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Casey Duby is an avid TV writer, watcher, and reviewer. She graduated from Emerson College in 2021 with a focus in Writing for Film and Television, where she wrote several pilots and watched countless more. She's been working in television ever since.
Casey loves thoughtful content that makes her ponder our world and the people in it, and she's learned that any genre can surprise her. With favorites in every genre from horror to politics, family to action, nothing is off limits.
Casey has experience working in TV development, as well as writing both narrative and host-driven shows. Currently working as a Writer in Los Angeles, with an AMC A-List membership to boot, she is always hunting for the next good story and great theme song.
Recent smash hits like Fallout and The White Lotus have launched Walton Goggins to household name status, but he's been delivering memorable performances for decades. In fact, he's been acting professionally since the late '80s.
With his unique look and cool, chill cowboy charm, he has a signature appeal, though that doesn't stop Goggins' acting ability from spanning every genre, from superhero animation to satirical comedy. Out of all his TV show and movie acting credits throughout his career, some titles stand above the rest.
10 Three Christs (2017)
Three Christs follows the treatment of three schizophrenic patients who all believe they are Jesus Christ. To make it even more compelling, it's based on a true story. In the movie, Dr. Alan Stone is a psychologist who disagrees with the harmful, inhumane treatment of schizophrenic patients in the 1950s.
After learning of the three men suffering from the same delusion, he brings all of them together for group talk therapy, where he gets to the root cause of each of their individual struggles. Goggins plays Leon Gabor, one of Stone's patients who suffers from intense religious and sexual trauma. It's an unusual watch, but a powerful commentary on the state of mental healthcare in that era.
9 Django Unchained (2012)
Goggins fully commits to his performance as the villainous Billy Crash, which elevates the film's emotional stakes and gratuitous visuals to their signature caliber. Arguably one of Quentin Tarantino's strongest movies, Django has a heartfelt emotional core that is magnified by the intensity of the forces working against the former slave.
The movie as a whole stands out for its stylized action sequences and fresh, empowering perspective on the Antebellum South. At times, it's both hard to watch and impossible to look away from. Walton Goggins, for his part, is completely at home in a Western.
8 The Shield (2002-2008)
The Shield marked both Goggins' and FX's entrance into the "quality TV" conversation with its complex characters often juggling corruption and human emotion. A main character for all 7 seasons, Goggins' Detective Shane Vendrell is no exception. One of his first major storylines on the show deals with him helping to cover up fellow detective Vic Mackey's shooting of their own new team member.
The devolution of the entire Strike Team over the course of the show gives it a level of darkness that makes The Shield stand out even among other gritty crime dramas. Even amidst the show's general melancholic depravity, Vendrell's ultimate fate takes it to a new height. Goggins' performance serves as a reminder that, despite the characters' crooked behavior, they're still people.
7 The Uninvited (2024)
A movie full of TV stars, The Uninvited flew much too far under the radar when it came out in 2025. Off-beat in the best way, The Uninvited blends self-indulgent Hollywood glamour with a down-to-earth human moment when an elderly woman shows up at an agent's (Goggins) doorstep on the day he's set to host a party to impress a key client.
The inconvenient intrusion highlights the lack of emotional sincerity in Hollywood and forces hard truths upon Goggins' Sammy and his wife, Rose. Despite portraying an elite preoccupied with his own career, Walton Goggins brings an emotional core to the character that is palpable even before it's brought to the surface.
6 The White Lotus (2025 - Season 3)
Goggins' Rick Hatchett was a highlight of The White Lotus season 3. The HBO anthology has established itself as a satire in which privileged characters are ignorant of the fact that their luxury setting delegitimizes their trivial preoccupations.
Some elements of season 3 suffered from an uncharacteristic darkness — while death is a staple of the series, a shooting and Timothy's serious consideration of killing his entire family. Its saving grace was Rick's storyline, and it's the season's best display of The White Lotus's unique comedic tone. At the same time, Rick and his young girlfriend, Chelsea, remained the emotional soul of the ensemble.
5 The Hateful Eight (2015)
Admittedly a bit longer than necessary — it clocks in at nearly 3 hours — The Hateful Eight has characters and a story foundation that make it another one of Tarantino's best installments. A bottle movie with the backdrop of a Western, The Hateful Eight feels like a gratuitously violent game of Clue.
Set ten years after the Civil War, Goggins plays Chris Mannix, a Red Rock Sheriff with Confederate sympathies. He brings a hint of whimsy to the character that both acknowledges the character's problematic values and brings surprising personality to him.
4 Invincible (2021-Present)
Invincible has to be one of the most star-studded animated series ever, and it makes good use of its cast. In many ways, Invincible is the classic superhero story. A teenager is forced to get acquainted with his powers, attempt to live up to the legacy of his parents, and juggle his hero and personal lives. Goggins plays the gruff Cecil Stedman, director of the Global Defense Agency, with a genuine desire to protect the world.
Bold acting, writing, and animation all come together to prove why this premise stands the test of time. Invincible is evocative of childhood cartoons, but its action crosses the threshold into adult, gory fight scenes that drive home the human element behind the fantastical premise. Impressive voice work from Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, J.K. Simmons, and many more brings the characters and the emotion behind them to life.
3 The Righteous Gemstones (2019-2025)
Image via Max
The Righteous Gemstones demonstrates the flawed outcome of opulence being tied to a successful religious organization, and it has a lot of fun doing it. The premise of goofy, dependent adult children in a family of generational wealth, the show has a bit of an Arrested Development feel, though Danny McBride capitalizes on all the comedic opportunities in the southern mega-Church setting.
The Gemstone family quickly turns the show into something all its own, thanks in no small part to Goggins' Baby Billy Freeman. Billy has all the theatricality and entitlement of a child star, leading to all kinds of out-of-pocket behavior, but he's also the last living member of his immediate family. Judgment can turn to sympathy on a dime and vice versa, making this one of Goggins' most compelling performances.
2 Justified (2010-2015)
Justified finds a way to set a Western in the present day, creating a genre installment without any of the accessibility burdens of a classic period piece or sci-fi neo-Western. Where some Westerns get bogged down in world-building, Justified gets to hone its atmosphere and turn the world of Harlan County into a character of its own.
The titular theme of what "justifies" violence creates a rich ethical playground for the characters, whose top-tier writing and performances continue to elevate the show's quality. Goggins' Boyd Crowder makes for a compelling early foil to protagonist Raylan Givens, though he quickly demonstrates a depth that makes him a significant character in his own right.
1 Fallout (2024-Present)
Fallout's massive success is doing wonders for the credibility of video game adaptations. The show faced an ambitious challenge, creating an original story within the realm of the open-world video game franchise, all the while making an effort not to neglect the deep lore that spans more than 5 major RPGs. The TV series has succeeded in making Fallout a mainstream title.
Amidst all of Fallout's major strengths, Walton Goggins is truly putting in the work to make it the caliber of show that it is. The Ghoul became an instant fan-favorite, sparking the character to make video game appearances in Fallout 76 and Fallout Shelter, as well as Prime Video's Christmas special The Ghoul Log. Despite a full face of prosthetics, the Ghoul's eyes reveal emotion loud and clear.
The show also introduces and confirms major pieces of the larger Fallout story through its pre-war flashbacks centered around Cooper Howard — the Ghoul before he was the Ghoul. In his dual performances, Walton Goggins connects the characters while still cementing how irreparably different they have become. As the Ghoul says to Lucy, "I'm you, sweetie. You just give it a little time."
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