Walton Goggins stripped off to bare his soul about the impact of his role on The White Lotus, after the HBO show saw him skyrocket to household name status earlier this year.
The actor, 54, displayed his chiselled physique and taut abs as he posed in the nude for a racy photoshoot for GQ.
And mirroring the stark naked snaps, in the accompanying interview the Fallout star declared that he was feeling ‘liberated’ and ‘reborn’, now the frenzy of The White Lotus had died down.
Walton starred in season three of the hit show as the tormented and vengeful Rick Hatchett, a role which netted him an Emmy nomination and brought him to worldwide fame for the first time, despite his long and successful career.
His turn in the black comedy drama pushed him firmly into the leading-man territory and brought with it new levels of fan obsession and public interest – including huge speculation concerning his relationship with onscreen love interest, Aimee Lou Wood.
Reflecting on leaving the world of The White Lotus and Rick behind after the awards season came to a close, Walton said he had returned to himself after ‘carrying the weight of this guy and his prolonged sadness for so long’.
Walton Goggins stripped off to bare his soul about the impact of his role on The White Lotus , after the HBO show saw him skyrocket to household name status earlier this year
The actor, 54, displayed his chiselled physique and taut abs as he posed in the nude for a racy photoshoot for GQ
Walton starred in season three of the hit show as the tormented and vengeful Rick Hatchett, a role which netted him an Emmy nomination and brought him to worldwide fame for the first time, despite his long and successful career (seen in show)
He described how earlier that morning he woke up, ‘looked in a mirror and said, “Hello, Walton, nice to meet you”, as he looked forward to his ‘next adventure’.
Walton said: ‘I went over to the bathroom, washed my face, and I looked at myself. I was like, “Oh, there you are. Good to meet you. Where do you go from here? What is the next adventure?”’
Asked how things were going for him now, he declared: ‘It has been the most blissful, circuitous kind of path.
‘I’ve been torn down to nothing and rebuilding. I feel like I’ve been reborn. I do. I feel like I’ve gone through my mama’s vagina. I’ve gone through the birthing canal. I feel liberated, man. Yeah. I feel unencumbered. I feel light.’
He had previously admitted that he found the process of getting into character taxing, purposefully emulating Rick’s solitude on the set.
He told Cultured: ‘My character — Rick Hatchett — he’s isolated. So during filming, I was isolated. I liked mirroring that, but it was emotionally difficult.’
Speaking on the huge success and seemingly sudden stardom he saw this year after his roles on The White Lotus and fellow HBO drama, The Righteous Gemstones, Walton acknowledged there had been ‘a shift’, but stressed that he was aware of how quickly it could disappear again.
He said: ‘If you say it, I’ll believe it. I am having a good time. And there has been a shift, and things have changed. But that doesn’t mean that can’t also circle back on itself.’
His turn in the black comedy drama pushed him firmly into the leading-man territory and brought with it new levels of fan obsession and public interest – including huge speculation concerning his relationship with onscreen love interest, Aimee Lou Wood (seen on show)
Speaking on the huge success and seemingly sudden stardom he saw this year Walton acknowledged there had been ‘a shift’, but stressed that he was aware of how quickly it could disappear again (seen in September)
His latest steamy photoshoot for GQ comes after Walton revealed his love of being naked in his garden, and his joy at being granted sex-symbol status.
Speaking to You magazine earlier this year, he explained that he even prefers to o read his film scripts while nude and sipping on a morning coffee.
Describing his regular routine, he said: ‘I’ve been naked in the backyard of every house I’ve ever owned.
‘You wake up in the morning and you have a beautiful cup of coffee with clothes or sans clothes and feel the air on your body.
‘I don’t think I’m an exhibitionist. I don’t make that choice to put on clothes or not put on clothes. I just know I’m going to have a cup of coffee.’
And reflecting on his White Lotus character becoming the latest sex symbol, he admitted it gives him ‘a smile in my heart’.
But his wife Nadia Conners – who describes him as a ‘zaddy’, slang for a sexy older man – admitted she found this hard to deal with.
The TV scriptwriter, 56, with whom he shares son Augustus, 14, candidly confessed: ‘He’s aged like fine wine. But it’s hard as I’m a middle-aged woman.
‘So suddenly I feel like “all these women find him attractive”. But what’s so amazing is he’s always made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the room.’
