Actor Timothy Olyphant (‘Justified’) is Riding High

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
As Americans, we're constantly grappling with a fundamental question. Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we strive to create the world as it should be? Our answers tend to ebb and flow through the decades. But once, just after a war that nearly tore us apart, we came as close as we've come to answering it. And it's a story worth a closer look.
I'm Michelle Obama, and I'm proud to announce Higher Ground's new podcast, Reconstruction, The Unfinished Promise.
Guided by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell and featuring my husband Barack Obama, this limited series uncovers the untold stories of Reconstruction, what they mean for us today, and how our past can shape the future we choose to build. Reconstruction, The Unfinished Promise, is available now on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts.

**Sam Fragoso** (1:00)
You said once that I realized if you could just knock an interviewer off balance a little bit at hello, it made the interview a little bit easier from that moment forward.

**Timothy Olyphant** (1:11)
I don't think that's true. Where did you get that shit?

**Sam Fragoso** (1:15)
Armchair expert.

**Timothy Olyphant** (1:16)
You're just making that crap up?

**Sam Fragoso** (1:17)
No.

**Timothy Olyphant** (1:18)
I didn't mean serious interviewers like you. You can't knock you off balance. What a list of guests. This is a bit of a snooze day for you.

**Sam Fragoso** (1:26)
It's not. No.

**Timothy Olyphant** (1:28)
Thank you. I was fishing.

**Sam Fragoso** (1:29)
I know.

**Timothy Olyphant** (1:31)
You get nervous when you come in for these? I'm not saying today, but do you get like on a-

**Sam Fragoso** (1:35)
I absolutely get nervous. I was so-

**Timothy Olyphant** (1:37)
Which ones make you the most nervous?

**Sam Fragoso** (1:38)
The ones where I have to interview actors from Justified.
This is Talk Easy, I'm Sam Fragoso. Welcome to the show.
Today, actor Timothy Olyphant. Once upon a time in Hollywood, one would have justified top billing for someone like Olyphant. It wouldn't have been lucky either. Just imagine this good place, an industry where no actor subsisted on a Santa Clarita diet, the deadwood fell away, and the Olyphant in the room was finally addressed. You wouldn't have to go to Amsterdam or Fargo. It wouldn't require a perfect getaway or a five-star weekend to properly recognize his talents. No, in this timeline, this conception of Hollywood, everything would have come full circle, and Timothy Olyphant would at long last not be a mere hit man, but a leading man. Well, that's the world I want to live in, and you know, it's the world we do live in during today's episode, a one-of-one conversation with a one-of-one actor who's been doing the work for nearly three decades. This is Timothy Olyphant. Timothy Olyphant, nice to meet you.

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:06)
Pleasure to meet you too.

**Sam Fragoso** (3:07)
How are we doing?

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:08)
So far so good.

**Sam Fragoso** (3:09)
You okay?

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:10)
So far. How about you?

**Sam Fragoso** (3:13)
I mean, you're here. It's got to be a good day.

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:16)
God bless you for saying so.

**Sam Fragoso** (3:17)
When you wake up in the morning, do you just go, God, this is going really well.

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:23)
I don't like where this question's going. This is your first question?

**Sam Fragoso** (3:27)
I mean, like when you look in the mirror every morning, you go, I cannot believe my luck.

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:31)
I reject this question. I pass. I know there's a compliment in there, but somehow I took offense to it.

**Sam Fragoso** (3:37)
I don't know how you could.
You're one of the most handsome guys we got. It feels like you're living a pretty good charmed existence.

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:46)
Listen, under this whole-

**Sam Fragoso** (3:48)
Veneer.

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:49)
Cool veneer, there's a neurotic actor underneath it, just a whining baby.

**Sam Fragoso** (3:54)
I don't think you've ever played a whining baby.

**Timothy Olyphant** (3:59)
I throw some whining in there.

**Sam Fragoso** (4:01)
Which one to that?

**Timothy Olyphant** (4:02)
Someone once told me, an actor told me that, you'd be amazed how far out of what scene quote unquote character you can behave at any given moment in a scene, and it'll still hold together. I've always been fascinated by pushing that envelope scene.
Playing like a tough guy role, if I can start whining in the middle of the scene just for a minute. Just a touch of whining. I find just to see if it'll hold.

**Sam Fragoso** (4:31)
Yeah. So far, I think it's held pretty well for you.

**Timothy Olyphant** (4:34)