Vivian Olyphant on Working w/Dad Timothy Olyphant

The Big Picture

• Vivian Olyphant always wanted to act and was excited to work on Justified: City Primeval with her father, Timothy Olyphant.
• She had a memorable audition experience and enjoyed working on the show's set, which had a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere.
• Olyphant's character, Willa, craves attention and time from her father, and she found it fun and emotional to film scenes with Boyd Holbrook's character, Clement Mansell.

[Editor's note: The following contains some spoilers for Justified: City Primeval.]Now living in Miami, 15 years after leaving Kentucky behind, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is finding that being the father of 15-year-old girl (played by Olyphant’s real-life daughter, Vivian Olyphant) can be more challenging than dealing with bad guys, ensuring that a healthy work-life balance isn’t likely to ever happen. Finding himself in Detroit with violent sociopath Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook) in his crosshairs, Raylan is hunting a killer who is unpredictable and dangerous, and who cracks his cool exterior and rankles him just enough to make him determined to see it through to the end.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Vivian Olyphant talked about working with her father on Justified: City Primeval, stepping into such a big project for her first professional acting role, her desire to act from a young age, spending time on the set of the original series (even though she never actually watched an episode), how hard she worked on her audition, that her first day on set had a very comfy campfire feel to it, the fun she had shooting an intense moment between Raylan Givens and Clement Mansell that she was caught in the middle of, and her hope for another season. She also talked about her decision to study the craft of both acting and music, why she loves singing and writing songs, and the genre that she’d like to work in.

This interview was conducted prior to the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Collider: One of the things that’s clear from talking to your dad about your work in this season is how proud he is of you and the job that you did in the show. What made you decide to start your acting career with this show and this character? Had you been thinking about it prior to this, or did this just feel like a safe space?

VIVIAN OLYPHANT: Acting is something that I’ve always wanted to do since I was little, just being on my dad’s sets and watching him work. And then, I’m also into music, so I was at Berklee College of Music in Boston. My parents called me in my first year and told me that they were in the process of casting for Willa. They knew that it would be something I would be interested in doing, but I thought about it for a while before I decided because I knew that it’s a big show. It’s a big first project. But I heard about the opportunity and I wanted to go for it, to see if I could get it. I also really wanted to work on it with my dad. I felt like it would be a good first project to work on with my dad, but also get the experience, too.

There are many layers to this. You get to work with your dad on what’s a great show, but it’s also just a really cool character, regardless of all of that. Had you known anything about the show, previously? Had you ever watched the show? Had you ever visited the set?

OLYPHANT: During the original run of the show, I visited the set. I haven’t watched the show. I haven’t seen my dad’s work, in general. My siblings and I have never watched my dad’s work, and I don’t think my dad ever wanted us to watch his work. But I did visit the set, so I met the actors on the first show and (executive producer) Michael Dinner.

How did you find the whole auditioning process? Especially being new to everything, did you feel comfortable in the character when you did the audition?

OLYPHANT: It was so fun. I actually heard about the casting last minute, so I rehearsed and really memorized the lines, two days before my parents came. It was exciting to have this fast, quick project. I loved working on the audition. I thought it was really fun. I worked really hard on it for two days, which was insane, but it was really fun.

When it comes to Willa, how much of her dad is in her, as opposed to her mom? Do you feel like this character is equal parts her mother and her father, or do you feel like she leans more toward one versus the other?

OLYPHANT: I think she’s more like her dad, as much as she doesn’t really want to accept that.

Were you involved, at all, in how your character is dressed? Especially with all the band t-shirts that you wear, did that come from you, or was that something they wanted for the character?

OLYPHANT: That was all Dona [Adrian Gibson], the costume designer. But I did get to say, “This is the most comfortable outfit.” There’s one of the jackets that I really wanted to wear, and I made that clear, when we were first trying on all the clothes. I kept saying, “That’s my favorite jacket,” and then I ended up wearing it. So, I had a little bit of influence in that, but that’s pretty much it.

Did you get to pick any of the bands that you wore t-shirts for?

OLYPHANT: No. That was all them.

What was the first day on set like for you? Did you get nervous, at all? What was it like to walk onto the set and do your first scene?

OLYPHANT: Luckily, my first scene was just walking. It was just a walking shot. I was glad that was the first intro because I was nervous, even though I was just walking. After that, I was like, “Okay, if I can walk, I can do anything.” But it was really fun. Everybody was so welcoming and nice. It had a very comfy campfire feel on the set.

This season starts with a shot of you and your dad, which immediately throws the audience into the relationship between this father and daughter. Because not many people get to work with their parents, did you guys have any conversations about what you wanted their dynamic to be?

OLYPHANT: No, we never had a conversation like that. Our relationship in life is very different from our relationship in the show because they’re completely different characters.

One of my favorite moments in the whole season is when Raylan walks up on his daughter and Clement. There’s something so compelling about the three of you together, in that moment. What was that like to shoot? How was it to be sitting in the middle of that intensity that was going on between them?

OLYPHANT: It was so fun, just shooting with Boyd. A lot of my scenes were with my dad, so the change of working with somebody else was really exciting, and watching him work was really interesting. It was a really intense scene, so it was definitely emotional to film, but I really loved working with both of them. It was really interesting because I was just there while they were figuring it all out. It was really fun.

What do you think it is about Clement Mansell, as a character, that allows Willa to be charmed by him? Why does she fall for what he’s selling her?

OLYPHANT: He is very much a charming character. Even though he’s scary, he knows how to really get to people and he knew how to manipulate me. First of all, just having him tell me that he was a friend of my dad’s was alluring. I’m trying to get to know my dad, throughout the whole show, so that was the most intriguing part of getting dinner with him.

If she had her way, what would she want from her dad? What does she picture as their ideal relationship?

OLYPHANT: I think she just wants time from her dad. In the first scene, she says, “Oh, you always get the call.” He always has to leave, so throughout the whole show, she’s doing things to get his attention. I think that she really just wants his attention and time.

If we were to catch back up with them when Willa is 18, what do you think their relationship would look like? Do you think they’d sort things out?

OLYPHANT: Honestly, I have no idea. I hope there’s a second season. I just wanna put that out there. But I don’t know. They’re terrible at communication.

Now that you can look back on this whole experience, what would you say was the best thing about working with your dad, and what was not necessarily the worst thing, but maybe the most challenging or the most surprising thing about working with him?

OLYPHANT: There wasn’t really anything that was challenging. I’m definitely gonna take this experience with me because I really just had a great time working with him and watching him work, and just seeing that he really is a very hard worker. He’s so fun to work with that I definitely wanna be like that on future sets. I wanna be someone who’s super fun when the cameras are off, and then when the cameras are on, just be back in the scene, like my dad is. It was fun to see him do that. So, there wasn’t anything specifically challenging, but it was really fun.

Since this was your first acting job and it is a pretty big set, was there anything that most surprised you about the process, or did you feel like you had a good sense of what that process was, from having been on sets before?

OLYPHANT: I think I had a good idea because I went to a lot of sets when I was little. But I would say, after working on this set last summer, it’s very weird to think about how it’s gonna be out for everyone to see. The process of filming with people was so intimate, and I almost forgot that it was gonna out. It’s weird to think that this is actually gonna be out. Sometimes it feels like just a school project because it was just a very close set. It’s exciting for me.

You have some emotional moments in this season. How did you find that stuff to do? Was it easy for you? Was that harder than you expected?

OLYPHANT: I’m a very emotional person, so it was easy for me to tap into that. There’s a scene where I cried, and then there was another emotional scene, and I tried to mimic the first scene, which was an acting thing that I’m learning about at The Studio. That was a challenging thing because I felt like I really crushed it the one day, so I was trying to mimic that, but you can’t do that.

You’re studying the craft of both acting and music, having gone to Berklee College of Music and now studying acting. Training can be important, but there are some actors and some musicians who never go down that path. Why was that something that was important to you?

OLYPHANT: After filming Justified, I did a couple auditions, and during that process of auditioning, I was like, “I really wanna go study.” I feel like there are a lot of things that I wanna get better at, and also Boyd studied at The Studio where I’m at, as did my dad. I talked to them about it, and Boyd is definitely one of the main reasons why I’m studying. He told me, “You need to go to The Studio.” I just had such a fun time on set that I wanted to hone in on the craft more, and learn and study acting.

What do you love most about acting, and what do you love most about singing and writing songs? Does it feel like they come from very different creative places for you, or do they feel like they satisfy the same creative thing in you?

OLYPHANT: The reason why I love both of them is because they’re just really fun. Collaborating with people on music and acting is the most fun I’ve ever had. Working with people on music and acting is so intimate and fun. I also feel like the best way I can express myself is through music and acting. They’re two creative, fun art forms.

What do you hope your music says about you? Are you in the process of figuring out who you are through your music, or do you feel like you have a sense of who that is?

OLYPHANT: I already feel like I have a sense of who that is. When I’m writing, I figure out things that I’m feeling, that I didn’t know I was feeling. I feel like I definitely have a strong point of view with my writing. I have an identity. But also, there’s another side where I’m still figuring out things that I’m feeling. When I’m writing, I’m like, “Oh, I didn’t know that I felt that way.”

Do you see yourself writing scripts, at any point? Is that something you also think about doing?

OLYPHANT: I actually would love to direct in the future, or just do anything creative. I definitely wanna dip my toe in it and try it out. I think directing would be super fun, and writing.

Do you have a dream project that you would like to do? Do you have a secret desire to do a musical, to marry your worlds of acting and singing together? Is there something else you’d want to do?

OLYPHANT: I would love to do a comedy. I love comedy, so I would love to do that. I like watching musicals, but I’ve never actually thought of myself as a musical person.

Justified: City Primeval airs on Tuesday nights on FX and is available to stream at Hulu.

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