"I refused to work in a restaurant"- When Walton Goggins gave a bold overview of his life before stardom
Walton Goggins is the name in everyone's mouth these days after the actor's recent role in the third season of the acclaimed HBO series The White Lotus. The actor followed it up with an SNL episode, which is now being hailed as one of the finest in recent years. Apart from his recent rise in stardom, the actor has been in prominence with some big roles in the past few years, including Fallout and Invincible.
Goggins was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and had to take a long route to success. The actor was only 19 when he moved to Los Angeles, but he refused to work at restaurants or overly socialize, sticking to his own philosophy.
He discussed this in a 2016 interview with Slate, where he opened up about how he paid the bills before breaking out as an actor. Goggins said:
"Well, first I refused to work in a restaurant. [Laughs.] Nothing against waiters and waitresses, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to be that actor in L.A. having conversations with other actors about acting. I usually run away from those things. I generally don’t hang out with actors in between takes. I’m an only child, so I’ve always been off in a corner somewhere."
He further added:
"I think it’s actually taken some learning to know how to be around other people. But the one thing I never had a problem with was listening. My mother was a great listener. And so I never had to compete for her attention because I was an only child."
He further opened up about his time in LA after he moved at the age of 19.
"Yeah, it was"- Walton Goggins on the early days of his LA endeavor
Of course, people can now look at Walton Goggins and say that whatever the actor did after arriving in Los Angeles back when he was just 19 was all worth it. But it was a long road that the actor had to travel before he could understand that.
Walton Goggins did get his first job in LA a week after moving in, but he still had to struggle for quite a while before he started being a regular in the scene. When asked if moving to LA at such a young age and figuring it all out was difficult, Walton Goggins said:
"Yeah, it was. But I actually got my first job after being here for one week—a role opposite Billy Crystal in Mr. Saturday Night. I was the Nervous Kid in a flashback sequence. It didn’t make the movie, but it made the DVD. [Laughs.] That was a really big deal."
Walton Goggins continued:
"But even getting a role to play a role like “Guard at the Gate” was a struggle. I worked a lot at night, too. I had a valet parking business. I had six restaurants and three parking garages as clients in the Valley—places like the Moonlight Tango Café, the Great Greek, and Cha Cha Cha. I also sold cowboy boots. Around that time I got a part in The Next Karate Kid with Hilary Swank. I was twenty-f*cking-one years old."
Soon after this, Walton Goggins started getting more and more roles, and with his relentless drive, he managed to become one of the most renowned names in the film and television industries.
Goggins once again showed his immense talent in the latest season of The White Lotus and is soon set to return in the next season of Fallout.
