast 'Deep Cover' From Malcolm Gladwell's Pushkin Industries". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
14. (2025-09-02). "Walton Goggins plugs his Goggle Glasses in 2025 Super Bowl commercial".
15. (2025-01-23). "Fallout Actor Walton Goggins Is Starring in His First Super Bowl Ad — See the Teaser! (Exclusive)". [[People (magazine).
16. Greenstreet, Rosanna. (2025-05-10). "The White Lotus's Walton Goggins: 'Who do I most admire? My wife, because of what we have overcome together'". The Guardian.
17. "Walton Goggins Tells the Story of Losing His Front Teeth... Twice".
18. Kelly, Winter. (November 16, 2004). "Hollywood Hills Residents Mourn Tragic Loss". [[Canyon News]].
19. Pappademas, Alex. (2025-02-04). "Walton Goggins's Wild Ride to Stardom".
20. (September 13, 2011). "Under the Radar interview with Walton Goggins".
21. (7 January 2026). "Actor Awards Nominations 2026: ‘One Battle After Another’ Earns Record-Breaking 7 Nods, ‘The Studio’ Leads TV With 5 Noms".
22. Prusakowski, Steven. (July 9, 2024). "2024 Astra TV Awards Nominees Announced".
23. Hipes, Patrick. (December 14, 2015). "Critics' Choice Awards Nominations: 'Mad Max' Leads Film; ABC, HBO, FX Networks & 'Fargo' Top TV". Deadline Hollywood.
24. Anderton, Ethan. (June 6, 2011). "Nominations for First Critics' Choice Television Awards Include Modern Family, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and More". [[Collider (website).
25. Chitwood, Adam. (May 22, 2013). "Game of Thrones, The Americans, and New Girl Score Critics Choice TV Awards Nominations; Mad Men and Modern Family Shunned". Collider.
26. (May 28, 2014). "Big Bang, Fargo, The Good Wife, Masters of Sex, The Normal Heart Lead 2014 Critics Choice Nominations". [[TV Line]].
27. Pedersen, Erik. (May 6, 2015). "'Justified', 'Olive Kitteridge', HBO Lead Critics' Choice TV AwardsNominees; Cat Deeley Set As Host – Update". Deadline Hollywood.
28. Hammond, Pete. (December 8, 2019). "'The Irishman', 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Lead Critics' Choice Nominations; Netflix Dominates With 61 Noms In Movies And TV". Deadline Hollywood.
29. Verhoeven, Beatrice. (2024-05-14). "'Baby Reindeer,' 'The Curse,' 'Shogun' Among Inaugural Gotham TV Awards Nominees".
30. Youngs, Ian. (December 8, 2025). "Golden Globes: The full list of nominees".
31. Moraski, Lauren. (November 2, 2015). "2015 Hollywood Film Awards winners". [[CBS News]].
32. "2019 Music in Visual Media Nominations".
33. "2019 NBFF Awards".
34. "Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series Nominees / Winners".
35. "Fallout".
36. (July 15, 2025). "Primetime Emmy Nominations: The Complete List".
37. (December 11, 2012). "San Diego Film Critics Select Top Films for 2012". [[San Diego Film Critics Society]].
38. "2011".
39. "2019 Winners".
40. "2022 Awardees".
41. Bryant, Jacob. (February 24, 2023). "'Star Wars,' 'Mad Max,' 'Walking Dead' Lead Saturn Awards Nominations". Variety.
42. McNary, Dave. (May 17, 2009). "SXSW festival winners announced". Variety.
43. (June 3, 2009). "Television Critics Association Announces 2009 Award Nominee".