Walton Goggins got his third Emmy nomination: Do you know his best roles?

Emmy nomination

Walton Goggins' masterful performance as the tormented Rick Hatchett in 'White Lotus' is being recognized by an ever-growing audience. And now he has a well-deserved Primetime Emmy nomination for the role.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

It's Walter Goggins' second nomination in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category; the first was for ‘Justified’ in 2011. He also had a nomination in the category ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series’ for the series ‘Fallout’. Did you know about these roles and how long this actor has been a regular on TV screens?

Walton Sanders Goggins Jr, unexpected star

Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. has a long career behind him, and yet, it's 'The White Lotus' and Emmy buzz surrounding the actor in his 50s that shot Goggins to stardom. He just attended the MET Gala of 2025 and is hosting 'Saturday Night Live' on May 10th. Let's have a look at this remarkable actor's road to success.

His beginnings

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1971, Walton Goggins started his acting career at age 19 with small roles in the TV series 'In the Heat of the Night' and another in the TV movie ‘Murder in Mississippi’ (1990).

Goggins's breakthrough in 'The Shield' (2002–08)

It would take 12 years and over a dozen minor TV and movie roles for Goggins to get his breakthrough. His performance as Detective Shane Vendrell in FX's 'The Shield' was critically acclaimed. Over the series' seven seasons, Goggins transformed his character from an arrogant, 'dirty' cop to a tormented man who felt guilt and loyalty toward the squad.

Photo: FX

Small roles in movies and series

By then, Goggins had already appeared in an episode of 'Beverly Hills, 90210' (1992), the movies ‘The Next Karate Kid’ (1994) and ‘The Apostle’ (1997 - photo), as well as ‘The Bourne Identity’ (2002), and ‘Damage’ (2009), among many others.

Photo: Sony Pictures

Justified (2010-15)

It became much easier for Goggins to land bigger roles after 'The Shield.' His interpretation of the criminal Boyd Crowder in the Western series 'Justified' turned the character into a memorable villain for 74 episodes. Goggins was nominated for an Emmy for this role.

Image: FX

Django Unchained (2012)

In Quentin Tarantino's film ‘Django Unchained’, Goggins was once again cast as a cruel person with a bad role in American history. His Billy Crash is a brutal and violent overseer at a plantation who especially has it in for Django. Goggins' character represents the cold cruelty of the slaveholding South.

Image: Sony Pictures

Sons of Anarchy (2012-14)

Between 2012 and 2014, Walton Goggins played a role quite different from the ones we usually see him perform. In 'Sons of Anarchy', he was the transgender escort Venus Van Dam, demonstrating his impressive versatility.

Image: FX, Disney+

Tomb Raider (2018)

Again, in this movie, Goggins played a villain. 'Tomb Raider' saw him as Lara Croft's nemesis, the mercenary Mathias Vogel, based on the video game character of the same name. Goggins gave the man a realistic, complex undertone, as he explained in Screen Rant, picturing him as exhausted, frustrated, and lonely.

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Walton Goggins showed his funny side while also playing a villain in this superhero movie. As a Southern arms dealer and opportunist, his character tries to steal Hank Pym’s quantum tech for profit.

Image: Disney / Marvel

SIX (2017-18)

In recent years, Walton Goggins has returned to TV with a strong presence in several shows. The military drama 'Six' shows him as a former SEAL member who made some wrong decisions in the Afghan war and now tries to find redemption.

Photo: Paint Rock Productions / A+E Studios

Deep State (2018-19)

In 'Deep State', Goggins is once again a lone individual who left the team. This time, his character Nathan Miller moves from being a CIA operative to a fixer for the deep state. The actor said on 'Hidden Remote' that his performance in this world of blurred moral boundaries was "deeply emotionally impacting" to him.

Image: Disney

The Unicorn (2019-21)

In 'The Unicorn', we get to see Walton Goggins' versatility in the role of a widower navigating who's navigating fatherhood and a return to dating life. This unexpected role for Goggins earned him a Critics' Choice Award nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

Photo: CBS Studios

The Righteous Gemstones (2021-25)

'The Righteous Gemstones' mocks massive, commercial TV churches, and Walton Goggins goes all out as its secondary character, Uncle Baby Billy Freeman. A failed gospel singer, Billy is the opportunistic uncle of the powerful televangelist Gemstone family. He always tries to get a piece of their profits.

Image: HBO Max

Fallout (2024–present)

Goggins embodies both Cooper Howard, a Hollywood actor and Vault-Tec spokesperson before the apocalypse, and his alter ego, The Ghoul, a mutated bounty hunter after disaster has struck. According to The Wrap, the duality between these two characters "gets the full emotional spectrum to play with here, comedy, tragedy, action, adventure, and more." It earned Walton Goggins an Emmy nomination

Image: Prime Video

The White Lotus (2025)

Walton Goggins's role in 'The White Lotus' has been praised across the board, with 'Screen Rant' naming him "one of the standout characters" of the show. He plays the tortured soul Rick Hatchett - yes, another anti-hero - in a posh Thai resort. Together with his on-screen partner Aimee Lou Wood (image), he brings us satire, strange expressions of love, and, finally, a tragedy brought on by revenge.

Photo: HBO

Personal bond with Thailand

For the actor, his time in Thailand filming 'The White Lotus' had a dark, personal side to it. Twenty years earlier, in 2004, he had visited Thailand during a difficult time in his life. His ex-wife, Leanne Knight, had just taken her own life, and the actor had escaped to the Asian country "looking for peace... for some resolution." Therefore, he could identify with his tragic character, Rick, in 2024.