Timothy Olyphant

At 55 years old, Timothy Olyphant has this physical status:

Timothy David Olyphant (born May 20, 1968) is an American actor and director.

He made his acting debut in an Off-Broadway theater in 1995, in The Monogamist, and received the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then joined David Sedaris' The Santaland Diaries in 1996.

He then moved to film; in the early years of his career, he was often cast in supporting villainous roles, most notably in Scream 2 (1999), A Man Apart (2004) and The Girl Next Door (2004).

With his portrayal of Sheriff Seth Bullock in HBO's western Deadwood (2004–2006) and its film sequel Deadwood: The Movie (2019), he attracted a larger audience.

He appeared in films such as Catch and Release (2006), A Perfect Getaway (2007), and The Crazies (2010), and Thomas Gabriel played the main villain in Live Free or Die Hard (2007).

In season two of the FX legal drama Damages (2009), Olyphant appeared as a recurring guest star. Vice President Olyphant is the best-known role to date. Marshal Raylan Givens of FX's modern-day Kentucky western Justified (2010-2015), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2011.

Olyphant appeared on many television sitcoms, including The Office (2010), The Mindy Project (2013), and The Grinder (2015–2016), for which he received a Critics' Choice Award.

As James Stacy, he appeared in both the Netflix comedy series Santa Clarita Diet (2017–2019) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).

Early life

Olyphant was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, but at the age of two, he moved to Modesto, California. Katherine (née Gideon) and John Vernon Bevan Olyphant, who worked as vice president of production at Gallo Winery, are among his parents. Andrew is his older brother and Matthew is his younger brother. When Olyphant was a boy, his parents divorced; both of them have remarried. He is of English, German, Scottish, Dutch, and Irish, with a one-eighth Russian-Jewish ancestry.

Olyphant is a descendant of the Vanderbilt family of New York. Cornelius Vanderbilt, his paternal grandfather, was the family's third great-grandfather; his grandmother, Emily Vanderbilt Sloane, was the family's third grandparent; and his great-uncle John Hammond, a composer. The surname Olyphant is of Scottish origins. Dr. David Olyphant, Scotland's fourth great-grandfather, served as the head-general of the Southern hospitals during the American Revolutionary War. David Olyphant, his third great-grandfather, and Robert Morrison Olyphant, his great-grandfather, were both successful businessmen.

Fred C. Beyer High School in Modesto attended the Olyphant's Fred C. Beyer High School. He was "embarrassed" by acting, but he loved drawing and painting as a child. He swam competitively through his youth and was a finalist in the 200m Individual Medley at the 1986 Nationals. USC Trojans swimming coach Peter Daland brought him to the University of Southern California. When Olyphant first visited the campus as part of a recruiting tour, he wanted to study architecture but was told it would be impossible with his training schedule.

Rather, he went for a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Nonetheless, Olyphant left university as a student without a degree, and he returned to finish the degree 30 years later, taking an online course during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 1990, he planned to finish his education and apply for a master's degree in fine arts, while halfheartedly considered a career in commercial art. Olyphant, who was working as a swimming coach at Irvine Novaquatics, moved to New York to investigate other options. He performed stand-up comedy first: "I'd dabbled [before] and then there was a six-month period where I did it with a certain commitment. "I'd usually go back" to the beginning. He eventually decided to be an actor. He had taken an acting class at UC Irvine as an elective and found it "really enjoyable." He completed a two-year acting course at William Esper Studio in New York and began auditioning for roles.

Personal life

Since 1991, Olyphant has been married to Alexis Knief, his college sweetheart. They live in Westwood, Los Angeles, and they have three children.

From 2006 to late 2008, Olyphant was the sports reporter for Joe Escalante's morning radio show on Los Angeles' Indie 103.1; film director David Lynch served as the show's weatherman. Every weekday, Olyphant called the station to report his findings in a new way. Following the station's demise, he joked: "I know of anyone looking for sports news from an actor who is often forgetting what happened yesterday or reading it online from a newspaper."

He is also a keen tennis player and has competed in many pro-celebrity tournaments. He is a fan of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Dodgers game in 2013.

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Career

Olyphant's first paid acting gig was on 77 Sunset Strip in 1995. Phyllis Huffman played him in the role, but he did not have the opportunity to meet Clint Eastwood, the show's producer who died days before filming began. He made his professional Off Broadway debut in The Monogamist's production and received the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Debut Performance later this year. He appeared in The SantaLand Diaries (1996) at the Atlantic Theater Company, a one-man performance based on David Sedaris' review of working as a Macy's department store Christmas elf. While imitating other characters, Ben Brantley of The New York Times thought the "charming" Olyphant did "an amazing job," but "I had a difficult time finding a convincing style for the running story." Howard Kissell of The New York Daily News said he delivered "all the drollery with a flawless deadpan and a twinkle," while USA Today's David Patrick Stearns described him as "an outstanding young actor who gradually transforms a young 20-something who gradually transforms into someone who might believe in Christmas."

As an eager young director whose hopes to play Elise Elliot (Goldie Hawn), Olyphant makes his film debut in The First Wives Club (1996), as an eager young director whose hopes to portray her as the elderly mother. He made his television debut in Mr. & Mrs. Smith's pilot, which aired on the same day as the film's debut. Officer Brett Farraday appeared in three episodes of ABC's High Incident in 1997, and he returned to Playwrights Horizons in New York to play a supporting role in Plunge. He appeared in A Life Less Ordinary and Ellen Foster's CBS television film. According to HitFix's Chris Eggertsen, Olyphant's most high-profile role in the 1997 horror film Scream 2 was as a film student, adding "a touch of wild-eyed flair to the role." "It's a gift" later on,'s he referred to the position. At that time, I had almost no experience on my resume. I'm positive some of it was made up."

In 1998, Olyphant appeared in a guest starring role in an episode of HBO's Sex and the City, portraying Carrie Bradshaw's love interest. Sarah Jessica Parker said later that the episode, "Valley of the Twenty Something Guys," was her favorite of the series. He appeared in the HBO war film When Trumpets Fade and the 1999 independent ensemble drama. In 1999, two little-seen films were released: the drama Advice from a Caterpillar, in which Olyphant played Cynthia Nixon's bisexual love interest, and the offbeat ensemble comedy No Vacancy, in which he appeared with Christina Ricci. In the cult comedy Go (1999), Olyphant received raves for portraying a drug dealer. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the role was "played with offbeat enthusiasm," while Variety's Todd McCarthy described it as a "deftly etched" appearance. He was supposed to appear in the fantasy film Practical Magic, but Aidan Quinn had to substitute him.

After Olyphant's appearance in Go, film's producer Mickey Liddell offered him his choice of parts in his forthcoming film The Broken Hearts Club (2000), a romantic comedy about a group of gay friends in West Hollywood. Dennis Lim of The Village Voice said that his leading role was better than the film deserved: "Olyphant is charismatic enough for his worst lines not to stick." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said he played the part "as a straight actor gaying it up." In an interview with Olyphant about the challenges of playing "second fiddle to a car," the Washington Post's Stephen Hunter likened him to a young Bill Paxton.

In another car film called Redline – which would later be titled The Fast and Furious – Olyphant was given a leading role for Dominic Toretto. "If you can convince Timothy Olyphant to appear in the film, we'll approve it," Sony producer Neal H. Moritz said. When it was turned to Vin Diesel, Olyphant left the role. With eight sequels to date, the film was a huge success. Later in his career, Olyphant discussed passing on a number of jobs earlier in his career. "I've been on bizarre projects and they've produced numerous sequels, and I'm not invested in them," he replied when asked by the Hollywood Reporter what was the most ridiculous proposal he'd ever pitched. In 2018, he reflected on his passing over Toto's role in The Fast and Furious, predicting that it would be "stupid" and would explode at the box office, as he predicted.

Olyphant appeared in Rock Star, the crime drama Auggie Rose, and the romantic comedy Head Over Heels (both 2001). He appeared in the short film Doppelganger (2001) and appeared in a Sci-Fi Channel horror film Night Visions (2002).

Coastlines made its debut at the 2002 SXSW Festival but struggled to find a distributor until 2006. Josh Brolin played an ex-conservant who returns to his Florida hometown to collect a $200,000 debt. Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times wrote that he has "possesses the kind of thousand-yard stare that indicates something deeper," while Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman noted that "Olyphant, in the sense that Paul Newman used to swagger through, has a famous command." However, Variety's Todd McCarthy argued that his appearance "sort of floats along."

In the Vin Diesel-starring action film A Man Apart, Olyphant's most high-profile role of 2003 was in the Vin Diesel-starring action film A Man Apart. Desson Howe of the Washington Post said that Olyphant "has gotten a kudo or two for [having] the full knowledge that he is playing one of the movie's many one-dimensional characters, so he may as well have insane fun." In addition, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said that "the most vibrant character in "A Man Apart" turns out to be] a middling drug dealer played to the hilt by Timothy Olyphant." He appeared in Stephen King's horror film Dreamcatcher as one of four friends attacked by invasive aliens. The film was poorly reviewed, with Variety's David Rooney remarking: "Only Lee and Olyphant come close to hitting the right note of tongue-in-cheek hum that might have made all this palatable." They're unfortunate that they're the first to go." He appeared in The Safety of Objects, an independent ensemble drama from 2003 to 2003.

In the comedy The Girl Next Door, Olyphant received acclaim for his 2004 work as a porn film director. He was initially reluctant to audition for the role because it was too similar to some of his previous appearances, but "as my manager dutifully told me, not many people watched those films." Kelly's character, according to Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle, he was "a leering, magnetic, frightening, alert, completely deceitful, maddening wild man." There's the sense that everything will go wrong if Olyphant is on camera." A.O. Scott of The New York Times said the role was played with "a throwaway inventiveness," but Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said it was played "with stunning comic zeal." Slate's David Edelstein loved his "spaced-out chaos." Kelly's Olyphant's Kelly is a brilliant synthesis of poses." "Is striking a nifty amiability with an understated threat in his scene-stealing turn," Variety's Joe Leydon said.

Why did I do that?"

When he appeared in HBO's acclaimed western Deadwood, which aired for three seasons from 2004 to 2006, Olyphant caught the attention of a larger audience. Although he had previously been typecast "as a talkative, Jack Nicholson-styled, funny bad guy," in the words of Vulture's Matt Zoller Seitz, Deadwood gave him the opportunity to play a righteous, brooding policeman. David Milch, the show's creator, said of the casting choice: "Bullock's uprightness is a better alternative to going medieval on people." In Tim, you can see the same fire and the possibility, as well as his most tolerant... I'm not sure which poet wrote about 'thoughts too deep for words,' but Tim brings the message alive... Tim is a guy who doesn't want to be anonymous,' but he doesn't want to be published quickly."

Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. was first introduced as Bullock's protagonist, though Emily VanDerWerff of Deadwood was first introduced as the protagonist of the A.V. Al Swearengen's character was said to "dominate the show," according to the club. This is not to insult Timothy Olyphant. He's a fine actor, and Bullock's portrayal of him is often positive. Bullock is obviously one of the show's most important characters, but the story of a Wild West lawman, despite how revisionist it was, hasn't ended up having as much to do in a blatantly revisionist Western about how chaos gives way to civilization. Bullock's role was "not as much played as embodied by Olyphant," Matt Feeney of Slate described it as "laconic, feral, and a little vain." Alan Sepinwall of HitFix found his role "fierce and commanding," while The New York Times' Jeremy Egner said he had "a gift for explosive, nuanced results that had barely been imagined by previous roles." The cast was nominated for the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Service by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Olyphant said that Deadwood "has probably done more for me since we wrapped than when it was on" years later. I continue to draw from it rather than stealing from it. I'm much more efficient at my job now because of the things I learned while doing it. David Milch is one of the finest writers, storytellers, producers, and creative powers I've ever encountered. "Unfortunately, the show is much better than my own "performance" says Ian, who was like a baby, playing with the props and using the words, and he never lost his sense of fun of it all. I wasn't operating at that level."

He made a guest appearance in an episode of NBC's My Name Is Earl in 2006. Olyphant appeared in the romantic comedy Catch and Release in 2007. Jennifer Garner, a co-star from New York's days as struggling actors, was excited for the opportunity to portray a romantic lead. While Lael Loewenstein of Variety said, "Olyphant has a promising future," Desson Thomson of the Washington Post characterized him as "the best performer here" but that he was "completely misplaced, an elligible actor trapped in a thankless, frilly role." The A.V.'s Scott Tobias "Olyphant's trademark intransmission makes him a more romantic lead than the ordinary stuffed shirt," the club announced. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon found him "ethical and risky" here because he seems to be "a little impulsive and risky." He is not your typical cuddly romantic lead."

The action films Live Free or Die Hard and Hitman were Olyphant's first post-Deadwood roles. (Coastlines was first shown during the Sundance Film Festival in 2002, but Catch and Release was shot in 2005.) He had bought a house in the weeks before Deadwood's dismissal, and he later admitted that his work choices during that time were motivated solely for "purely financial reasons." He played a villainous cybersecurity expert in Live Free or Die Hard. Both he and Bruce Willis said his role in the script was underwritten, and he loved working with Willis to flesh out the character. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers described him as "a master at smiling menace," while San Francisco Chronicle reporter Mick LaSalle found him "perfectly ice cold." However, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times noted that "Mr. Olyphant has many charms, but annihilating terror is not one of them." He appeared in Hitman, a video game adaptation, as the assassin Agent 47. Vin Diesel was sent to help him six weeks before filming began and reluctantly agreed to shave his head. The film was commercially lucrative, grossing over $100 million, but it was not given glowing feedback. Olyphant was described by Variety's Todd McCarthy as "an actor capable of portraying subtle ambiguities and thought," implying that he should go out and try something other than baddies." Nick Schager of Slant Magazine was dissatisfied with the actor's "reduced to glowering and shooting with pistols," while Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said he was "strangely, at times ridiculously, miscast." He appeared in the Iraq War drama Stop-Loss in 2008, portrayed Cowboy in the video game Turok, and made a guest appearance on ABC sitcom Samantha Who? Christina Applegate stars.

When choosing his 2009 projects, Olyphant had a fresh perspective, influenced by his time with Hitman: "It inspired me to take a little more responsibility for what I was doing." I was incredibly fond of the producer and a number of the film's participants, but there was definitely a part of me that was like, "What am I doing here?" In the little-seen independent heist comedy High Life, he starred as a morphine addict, with Derek Elley of Variety lauding his "terrific" appearance. In Hawaii, he appeared in The thriller A Perfect Getaway as a potential serial killer of fellow holidaymakers. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised "the regretfully underemployed" actor's appearance, while Boston Globe founder Ty Burr found him "delightfully confident," while Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum expressed her dissatisfaction with his "particularly good time telegraphing mania." He was nominated for the Toronto Film Critics Association's Best Supporting Actor award. He returned to the stage for one night to perform in The Human Rights Campaign. He appeared in 11 episodes of the FX legal thriller Damages in 2009 as a morally ambiguous love interest for Rose Byrne's character. Byrne later claimed to be her favorite Damages guest actor, while FX president John Landgraf gave him the pilot script for another FX project, Lawman (later renamed Justified). In 2010, he appeared as the town sheriff in the horror film The Crazies. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw was captivated by Timothy Olyphant's "saturnine screen presence – the opulent actor with a lead role to match his potential." Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter found him "convincing," while Claudia Puig of USA Today loved his "smart, stoic, and sympathetic" appearance. He appeared in the independent comedy Elektra Luxx (2010).

As Deputy United States, Olyphant appeared in FX's modern-day western drama Justified. Marshal Raylan Givens, a felled man who has been released to Eastern Kentucky after a "justified" but finite, quick-draw shooting of a criminal in Miami, has returned to his hometown, Eastern Kentucky. He runs into several celebrities from his childhood, including his father and Boyd Crowder, with whom he dug coal as a youth. Olyphant was first attracted to "the warmth and the charm, as well as the appearance of old-fashionedness" of the story, but he has said he does not consider him a "good guy." Raylan Givens' character was created by novelist Elmore Leonard, who appeared in his short story "Fire in the Hole" (2001) and the books Pronto (1995) and Riding the Rap (1995). Leonard was an executive producer of Justified and befriended Olyphant; his final book, Raylan (2012), was inspired by the television show.

Many television commentators have characterized Raylan Givens as the "defining part" of Olyphant's career. "There are obviously worse ways to be pigeonholed than playing tough, laconic lawmen," Variety's Brian Lowry said, and Timothy Olyphant is carving himself a niche in those confines. It's an aesthetically pleasing show." "Olyphant's sharp gaze, Zen interior, and matinee brought to mind a younger Clint Eastwood," Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle praised "an incredibly touching appearance." "A remarkably convincing actor," HitFix's Daniel Fienberg described him as "a tremendously convincing actor." He doesn't appear that he thrives on minimalism alone, but he gets a lot out of a little. Potential energy or potential abuse, he says. And Olyphant does "intense and coiled" to perfection. The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert said: "It's difficult to imagine any other actor in the role," Olyphant milks Raylan's smooth, laconic cowboy style for as much wry humor as he can." He is riveting without a lot of noise — both his body language and his talk have been pared down, but his presence is always resonant." Despite being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2011, Emmy voters have often described Olyphant and the program as "snubbed." Vulture's Matt Zoller Seitz said this was because it was "the kind of appearance that almost no one recognises as 'acting.' It's an old-fashioned movie hero performance in which a large portion of the emotional shift is internal and articulated with great subtlety." In the same way, Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote that his "complete immersion in the role seems to have masked the talent expended playing it."

Olyphant also served as a co-executive producer on Justified, assisting Graham Yost and the writing team on some of the show's scripts and arriving on the set on his days off to work with guest stars. He has described producing as "the best thing about this career." "Often on shows that don't mean anything," Yost said of his producer credit: "Unfortunately on shows that don't mean much." On this show, it really does not reflect the depth of his involvement, which would be to a great credit. Tim is the best reminder for anyone that we're in the Elmore Leonard universe. And that it must be funny, sad, and twisted, and it needs to be able to engage with both of those voices at the same time." In 2011, Justified was given a Peabody Award.

During Justified's six-season run, Olyphant made occasional guest appearances on comedy television shows. In two episodes of NBC comedy The Office (2010), he played a paper salesman after Mindy Kaling, a writer, producer, and actress, demanded for his participation in a guest appearance. In an episode of the FX sitcom The League (2012), he portrayed a character named White Sushi Chef and portrayed a female protagonist in a FX animated series Archer's episode in 2012. He appeared as a love interest on Fox's The Mindy Project in 2013. After Kaling told him that he wanted to appear on the programme, he later said he would have been able to act his middle-aged skateboarder character for "years."

In between seasons of Justified, Olyphant appeared on numerous films. In the animated film Rango (2011), he portrayed the Spirit of the West. After director Gore Verbinski overheard him on television, Timothy's character was a parody of Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name and Olyphant: "I just kind of doubled back and looked out the door and was like, 'That's our guy.' In the science-fiction thriller I Am Number Four (2011), Olyphant appeared as a mentor to Alex Pettyfer's character. While Variety's Justin Chang said he "brings some of his best attributes," Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey said he was "an untapped resource." In addition to that in 2011, he voiced Sergeant First Class "Grinch" in the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In 2013, Jeff Garlin's father appeared in the independent film Dealin' with Idiots, and he appeared in a one-off LACMA Live Read of Raising Arizona (1987); he played Nicolas Cage's character while Amy Poehler played Holly Hunter. In 2014, Olyphant appeared alongside Tina Fey in the ensemble comedy "This Is Where I Leave You." Their characters were teen sweethearts until he was struck with a mild brain injury during an accident. "Over the course of his career, Olyphant has produced head-slappingly bad stuff, and he does it again by simply underplaying."

In the Fox comedy The Grinder (2015–2016), Olyphant appeared as a fictionalized version of himself. His result received critical feedback, with USA Today's Robert Bianco announcing it as a "Emmy-deserving effort." He received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series. At the off-Broadway Atlantic Theater Company in early 2016, Olyphant appeared in Kenneth Lonergan's comedy Hold On to Me Darling in the world premiere. Strings McCrane, a self-absorbed country singer and actor who returns to Tennessee after his mother's death, is a self-absorbed country singer and actor who reflects on his life. In a performance that "avoids the obvious route of histrionic posing," Ben Brantley of the New York Times found him "entertainingly irritating." "Mr. Olyphant's "completely reveals everything that has come before." Variety's Frank Rizzo called his appearance "a stunner" for Strings, "strickening just the right combination of guilelessness, obliviousness, and narcissism to make Strings one of the most interesting performances in a long time." Strings' unapologetic self-absorption remains more human than monstrous, according to David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter. Henry, Sandy's ex-husband, appeared in Oliver Stone's Snowden as a CIA agent who befriended Snowden ahead of his departure to Russia due to his leak of classified information.

In February 2017, Olyphant debuted in Netflix's Santa Clarita Diet, as an executive producer, as well as co-starring Drew Barrymore. In March 2017, Netflix revived the series for a second season and then a final season in May 2018. Dark Was the Night, an independent drama in which he starred Marisa Tomei, was shot in 2015 and premiered at the 2018 Galway Film Fleadh.

David Milch was producing a two-hour film sequel to Deadwood, according to HBO in early 2016. In October 2018, the long-awaited sequel to the television series began production. Deadwood: On May 31, 2019, HBO released The Movie Premiership.

In 2017, it was announced that Olyphant would play an FBI agent in the film Driven, but he did not appear in the film. In 2018, Olyphant appeared as a voice actor in the stop-motion animated film Missing Link, which was released in April 2019. He was also part of the large ensemble cast for the Quentin Tarantino semi-historical film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was released in July 2019. In the film, Olyphant played TV western star James Stacy.

In the second season of the Disney+ space Western The Mandalorian, Olyphant appeared as Cobb Vanth in 2020. In 2022, he reprised his role in The Book of Boba Fett, the Mandalorian spinoff series.

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