Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. (born November 10, 1971) is an American actor. He has starred in various television series, including The Shield (2002–2008), Justified (2010–2015), Vice Principals (2016–2017), The Righteous Gemstones (2019–2025), Invincible (2021–present), Fallout (2024–present), and The White Lotus (2025). He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Justified and The White Lotus, and for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Fallout.
Goggins starred in and co-produced the Academy Award–winning short film The Accountant (2001). He has also had significant roles in feature films, such as Predators (2010), The Hateful Eight (2015), Tomb Raider (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and Fatman (2020) among others.
Early life Goggins was born on November 10, 1971, in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Janet Long and Walton Goggins Sr. He was raised in Lithia Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He attended and graduated from Lithia Springs High School, and then attended Georgia Southern University for a year. He has stated that a DNA test identified him as a descendant of the Irish high king Niall of the Nine Hostages.
As he has described in interviews, a young Goggins twice had two front teeth knocked out: first, as a fifth-grader at sports practice in 1979, when he was accidentally struck in the mouth by a baseball, and after their successful reinsertion, a year and a half later he knocked them out again after hitting his face diving into a pool's shallow end. He then spent his high school years wearing a removable dental bridge (something he says he used to comic effect).
Career Goggins moved to Los Angeles at nineteen, working at LA Fitness and a valet parking business while taking acting classes and auditioning. After starring in a few roles in Georgia, he met Ray McKinnon while filming Murder in Mississippi.
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.
Advertising Goggins has been prolific in appearing in television commercials across his career, including for Walmart and, in a Super Bowl ad spot, promoting GoDaddy and his own goggle glasses line. Regarding commercial acting, Goggins told People: "When we did the Super Bowl commercial for Walton Goggins Goggle Glasses, what I found so rewarding was being given the opportunity to step into this space and embrace the challenge and the creativity of telling a story in 15 seconds, 30 seconds or in 60 seconds." Goggins said that, before working more seriously in advertising, he received advice on this area of work from Samuel L. Jackson.
Personal life In 2001, Goggins married Leanne Knight. Although estranged, they remained married until she died by suicide on November 12, 2004. Goggins married filmmaker Nadia Conners in August 2011 and they have a son together, born the same year.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1992 Mr. Saturday Night Shaky Kid Uncredited Forever Young Gate MP 1994 The Next Karate Kid Charlie1997 The Apostle Sam Switchback Bud 1998 Major League: Back to the Minors Billy "Downtown" Anderson 1999 Wayward Son Plantation Owner2000 Red Dirt Lee Todd Shanghai Noon Wallace The Crow: Salvation Det. Stan Roberts2001 The Accountant Tommy O'Dell Short film; also co-producer Daddy and Them Tommy Christian Joy Ride Cop Uncredited 2002 The Bourne Identity Research Tech2003 House of 1000 Corpses Steve Naish Apple Jack Moe Danyou Short film 2004 Chrystal Larry Also producer 2005 The World's Fastest Indian Marty 2006 The Architect Joe 2007 Randy and the Mob Tino Armani Also producer2008 Winged Creatures Zack Miracle at St. Anna Captain Nokes2009 That Evening Sun Paul Meecham Also producer Damage Reno Paulsait 2010 Predators Stans2011 Cowboys & Aliens Hunt Straw Dogs Daniel Niles2012 Lincoln Clay Hawkins Django Unchained Billy Crash2013 Officer Down Det. Nick Logue / Angel G.I. Joe: Retaliation Warden Nigel James Machete Kills El Camaleón 12015 Mojave Jim American Ultra Laugher Diablo Ezra The Hateful Eight Captain Chris Mannix 2017 Three Christs Leon2018 Maze Runner: The Death Cure Lawrence Tomb Raider Mathias Vogel Ant-Man and the Wasp Sonny Burch2019 Them That Follow Lemuel Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Old Chattanooga Beer Voice role cameo; extended cut2020 Words on Bathroom Walls Paul John Bronco John Bronco Short film Fatman Skinny Man 2021 Spirit Untamed Hendricks Voice role John Bronco Rides Again John Bronco Short film 2022 Dreamin' Wild Joe Emerson2024 The Uninvited Sammy The Luckiest Man in America Peter Tomarken Queen of the Ring Jack Pfefer 2026 Beef Roger Crumbchuck Voice role 2027 Filming Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 1989–1992 In the Heat of the Night Football Teammate / Darrell / Robbie Jeffries / Garth Warkins 4 episodes 1990 Murder in Mississippi Lyle TV movie1992 Beverly Hills, 90210 Mike Muchin Episode: "The Pit and the Pendulum" Stay the Night Wayne Seagrove TV movie1993 I'll Fly Away Langley Episode: "What's in a Name?" Queen Young Man #1 Episode: "Part I" Renegade Lance McBride Episode: "Wheel Man" 1995 JAG Communications Officer Episode: "Desert Son"1996 High Tide Bad Guy / Treasure Hunter Episode: "A Three Hour Tour" Pacific Blue Harv Episode: "Captive Audience" Humanoids from the Deep Rod TV movie The Sentinel Mick Episode: "True Crime" The Cherokee Kid Jim Bob / Carver Gang TV movie 1998 NYPD Blue Terry Episode: "Honeymoon at Viagra Falls" 2000 Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder Almanzo Wilder TV movie 2001 Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man Billy Weber TV movie 2002 Beyond the Prairie, Part 2: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder Almanzo Wilder TV movie 2002–2008 The Shield Shane Vendrell Main cast 2004 Hawaii Agent Davis Episode: "Lost and Found" 2007 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Marlon Frost Episode: "Empty Eyes"2009 Criminal Minds John Cooley Episode: "Demonology" CSI: Miami Sean Echols Episode: "Dissolved" 2010–2015 Justified Boyd Crowder Recurring role (season 1), main cast (seasons 2–6) 2012 Unsupervised Bruce Lindsay Voice role; episode: "The Magic of Science" 2012–2014 Sons of Anarchy Venus Van Dam Recurring role (seasons 5–7) 2014 Community Mr. Stone Episode: "Cooperative Polygraphy" 2016–2017 Vice Principals Lee Russell Main cast 2017 American Dad! Enoch Voice role; episode: "A Nice Night for a Drive" 2017–2018 Six Richard "Rip" Taggart Main cast (season 2) 2018 L.A. Confidential Detective Jack Vincennes Unsold pilot 2018 The Big Bang Theory Oliver Episode: "The Separation Triangulation" 2019 Deep State Nathan Miller Main cast (series 2); also executive producer 2019–2025 The Righteous Gemstones Baby Billy Freeman Main cast (season 1), recurring role (seasons 2–4) 2019–2021 The Unicorn Wade Felton Main cast; also producer 2021 Squidbillies Bubba Voice role; episode: "Let'er R.I.P." 2021–present Invincible Cecil Stedman Recurring role, voice role 2022 The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey Dr. Rubin Miniseries; 5 episodes 2022–2023 George & Tammy Earl "Peanutt" Montgomery Miniseries; 6 episodes2023 I'm a Virgo Jay Whittle / The Hero Miniseries, 5 episodes Justified: City Primeval Boyd Crowder Episode: "The Question" 2024–present Fallout Cooper Howard / The Ghoul Main cast 2024 What If...? Sonny Burch Voice; episode: "What If... 1872?" 2025 The White Lotus Rick Hatchett Main cast (season 3) 2025 Saturday Night Live Himself (host) Episode: "Walton Goggins/Arcade Fire"
Video games Year Title Voice role 1995 Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom Border World Pilot 2007 The Shield Det. Shane Vendrell 2017 Prey Aaron Ingram 2025 Fallout 76 Cooper Howard / The Ghoul
Music videos Year Artist Title Director 2026 The Strokes "Going Shopping” Johann Rashid
Awards and nominations