Walton Goggins Reveals How Exhaustion Enhanced His Fallout Performance

Actor Walton Goggins has opened up about the emotional and physical toll that influenced his performance in the latest season of Prime Video's Fallout. Following the intense projects The White Lotus and The Righteous Gemstones, Goggins described feeling completely drained, which surprisingly contributed positively to his portrayal in Fallout.

This story contains spoilers for Fallout.

In an interview, Goggins discussed a pivotal scene in Episode 5, "The Wrangler," where his character, Cooper Howard, feels he has "nothing left" and is unable to control his circumstances. He revealed that he personally resonated with that emotional state during filming.

"We filmed that day the morning after the premiere of The White Lotus; I had about three hours of sleep. I just had nothing left in the tank; it was exactly where I needed to be for that day," he shared.

Goggins' exhaustion not only enhanced the specific scene but also enriched his performance across the entire second season. He mentioned, "I was depleted after White Lotus, as anyone on that journey was. I had the good fortune of going straight to The Righteous Gemstones; it’s not easy being Baby Billy, and I left that just crawling across the finish line to arrive here. In some ways, I think it's the best thing that could happen to me, because then I was just splayed open emotionally. That's what was required of both Cooper Howard and The Ghoul this season."

Goggins also drew parallels between his character’s struggles and his personal life, revealing that a scene reflecting his character's longing for his child mirrored his own feelings during the filming process. "It happened to be filmed, again, on a day that I felt such shame over being away from my child for so long," he explained. "Through this irradiated cowboy, I just got to let it all out in front of all these people, and I didn't anticipate it and see it coming, and it made everybody really uncomfortable, and it made me uncomfortable, but it was cathartic."

Fans can look forward to more from Fallout as three additional episodes are set to air, leading up to the Season 2 finale on February 4. A third season is already in the works.