The 38-year-old, who grew up in Lithia Springs, not only boasts starring roles in the FX hit series “Justified” and the upcoming summer blockbuster “Predators,” but Goggins also got engaged to his girlfriend of five years, screenwriter Nadia Conners (“The 11th Hour”) while on vacation in Mexico last month.

Goggins portrays a serial killer on the other side of the hunt in “Predators”, which opens in theaters Friday.

Earlier this summer, Goggins and I sat down at the Laurel Canyon Country Store, nestled in a quiet hamlet between the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley. Both patrons and the owner alike dropped by our table to say hello; all echoed the same sentiment: Walton is a great guy.

Q: You’ve found a favorite spot in Los Angeles where everyone seems to know you.

A: I think that people try to find a sense of community wherever they go. Coming from the South, I grew up where you could see your neighbors, but they were a fair distance away. A field separated me from my neighbors Kermit and Fanny. So, I grew up with space. Moving to a city with 12 million people it’s hard to find space. Laurel Canyon provides the perfect hybrid for me in this city as it is urban, but it feels very bucolic. It gives me a feeling of home.

Q: Everybody here seems to know you. Do you ever get tired of that?

A: No, everyone has different levels of celebrity and my celebrity is very familiar and familial. Mostly people that come up to me feel like they have the right to do so and it’s usually resulted in a really nice conversation. So, for me, it’s the perfect level of celebrity. People aren’t shy to tell you how they feel about your work, and when you’re working on screen, you’re often working in a vacuum, so it’s nice to have the feedback from people that follow your work.

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• Brody: There’s more to his character than the physical abilities. Getting into the headspace is just as important. The mental transformation goes hand in hand with the physical transformation. The confidence level goes up when you feel strong.
• Brody: Restricted his diet. For the first time since college, he lifted heavy weights. The body chemistry changed. The physical change was important, but he cultivated the mindset Royce needed to be in. Studied military field manuals, took in as much as he could to create someone with a sense of control.
• Brody: Didn’t want the fear to paralyze his character.
• Goggins: I just read Playboy.
• Goggins: After thinking about his character’s time in jail, he approached Antal and said he hasn’t been socialized in years. His prep was the antithesis of Adrien’s. He’s been in prison for years and years, so being out in the jungle is all new to him. His physical prep was the lack of physical prep.
• Goggins: My blessing and curse as an actor is to take a character on paper and make the audience hate him, but then turn it around and make people laugh with him. Make him 360.
• Brody: It’s surprising when people are surprised by his choices in roles. As an actor, he’s made a conscious decision to not repeat himself to keep it interesting.
• Brody: I look at this as an opportunity to do something special in a type of film he loves. Hollywood has had a reliance on physical brawn, but the confidence comes from within.
• Brody: Coming from a tactical approach. And did feel he need to transform physically. A hero should look strong but didn’t want to just rely on that. It’s a big coup for him and is very protective of this movie and character.

Walton Goggins was cast as tattoo-covered, feral Walter Stans, a serial killer who thinks of himself as a rock star. “Walt has an energy that allows him to be funny in one moment, terrifying in the next,” says Antal. “You’re laughing with him and then you’re afraid of him. Every time Walt was on camera, all I could see was the crew slowly coming behind the monitors to watch him play. You don’t need coffee if you have Walt Goggins.”

Antal had cast Goggins, but Rodriguez was at the time unfamiliar with the actor’s acclaimed work on “The Shield” and other projects. Additionally, the character as scripted was still a work in progress. “I thought we were going to have to overhaul the character and go in an entirely different direction,” Rodriguez remembers. “And it was a predicament because Nimrod had already hired Walt. So, I said let’s just fly him down so I can at least say to him face to face, ‘Look, I’m sorry, we’re just changing the part radically, I’m not happy with it.” And Walt was an incredible collaborator and talent. He was my kind of actor – willing to do whatever it took to make the part work. He just started trying different things right then and there, bouncing off the walls with energy. He basically recreated that entire character of Stans from the ground up right there in the room. He created a very original character.”

“Stans has spent sixteen years on death row,” explains Goggins. “The first images that he sees outside of a prison cell of an alien jungle are just a little over-stimulating for him. He fancies himself the only celebrity on this new planet of terror and thinks that people should be asking him for his autograph. He’s dark, but also I think rather funny and pessimistic.”

A San Quentin orange jumpsuit and multiple tattoos, including a Scorpion tattoo on his neck, helped Goggins get into character. He spent on average of an hour and half in the make-up chair on a daily basis to maintain the fake body art. “The tattoos made me feel very authentic. It’s been interesting walking around, both Hawaii and Austin, with them on. You get the help that you need in stores and restaurants. You don’t get the help that you want, people are not helping you out of kindness. They’re helping you out of fear,” laughs Goggins.

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SciFi Mafia has posted some new videos from Predators which is due out July 9th. 1 of the 5 is of a set tour as well as 1 new clip we haven’t seen with Walton in it. So be sure to check those out below

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TV Fanatic sat down with Joelle Carter who plays the headstrong Ava Crowder for a interview recently and though it’s brief she mentions not only Timothy but her impression of Walton as well.

TV Fanatic: How about Walton Goggins? He seems like he’d be a riot
Joelle Carter: He is funny, but he’s also one of the sweetest men you’ll ever meet.

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