Timothy Olyphant

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Birthday:

20 May 1968, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Birth Name:

Timothy David Olyphant

Height:

183 cm

From Timothy Olyphant's first screen appearances, such as his two-minute bit in The First Wives Club (1996), to "Nicko", whose presence at times dwarfed the island in A Perfect Getaway (2009), he has been a force to be reckoned with.Born in Hawaii, Timothy David Olyphant was raised in Modesto, California. He is the son of Katherine Lyon (Gideon) and John Vernon Bevan Olyphant, a college teacher who was also an executive at E & J Gallo Winery. He has an older brother, Andy, who is in A&R for Warner Bros. Records, and a younger brother, Matt Olyphant, who was the lead singer for the punk rock group, Fetish, and is also an artist. He is a descendant of the prominent Vanderbilt and Olyphant families of businesspeople, and his ancestry includes Russian Jewish (from a maternal great-grandfather), English, German, Scottish, Dutch, and Irish. Timothy quickly became Modesto's favorite son, competing as a pro swimmer and excelling at drawing. It was, by chance, that he enrolled in an acting course as an elective and decided to pursue an acting career. He took his family and headed to New York City, where he studied the craft and began auditioning for roles. From the beginning, he tried to choose diversified roles and take chances with every genre and always approached everything he did with commitment, humor and grace. Timothy is married to his college sweetheart, Alexis Knief, and, together, they raise three children, one son and two daughters in California. He has managed to keep his personal life out of the tabloids. He obviously has his priorities straight, as this is no easy task in Hollywood.Highlights of Olyphant's career include his riveting portrayal of "Sheriff Seth Bullock" in HBO's hit drama, Deadwood (2004). He now personifies intensity as complex Kentucky Marshal, "Raylan Givens", in FX's Justified (2010). On the big screen, in 2010's The Crazies (2010), he had the chance to infuse his character with doubts, fears and humaneness in an inhumane situation. Mr. Olyphant proved he could carry a major movie on his talent, alone. He recently appeared in I Am Number Four (2011), a Steven Spielberg sci-if thriller, in which Tim provided the adult mentorship, taking a back seat to the teen cast. Show less «

Istanbul was unbelievable! What a city! I could go back there again and again. That was a fascinating place. It was a very foreign experienc...Show more »

Istanbul was unbelievable! What a city! I could go back there again and again. That was a fascinating place. It was a very foreign experience. But yeah, that is one of the perks of the job. You get to go places that you'd never imagine and see a part of the world you hadn't considered before. It was great. (On filming portions of Hitman (2007) in Istanbul). Show less «

[on Deadwood (2004)] The fact is, this job is always fun, always a good time, but it's not that often that you can be as proud of it as I am...Show more »

[on Deadwood (2004)] The fact is, this job is always fun, always a good time, but it's not that often that you can be as proud of it as I am of this experience. We just had a great time making it too. Show less «

Well, bottom line with A Perfect Getaway (2009) was, I thought "I'm going to have a lot of fun at work". That part was gonna get me an oppor...Show more »

Well, bottom line with A Perfect Getaway (2009) was, I thought "I'm going to have a lot of fun at work". That part was gonna get me an opportunity to play and have fun. There's something great when you read something and you have some sense of, "I know what to do here. Give me a little room. This is going to be a lot of fun". And then when we got Steve [Steve Zahn], "Well, now it's going to be a ton of fun, because there's somebody who's going to be so fun to bounce off of". The quality of the actors I got to work with on that made it seem like I was getting away with something. Show less «

[on committing to a TV series] I can't speak for everybody, but for me, if you told actors that you wanted to do a TV series and it was goin...Show more »

[on committing to a TV series] I can't speak for everybody, but for me, if you told actors that you wanted to do a TV 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. It's the most fun. 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. The danger with success in television is "Haven't we shot this episode before? Didn't we shoot this scene two years ago?" I think it's really hard to just take the risk from season to season and not be afraid to give the audience something completely different, and trust that they'll come with you. Show less «

[Joking about why he was passed over as Best Actor in a Dramatic Series for his show Justified (2010)] As I understand it, the Hollywood For...Show more »

[Joking about why he was passed over as Best Actor in a Dramatic Series for his show Justified (2010)] As I understand it, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is fifty people from around the world that make that vote, and I slept with three of them. I don't know if that helps me or hurts me, but it just shows you it could turn pretty quick. Show less «

[on Deadwood (2004)] I think that after 9/11 there was a feeling in this country that people felt that their enemies were everywhere and aro...Show more »

[on Deadwood (2004)] I think that after 9/11 there was a feeling in this country that people felt that their enemies were everywhere and around the corner, and were looking at their neighbors differently. That feeling seemed to be very much alive in our show. That capacity for violence was everywhere. So, as much as it was about the 1800s, it felt very much like we were doing something contemporary. Show less «

I trust that I know a good part when I see one and usually, when I see one, I have to wait for seven people to pass, in order for me to get ...Show more »

I trust that I know a good part when I see one and usually, when I see one, I have to wait for seven people to pass, in order for me to get it. Show less «

[on fandom and being recognized] I know the difference between someone coming up to you on the street and saying, "Hey, you're that dude, ri...Show more »

[on fandom and being recognized] I know the difference between someone coming up to you on the street and saying, "Hey, you're that dude, right. Yes, that's what I thought," and somebody coming up and saying, "Big fan of the show. Big fan of that character." And that's nice. You're out there telling stories, you're hoping to find an audience, and it's very appreciated. Show less «

[on the the strong dialogue on Justified (2010), inspired by the writing of Elmore Leonard] It's a joy, you know, it's a pleasure to be able...Show more »

[on the the strong dialogue on Justified (2010), inspired by the writing of Elmore Leonard] It's a joy, you know, it's a pleasure to be able to speak these lines and have such good dialogue. It's hard to get your hands on that and I feel like I get to do it week in and week out. And it's not lost on me and what an opportunity it is and I'm enjoying every second of it. But, my contribution to that... you know, very little. I'm not sure it's my greatest strength. The word "dude" comes out of my mouth a lot and so my contributions need to be translated and rearticulated in Elmore speak. Show less «

[on playing a fictionalized version of himself on The Grinder (2015) and being portrayed as a philanderer] I said (to the people behind the ...Show more »

[on playing a fictionalized version of himself on The Grinder (2015) and being portrayed as a philanderer] I said (to the people behind the show), "This is a little bit of an issue because I'm playing Timothy Olyphant and Timothy Olyphant has been married for 25 years... and you've got him showing up and he's going to have this affair with this girl, and that's not really 'me,'" and they said, "Well, that's not the way we see the character." I actually said to my wife at one point, "Are we OK with this?" and she said, "Tim, nobody takes this shit seriously." Show less «

[on late writer Elmore Leonard, who created the Raylan Givens character in Justified (2010)] The guy was genuinely cool. It was never a pose...Show more »

[on late writer Elmore Leonard, who created the Raylan Givens character in Justified (2010)] The guy was genuinely cool. It was never a pose with him. You can go into any party or public gathering, and you'll see lots of people trying to act cool, and then there's always one person off in the corner, not doing much, who's the real deal. That was Elmore. Show less «

[on room service] I'll admit a little something: If I go to one of those hotels where there's like a $50 omelet, I'm taking the silverware h...Show more »

[on room service] I'll admit a little something: If I go to one of those hotels where there's like a $50 omelet, I'm taking the silverware home with me. I'm not saying it's right. I just feel like it's an unspoken agreement where the mug and the silverware are just part of the deal. Show less «

[on Justified (2010), which ran for six seasons] I have a very healthy understanding of how good a gig this is. You're never quite sure, whe...Show more »

[on Justified (2010), which ran for six seasons] I have a very healthy understanding of how good a gig this is. You're never quite sure, when you first get something if you really have a sense of what an opportunity it is. I think I've learned, over the years, that this is about as good as it gets, as far as working in show business. Show less «

[on his unique walk] I think people talking about the way I walk sounds great. Me talking about the way I walk sounds moronic.