From The Righteous Gemstones to The Hateful Eight, Walton Goggins’ career spans movies and television. He is a powerhouse character actor with a talent for playing those morally ambiguous characters audiences can’t get enough of. Although his career began in the early ’90s, Goggins’ breakout role didn’t occur until over a decade later in The Shield.
While Goggins’ portrayal of detective Shane Vendrell put him on the map, it’s far from the only role to garner praise. Here are 10 of the best Walton Goggins movies and TV shows in order of release date and where to stream them.
The Shield
While shows like The Shield (2002-2008) shines a light on the darker side of law enforcement. Over the course of seven seasons, audiences follow a corrupt group of LAPD officers and their many misdeeds. The Shield marks Goggins’ breakout role as Shane Vendrell. Morally complex, gritty, and downright evil at times, Shane Vendrell proves just how good Goggins is at playing anti-heroes.
House of 1000 Corpses
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. What follows is enough blood and gore to proudly earn its R rating. In one of his more underrated roles, Goggins plays Steve Naish, the unfortunate sheriff tasked with responding to the horror.
Sons of Anarchy
Sons of Anarchy (2008-2014) revolves around the titular outlaw motorcycle club and the messy politics that come with running a criminal enterprise. Goggins makes his first big crime drama return since The Shield. This time, it’s in a more sympathetic role as Venus Van Dam, a transgender prostitute and later love interest of Tig (Kim Coates). What starts as a minor part in Season 5 ultimately expands into a larger role that’s vastly different from Goggins’ other work. More importantly, Goggins never plays Venus as a joke. She is a well-rounded, well-realized character.
Justified
Timothy Olyphant stars in Justified (2010-2015) as Raylan Givens, a US Marshall intent on serving Harlan County as he sees fit. In his opposition is Goggins’ Boyd Crowder, a career criminal with sharp intelligence and troublesome morals. Playing an antagonist is never easy, yet Goggins imbues Boyd with charisma and charm. It’s no surprise the actor walked away with three Broadcast Television Journalists Association nominations and an Emmy nom for the role.
Predators
As the fifth film in Saw-esque opening, an elite group of soldiers find themselves on a planet as opponents for the titular alien species. Doing what Goggins does best, he plays a criminal named Stans who arms himself only with a shiv. Sharing screen time with an ensemble cast means less Goggins, but the moments when he is center stage are memorable, thanks to his comedic timing.
Django Unchained
Goggins’ first collaboration with director Django Unchained (2012). In an epic story of revenge, a freed slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) teams up with a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to cross names off the South’s Most-Wanted list and, eventually, rescue his wife from a plantation. Goggins plays Billy Crash, a vile racist who orchestrates death matches among enslaved people. Despite limited screen time, Goggins delivers a memorably brutal performance.
The Hateful Eight
One of Quentin Tarantino’s most divisive (and controversial films), Kurt Russell) and his prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh) take shelter in a stagecoach stopover, they cross paths with a motley crew of questionable characters. Goggins’ Chris Mannix is one of them. While he starts as an insufferable redneck cliche, he transforms into someone much different by the movie’s end. Goggins captures these nuances expertly, making him a standout among a big-name cast.
Vice Principals
After Vice Principles’ 2016 debut, Danny McBride and Jody Hill’s comedy series became a quick hit. Goggins stars alongside McBride as two rival high school vice principals who put aside their petty feud to compete against an English teacher keen on securing the newly opened principal position. Aside from Goggins and McBride’s chemistry as enemies-turned-friends, Goggins delivers a goofy yet layered performance that stands out in a filmography filled with more dramatic roles.
The Righteous Gemstones
Another Danny McBride creation, The Righteous Gemstones (2019-2025), by its simplest definition, is about a dysfunctional family of televangelists led by Eli Gemstone (John Goodman). While the entire Gemstone family is likeably hateful, Goggins shines as Baby Billy Freeman, Eli’s brother-in-law and former child star. Throughout The Righteous Gemstones’ four seasons, Goggins oozes charismatic Southern charm, cementing Baby Billy as one of the series’ best characters.
Fallout
Video game adaptations have a bad reputation in Hollywood. However, Fallout (2024) manages to break that stigma. Based on the Bethesda game franchise of the same name, the Prime Video series takes place after a nuclear strike devastates Earth. Goggins’ stars as The Ghoul, a bounty hunter mutated by radiation. No stranger to Westerns and complex characters, Goggins’ trademark Southern charm turned The Ghoul into one of the show’s most beloved characters.
Where to watch the best Walton Goggins movies and TV shows streaming online
Want to watch a sampling of Walton Goggins best movies and TV shows? JustWatch has you covered. From Hulu and Apple to Netflix and Prime Video, here’s what to stream each movie and series in the US.
