Walton Goggins Admits He's Never Played Fallout – And Doesn't Want To
"I won't. I won't play the games. I'm not interested."
Proving he's no Henry Cavill and doesn't particularly care about the source material of the show he's starring in, Walton Goggins – the actor portraying Cooper "The Ghoul" Howard in Amazon's TV adaptation of Fallout – has revealed that he's never played any Fallout games and, worse yet, doesn't plan to going forward.
Amazon
"No, I haven't sat down to play the games," Goggins said in an interview with PCGamer. "And I won't. I won't. I won't play the games. I'm not interested."
When pressed on why he wouldn't want to familiarize himself with the franchise the series is based on, Goggins revealed himself to be a devotee of Stanislavsky's system, explaining that he needs to fully believe in The Ghoul's existence, not view him as a character from a game, in order to play him.
"All of a sudden, I'm looking at this world from a very different perspective, and as something on a screen in which I am an avatar in. I don't believe that I'm an avatar. I believe The Ghoul exists in the world. I believe that Cooper Howard exists in the world," he commented. "The best way that I can serve this world and serve the fans of this game, I think, is to go to work every single day and believe the circumstances that I'm presented with."
As for the other two actors comprising the trio of main characters, their knowledge of the original series was also revealed to be nearly nonexistent, with Maximus' Aaron Moten saying he hasn't played any games but plans to in the future, and Lucy's Ella Purnell having only tried Fallout 4 and intending to play Fallout: New Vegas – the installment most related to the second season of Amazon's show – after the season ends.
"Yeah, I played Fallout 4 when I was in prep for season one, and that was a really fun and exciting experience," Purnell said. "This time around, I did not play the game, and I kind of did it in reverse, where I want to wait for the show to come out, watch all the episodes, and then play New Vegas, and then do it in reverse and see how that changes the experience of playing the game."
For those worried about the main actors being unfamiliar with the universe – or about that teaser trailer the showrunners released recently, already criticized for its cringey millennial writing and humor, messing up Dinky the T-Rex's position, featuring the Great Khans where they shouldn't be, and disrespecting one of FNV's most gut-wrenching quests – it's worth remembering that as far back as 2024, the showrunners were clear they had no intention of pleasing Fallout fans with their adaptation.
Nearly two years and one financially successful season later, it's unlikely their approach has changed, and with Season 2 set in New Vegas and its surroundings, it seems almost certain that a significant portion of the Fallout community – even those who liked or at least tolerated Season 1 – will erupt in anger once the show premieres on December 17, 2025.
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