While Fallout fans eagerly await season two of the Prime Video post-apocalyptic adventure, its creators and stars are still very much enjoying the success the video game adaptation’s first season brought. Walton Goggins, who plays the Ghoul (née Hollywood cowboy Cooper Howard), is no stranger to fan encounters, with a long career that includes Justified, The Righteous Gemstones, Ant Man and the Wasp, and many more. But Fallout fans—who instantly embraced his nuclear outlaw character—are extra-special.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Goggins recounted the moment—while on vacation with his family—when he realized just how much of an impact Fallout, and the Ghoul, had made with global audiences. “I’ve been fortunate to get stopped in public for not really one thing but a variety of projects over the years. Then, all of a sudden, people were talking about Fallout more than anything else … There was a moment when I was walking down the street with my wife and my son in Istanbul, where within the span of a block, someone from Iraq who was there on vacation came up, someone from Syria came up, and someone from Kurdistan came up. We were walking and eating baklava after having a glass of wine at a restaurant, then there were these three encounters, one right after another. We all looked at each other with such love in our hearts and had long conversations.”
The realization had special meaning for the veteran actor. “We did something that is reaching across countries. It’s breaking down those barriers and becoming something that people are sharing in. At this stage of my life, I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
In the same Entertainment Weekly profile, Fallout co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet distilled why the Ghoul became such a breakout sensation. “People want to see characters who are good at what they’re doing. That, to me, is the true delight of the Ghoul.”
Less delightful, according to Goggins, is the make-up required to bring the irradiated character to life. “I am really scared about getting back into those prosthetics,” he told EW. To that end, earlier this week he posted on Instagram showing that he’s back in the saddle, er… make-up chair:
Fallout season two is currently in production.
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