Timothy Olyphant Was In New York And Nobody Told Us

If you haven’t been rewatching the six seasons of Justified in preparation for the upcoming FX/Hulu limited series Justified: City Primeval, what are you even doing with your summer?

If you’re the star, Timothy Olyphant, you’re in New York doing press for your OTHER upcoming show, Full Circle, which premieres on Max this week. The New York Times (sigh) has an interview in which Olyphant talks about how it feels to return to the role of Raylan Givens, who we last saw when the original series ended its run in 2015.

“With all due respect to our original cast, who I loved, adored and miss, it was really a fun experience being with all these new cast members but still feeling like we were doing our show,” Olyphant said. “This feels right in the sweet spot, but I don’t know, it could be a total failure.”

The actor/producer’s doubts aside, the new show which is based on Elmore Leonard’s novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, is an entirely different story than the ones we’re used to. Raylan has joined the Detroit Police Department to solve a case that involves corruption, Albanian gangsters, and a “psychopathic aspiring singer.” I hope the Albanians are more competent than some of the rednecks from Harlan. Lord knows Mags Bennett’s boys were not that bright. Over the eight episodes, Raylan and the viewers will also get to know his daughter (with Winona Hawkins) Willa, played by Timothy’s real-life daughter, Vivian.

In the interview, they discuss how meaningful his return to the role of Deadwood Sheriff Seth Bullock in the 2019 revival movie turned out to be. “I don’t know what I was so afraid of … It was quite moving for everybody involved.” And talk about how it feels to finally be working with Steven Soderbergh, who directed Full Circle for Max.

“Being with Steven Soderbergh last night watching something that he’s made that I’m a part of, it just means the world,” he said. “I don’t know why it took me so long to get there, but it’s really nice to be there now.”

While the original six seasons of Justified are far from perfect with some seasons being messy (coughseasonthreecough) or confusing (coughseasofourcough). The source material is solid, and the antagonists are always interesting both in character and casting. (Not you, Florida Crowes.) I have high hopes for who we’re going to meet in Detroit.

Justified: City Primeval premiers on FX and streaming on Hulu Tuesday, July 18.