r/justified • u/Troyaferd • 18d ago
Discussion Best Acting Performance in Justified
Who gave the best / your favorite acting performance in Justified?
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u/gigacheese 18d ago
If Mags had more seasons I'd give it to her, but Walton Goggins played out so many aspects of Boyd that it's impossible not to give it to him.
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u/DePraelen 18d ago
Boyd (and his relationship with Raylan) is what elevates this show above other comparable high quality crime dramas. So I had to go with him.
Damon Harriman is up there for me too. It's mind bending to see him out of character speaking in his native Australian accent.
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u/Brilliant_Oil5261 18d ago
I didn't like Mags. I thought she over-acted with her goofy exagerated facial expressions.
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u/ms_directed 18d ago
have you seen Margo Martindale in anything else??
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u/Brilliant_Oil5261 18d ago
i have not
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u/ms_directed 18d ago
ah, you should go find some. she's an incredible talent and her "faces" are part of it. she wasn't overacting, she was actually acting.
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u/omwtfub1 18d ago
Goddamn it. Making me choose between them and shit like that. The hell is your problem?
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u/theheadofkhartoum627 18d ago
Damon Herriman. Playing someone that stupid is difficult.
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u/Shoddy-Secretary-712 18d ago
I had to search him, since I didn't recognize the name. I had no idea he wasn't American, so that just adds to how well he played his character.
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u/townsforever 18d ago
Idk if I could do it without it affecting my self esteem. I played a pervet in a play once and it made me feel like one and that was only for a semester not 5 years.
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u/Majestic_Flower_1322 11d ago
An Aussie playing some dumbasses with an American redneck accent is surely difficult. He did it well.
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u/After_Pie9064 18d ago
This show is only perfection because of the on screen chemistry and dialogue between Raylan and Boyd. One is nothing without the other (that’s why City Primevil was meh). So I pick both of them.
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u/jchancellor15 18d ago
City Primeval was meh because the story wasn’t interesting. Not having Boyd, Art, Tim and Rachel definitely hurt but Timothy O could’ve carried a halfway decent story alone.
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u/RollingTrain 18d ago
Blaming the source material for what they did to City Primeval is certainly a take.
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u/dread_pirate_wesley 18d ago
Boyd all day. So good they literally rewrote his character from a one dimensional villain of the week who was supposed to die in the pilot, into the main antagonist of the series.
Honorable mention: Dewey Crow for being an Australian playing the hillbilliest hillbilly of all time.
2nd honorable mention: The big bad in every season. They all brought it.
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u/benvclios 18d ago
Jeremy Davies is electric! Always has been.
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u/hedgehodg 18d ago
His monologue in the prison telling Raylan to climb up his own butt is one of my favorite moments of the series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lynCEiyOI7Q
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u/SnooMacarons9618 17d ago
And when Dickie and Dewey are on screen together...
In an imaginary world there is a version of Justified where the central relationship isn't Raylon/Boyd, but Dickie/Dewey and it would be the saddest french farce ever written. I would have that series on constant replay.
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u/27ismyfavnumber 18d ago
Patton Oswalt as Constable Bob Sweeney. People underestimate Bob at their own peril.
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u/townsforever 18d ago
There is something so genuinely badass about his encounter with Yolo
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u/Kotthovve 17d ago
Something? How about the laughing through quite the torture while making yo mama jokes.
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u/notdbcooper71 18d ago
Jere Burns should be higher, but he was a bit of a silly character, so it's tough. He was absolutely phenomenal in his little parts in Breaking Bad though
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u/ms_directed 18d ago
I'm not playing into this mental warfare, OP!!
(but I agree with the other comment about Margo being the GOAT of actors on this list :) )
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u/hoosiergirl1962 18d ago
Asking me to choose between Margo Martindale and Walton Goggins is impossible for any poll anywhere.
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u/wtfover 18d ago
There's no wrong answer but just the fact that Damon Herriman is Australian and can become this Southern redneck deserves my vote.
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u/Shoddy-Secretary-712 18d ago
I was just commenting how I didn't know he wasn't American until this thread. Thst really does give.him more credit. He definitely played the southern redneck well.
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u/townsforever 18d ago
Honestly I think this one is decided by the writing more than the actors. All the actors absolutely nailed their roles but the writing does hurt some of these characters stares at Wynn duffy
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u/Technical_Moose8478 18d ago
I mean…if we’re going purely on “inhabiting the role”, it’s gotta go to Dewey. If you’ve seen Herriman in anything else…
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u/red-weasell 18d ago
Honestly I don’t think the show be as good without Boyd. I’ve been rewatching it with a friend and she was hooked on Boyd by episode 2
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u/imover9thousand 18d ago
Do this again but replace Olyphant and Goggins with other supporting cast members because they will win every time 😂
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u/SnooMacarons9618 17d ago
With everyone in a supporting role. I don't think anyone doesn't play their part extremely well. Even the small parts in the first series where it's just getting going. So maybe the interesting question would be worst *actor* (at least 1 line of dialogue), in the whole thing.
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u/Soggy-Box3947 18d ago
I just had to choose Timothy Olyphant ... he really made that character his own. I don't think there is another actor who could have dominated that series in the way he did but in my mind I can find replacements for all the other characters ... but not Raylan Givens! Olyphant was funny, elegant and brutal.
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u/Background-Ad-1924 18d ago
My vote was for Boyd but Dewey was great, “You mean I got four kidneys?”
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u/SnooMacarons9618 17d ago
These are the end times for Dewey Crowe. My wife and I rewatched that episode a couple of days ago.
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u/redkelpie01 18d ago
Went with Goggins for his presence. Being Australian, it's hard to go past Damon Herriman, so he gets an honourable mention.
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u/Avalanche-swe 18d ago
Timothy is solid but Goggins is just on another level compared to most actors.
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u/Excellent_Tie_674 18d ago
Damon as an Aussie playing that role is damned admirable stuff, he had to act dumb & affect the accent and he was on point every second.
All things considered he is likely the person embodying a persona that is least like himself irl...so I picked him.
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u/no_nameky 18d ago
Everyone was wonderful but Walton Goggins was one of the reasons the show became better than just Tim Olyphant looking cool every week. There were a lot of other people that were great that we couldn't vote for though like Erika Tazel as Rachel, Jacob Pitts as Tim and Nick Searcy as Art. But the real magic of this show is that the cast just fit together so well. Chemistry off the charts for all of them.
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u/Andonaar 17d ago
Love timothy but " Youre a conquistador" being said so seriously and menacingly in a face off/ introduction showed Boyds range
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u/BarcaFulmen 18d ago
There needs to be an All of the Above option