Walton Goggins Asked For A Change That Made Justified's Boyd Crowder Even Better

"Fire in the hole!" All it took was one simple line for Walton Goggins' Boyd Crowder to become the talk of the town on "Justified." What was meant to be a one-and-done role in the pilot episode turned into a six-season endeavor when creator Graham Yost and the rest of the production fell head-over-heels for Goggins' take on the Elmore Leonard character. Although Goggins initially rejected his "Justified" role, he eventually came around to the idea — under one condition.

"He loved the character, but was very concerned about playing a Nazi," Yost told the Television Academy years later. "So, we felt it was more interesting if his political [leanings] were all just of convenience. He didn't really believe in them." It was with this simple revelation that the "Justified" writers were able to find the right angle to keep Boyd around. Rather than being an actual racist — as is the case in Leonard's original novella, "Fire in the Hole" — he only manipulated the white supremacist types into whatever scheme he currently had planned.

This change only came after several attempts from Yost and company to recruit Goggins in the first place. "You know, this job was offered to me three times," the actor revealed to Vanity Fair in 2025. "I turned it down twice before saying yes the third time, only because [Timothy Olyphant] got on the phone with me and the writers and made a change that I needed for myself." Considering how vital Boyd Crowder became to the world of "Justified," it was undoubtedly the right move.

Although Boyd Crowder may not be a racist at heart, he was certainly deemed "guilty by association." At least that's how U.S. Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens always saw his former coal mining frenemy. Timothy Olyphant knew Walton Goggins couldn't stand Boyd's racist past, so he often found clever ways to weave verbal daggers at the Harlan County outlaw. But aside from making his outward prejudice all a part of Boyd's con, there was another requirement that Goggins had for his character.

"I said, I want, however you construct it, for Tim to say a line basically saying, 'I know you don't believe any of this stuff,' to which they did," Goggins told Vanity Fair. "And then the other condition was, I just wanna be the smartest guy in the room." To the star's surprise, the writers honored that request. The rapid-fire dialogue between Raylan and Boyd was one of the most appealing aspects of "Justified," especially since the latter always danced around tipping his hand to the deputy.

Goggins continued to influence the direction of "Justified" all the way until the show's end. He famously came up with the final Raylan/Boyd moments of the series. "We dug coal together," Boyd reminds Raylan at the end of Season 6's "The Promise," to which the lawman replies, "That's right." For Goggins, Boyd's bond with Raylan is as simple as that.