Timothy Olyphant Tells the Funniest and Most Scandalous 'Deadwood' Story

By Dustin Rowles | TV | November 30, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | November 30, 2023 |

Fans of Deadwood may recall the saddest, most upsetting death in the series comes in season two when William Bullock, the 11-year-old nephew of Timothy Olyphant’s character, Seth Bullock, is trampled by horses. Over the course of several episodes, the kid dies from his injuries, and his funeral brings the whole town together and generates one of the most memorable and heartbreaking scenes in the series.

As Timothy Olyphant hilariously explains to Rich Eisen in an interview from the summer that was largely overlooked by the Internet, the reason the kid was trampled to death by horses is that someone associated with the actor — a parent, most likely — was a “pain in the ass.” Consequently, showrunner David Milch — irritated with the asshole — came to Olyphant’s trailer and said to him six words that would change the entire course of that season: “We’re going to kill the kid.”

Now that there has been some distance from the series, Olyphant feels more free to share behind-the-scene gossip, reluctant as though he initially may be. When he finally gets into the story, however, Olyphant tells it in the way only Olyphant can while also revealing that another character was killed off the series over Milch’s irritation. (Given the brutality of her death and the fact that Veronica Mars was shot the same year, some are suggesting it was Kristen Bell’s character.)

I looked him up, and it’s worth noting that the kid in question did not continue to act after that experience, so his asshole parent may have cost him a career in the profession.

via Reddit