Walton Goggins Argues That This 28-Year-Old Actor Is “One of the Best” of Their Generation, “Hands Down”

Walton Goggins is definitely having a moment right now. Fresh off his incredible role as the self-destructive Rick Hatchett in the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus, Goggins has finally become a household name. It’s not that Goggins didn’t have an impressive career before now. The actor has displayed his versatility in everything from The Righteous Gemstones and Fallout to The Unicorn and Vice Principals. He’s also landed two Emmy nominations for Fallout and for his memorable portrayal of Boyd Crowder in Justified. In fact, it was on the set of Justified that Goggins was introduced to a young actor who he’s still raving about today.

Walton Goggins Names Kaitlyn Dever as an Actor To Watch Out For

Goggins first crossed paths with Kaitlyn Dever during production of the second season of Justifiedin 2011. In a recent dual interview with Vanity Fair, Goggins recalls hearing about the actor, who was just 14 years old at the time, from Timothy Olyphant and showrunner Graham Yost. He said, “They just went on and on about how special this person was. I remember thinking to myself, I’ll be the judge of that. And then I saw Kaitlyn work for the very first time, and I remember thinking to myself, Wow, okay…” Goggins was immediately impressed with Dever’s depiction of the savvy teen, Loretta McCready, especially as it was Dever’s first major role (even though she’d been acting since she was 9). He could already tell that “this person is going to have a significant impact on this business if she decides to stay in it for a while. And I was right.”

But it wasn’t just their work together on four seasons of Justified that cemented Goggins as a die-hard fan of Dever’s. The two partnered up again for the 2019 horror film, Them That Follow. Recalling their time on this project, Goggins offers the highest praise one can give a fellow actor, telling her directly, “you’re one of the best of your generation, hands down.” Although he teases her in the interview about now being the “old guy” in the room, his affection for Dever is clear, and it’s a touching moment that disproves that all Hollywood actors are reticent about heaping praise on other people. Goggins seems way more than willing to give Dever her flowers, and with her career obviously on the ascent, it makes sense why.

Kaitlyn Dever Has Already Had an Impressive Career So Far

Dever’s first breakout role was in the 2009 film, An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong, but Justified, just two years later, proved to be the first project that gained Dever some traction in her career. That same year, Dever co-starred alongside Tim Allen in the sitcom Last Man Standing, and that’s when her career truly started soaring. She showed off her comedic side in the 2019 Olivia Wilde-directed film, Booksmart, and got her first Golden Globe nomination for her heartbreaking portrayal of assault victim Marie Adler in the Netflix true story miniseries, Unbelievable. She followed up with the 2021 limited series, Dopesick.In a career-making role, Dever plays a young woman trapped in the hellish cycle of addiction, and took home an Emmy nomination for her work. Dever has showcased her versatility by singing in the movie version of Dear Evan Hansen and by playing an Australian scam artist in this year’s Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix. But it’s her latest role that has many people nodding their heads in agreement with Goggins’ assessment of her talent.

‘The Last of Us’ Is Providing Kaitlyn Dever With an Exceptional, Yet Challenging Role

Dever joined HBO’s smash hit, The Last of Us, in its second season (which just aired its finale in May). Her role is what you would call the opposite of heartwarming — Dever plays Abby Anderson, a young woman who will stop at nothing to exact revenge on Joel (Pedro Pascal). Dever understood before starting filming that viewers would look at Abby as the villain of the season (especially because her actions end up taking on a brutal, heartless tone). But Dever knew that she’d need to put aside the fan reaction in order to accurately portray the character. In the same interview with Vanity Fair, she notes, “People might not like me, and I have to put that in a box somewhere else, and do my job, and really live in the character’s bones.” In many ways, Abby has been a challenge for the actor. She explains, “It’s probably the deepest I’ve ever gone for a character before. I’ve never played someone so rageful in my life. I went to darker places that I had never gone before, but what a gift that is to get to do that.”

An actor of lesser talent would most likely have portrayed Abby with an accurate intensity, but would have neglected to depict Abby’s heart (underneath all the anger). At Abby’s core, she is a daughter who has lost her father, and this grief has turned her into somewhat of a monster. Dever creates the necessary empathy that’s crucial for a character that would otherwise have been a one-note antagonist. It has been announced that the third season of The Last of Uswill focus solely on Abby’s journey. While there are some fans that will miss the spotlight being on Joel and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), it will be exciting to get to see Dever dig further into her character’s complexities. If anyone can make Abby a sympathetic character to root for, it’s Dever.

Perhaps it is Dever’s ability to mature and develop with each role that makes her, as Goggins claims, a talent to continue to watch out for. She adds, “It blows my mind all the time, just how much I grow on these projects.” Dever is only 28 years old at this point, so there is plenty of time for her to continue learning and nurturing her gift. The actor will be showing off that versatility in an upcoming Godzilla x Kong film, where she can practice her action skills. Whether she’s crushing it in The Last of Us or digging her teeth into another movie role, Goggins is certainly right that Dever is one of the best in the game right now.

The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max in the U.S.

The Last Of Us

Release Date

January 15, 2023

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Craig Mazin

Directors

Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado

Writers

Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin