94 www.timeoutjakarta.com July 2010

The Hot SeatSmall talk with big peopleBest known for his role as Agent 47 in the movie ‘Hitman’, Timothy Olyphant is now starring in the criti-cally acclaimed TV series ‘Justified’, a crime drama based on a novel series by Elmore Leonard. Thanks to AXN, Tyara Putri had a morning chat with the man who plays US Marshall Raylan Givens

Hello, Tim! Feeling good today? Other than the traffic, I’m feeling great, thank you. What got you interested in ‘Justified’? Why did I want the role? It paid nicely! (laughs). No, I love Elmore Leonard's work and when it's done, well, it's just my favourite. And I've been such a fan of his. I was just kind of hoping that it would be all those things you hope out of an Elmore Leonard piece, and it was. The characters are so vivid and well-drawn. Did you do any kind of special preparation for your role as Raylan Givens? I mean, in both ‘Justified’ and ‘Hitman’ you looked pretty familiar with guns. Do you have any background in shooting? When I was a kid I think I used to shoot at gophers, but that’s about it. Mostly what I did for this job is I read a lot of stuff; I actually went down and spent time with the US Marshalls here in Southern California, which was very enlight-ening. And it was a lot of reading and a lot of conversation with our executive producer, Graham (Yost). Anything about the character that you see in yourself? Raylan and me? Well, I think he’s trying to do the right thing, you know… I do the same thing. I think he enjoyed his job, I like my job.

Since this is your first regular TV role, are you at all

afraid of the so-called ‘never-ending-story’? How do you commit to it? I understand that there’s a fear of television series in terms of ‘When will it end?’, but you know, I can’t speak for anyone but me. If you told actors that you wanted to do a television series and it was going to

run three years and that’s it, you’re done, I think the line would get a lot longer, without question. It’s really easy to fall into this habit of, ‘Ahh, I don’t know what I’m going to do next.’ You think every job is your last job, but there’s another side to that, which is that it never gets any better than when you first get

a new job. When somebody says, ‘You got the job,’ that’s the most fun, and from that point forward, it’s so exciting, but part of the fun is when the job is over and you move on. Between movies and televi-sion, which do you prefer? Honestly, as a medium, I’d say that I prefer film. But lately, television has become fascinating. I really don’t care at this point; I’m just looking for the best material. I guess. So, you‘re going to stay in television for a long time? Well. I’ll stay as long as it keeps me going (laughs). Apart from all the glam, what is life like for Timothy Olyphant on a daily basis? To tell you the truth, my day is pretty much uneventful. Sorry to disappoint you . I mean, I live my life just like everybody else. I wake up, make breakfast and try to deal. Do you read reviews? Well you know, I peek at them sometimes and I find it a bit silly. But most of the time, I get those reviews CC’d with subject ‘Oh my God! Have you seen this review?’. Those really catch my attention. You’ve acted in a lot of dif-ferent movies, from thrillers to dramas to action films. Which do you actually enjoy the most? I’m attracted to anything that’s complicated, you know. I think that, quite honestly, you’re trying to make a living, but for the last few years, I’ve been in a position where I can have more room to chose from, more options.

I find things that suit me more with the job, from scene to scene and moment to moment, because it makes my job as an actor that much more fun. I don’t care if it’s a dark character or light character, either way I just wanted to be something that’s surprising.

You can catch new episodes of 'Justified' on AXN every Thursday at 10pm

‘I don’t care if it’s dark character or light character, either way I just wanted to be something that’s surprising’

Timothy Olyphant

Hot Seat July'10.indd 94 6/23/10 3:16:40 PM