Last year, I had the opportunity to speak with Walton Goggins about his time working on Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. With the film now set to be released in the UK on Friday, I'm finally able to bring you my interview with the critically acclaimed acor who has built up a huge fan base thanks to his now iconic roles in the likes of Justified and The Shield as 'Boyd Crowder' and 'Detective Shane Vendrell' respectively. As 'Billy Crash', he takes on perhaps the most vile character of his career. However, before we talk about that, here is an excerpt from our interview in which he discusses his humorous first meeting with Samuel L. Jackson during his first day on set.
"Sam’s one of my heroes. Sam’s been a hero of mine since forever, since ‘Do The Right Thing’. This is a journeyman. This is an actor’s actor. To see him go where he went to with affecting this voice and this walk and his appearance. When I first met Sam on the set, he came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, I’m a fan’. Sam is so generous that way. They’re all generous. But this was my first day being there and I was just taking it all in and then this older black gentleman came up and said, ‘I’m a really, really big fan,’ and I said, ‘Oh, well thank you very much, I really appreciate that.’ And he said, ‘Walt. It’s Sam!’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, your name is Sam? Well, it’s nice to meet you Sam.’ He’s like, ‘JACKSON’. Get the [frick] outta here man! I had no idea it was him and he was like a foot away from me. I had no idea that was Sam Jackson. I just thought it was this really, really kind African American gentleman in his eighties who was just coming up and saying hello. I was like, ‘Oh wow, you like Justified?’ It’s like, ‘No mothe[frick]er, that’s Sam Jackson!’ It was unbelievable. I literally almost passed out. I could not believe that that was him."
For our full interview with the actor in which he talks more about his experiences on the set of
Django Unchained, the fourth season of
Justified, his ideas for a "dark" romantic comedy and a whole lot more, be sure to check back here on Wednesday for the audio and transcription!
Set in the South two years before the Civil War, "Django Unchained" stars Academy Award®-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.
Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.
Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy Award®-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival...
STARRING:
Jamie Foxx as Django
Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie
Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz
Kerry Washington as Broomhilda
Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen
Laura Cayouette as Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly
Dennis Christopher as Leonide Moguy
Don Johnson as Spencer 'Big Daddy' Bennett
M.C. Gainey as Big John Brittle
Tom Savini as Tracker Cheney
Anthony LaPaglia as Jano
James Remar as Ace Speck
Walton Goggins as Billy Crash
Tom Wopat as Marshall Gill Tatum
Misty Upham as Minnie
RELEASE DATE: 25th December, 2012 (US) January 18th, 2013 (UK)