“This process is similar to my acting,” says Timothy Olyphant. “It’s a little something I call winging it.”

The 57-year-old, a cultural fixture since the late ’90s who’s claimed to have found the absolute “sweet spot” of fame, is discussing his approach to ceramics at his Westside studio. And like that dig at his Hollywood career, he’s being modest. Olyphant majored in Studio Art at USC. If you frequent Los Angeles galleries, you might have spotted him — likely in a cowboy hat. “What a cry for attention,” he jokes. “The guy that’s played a cowboy most of his career wears a cowboy hat.”

After donning Western gear for lead roles in Deadwood, Justified and Fargo, the guy just looks good in a wide brim. But Olyphant, who shares three grown children with his wife of 34 years, is more than just a cowboy and budding ceramicist. He just recurred as a villainous golfer on the Apple TV+ comedy Stick and signed on for the sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel (this one directed by David Fincher).

Up next: FX’s Alien: Earth, out Aug. 12, on which Olyphant reteams with Fargo’s Noah Hawley and goes about as far against type as possible. In fact, Hawley cast him as a dry, platinum blond robot in the ambitious TV take on the Ridley Scott films. Over an hour in late July, he talked about the new role as well as his misunderstood relationship with Justified co-star Walton Goggins, the projects he passed on and his deep affection for reboots. Cynics be damned.

You’ve played a lot of cowboys. In Alien: Earth, I’d describe your role as “dry, sassy android.” This is a real left turn for you.

Spot on. In the script, as I recall, Noah wrote something to the effect of, “Kirsh, a dry, sassy android enters room.” If that’s how you describe it, that’s what I’ll give you.

Noah said he gave you this role in return for making you play another lawman in Fargo. What’s a type that Hollywood still hasn’t asked you to play that interests you?

At the risk of sounding a little bit unmotivated, more of the same. I like the jobs I’ve had, and I like the people I’ve been allowed to work with. I’d be happy to just work with them again in whatever capacity they’ll have me.

How have you handled the jobs you didn’t like?

Well, I’ve been fired more than once, and I think at least one of those times I wanted to quit, but I refused to because I wanted to be paid. Well, maybe the polite way is I was “replaced.” I’ve told those stories. I don’t know if I want to dig ’em up right now. [For one, Olyphant was recast with Aidan Quinn in 1998’s Practical Magic.]

You famously turned down the blockbuster role in Fast & Furious that eventually went to Vin Diesel. I understand why it might not have been appealing, but do you ever look at the box office returns when those sequels come out and think, “Damn”?

The pitfall here is that it’s very hard to answer that question without feeling like I’m offending somebody. So, if I start saying, “No, it’s never occurred to me,” or “No, I’ve never seen those movies,” it just starts to sound like … ugh, let’s say I didn’t ever say that. I love those movies. I’m thrilled that they worked for everybody involved.

I don’t think it’s bad not to have seen a movie. I imagine you’ve not seen some of your own.

That’s true. So, no, I’ve never had a moment. I love attention as much as the next guy in the Screen Actors Guild. Hell, I’m talking to you right now. But mostly — and let me stress mostly — I’ve thought to myself, “Thank God I am not any more famous than I am.” I just think it would be bad for everybody involved.

What do you like about your level of fame?

I don’t have famous people problems, and yet I get to work with you name them. It’s a sweet spot, and I may finally be ruining it with these next couple gigs. But at this point in my life? Fuck it.

So when did you get into the sweet spot? Because I’d imagine, before you find it, there’s a long period of aspiration and struggle. 

On the Deadwood set. I was like, “This is all I need. I’m just going to show up and work for this man [David Milch] and marvel at the opportunity to be with these actors. It was a thrilling experience. And there were opportunities around that time where it was like, “Oh, look at this bright shiny object!” And those opportunities, some of which I took, were not nearly as satisfying as showing up for Deadwood. Justified was the same situation, and I was able to live at home and go to all of my kids’ tennis and music lessons. I just just felt like, “I can’t believe I’m getting away with this.”

As someone who has revisited several roles, do you ever worry about the risk of diminished returns? You’ve already reprised Justified’s Raylan Givens, and you’ve said you’re open to doing it again.

Every experience I’ve had revisiting characters or working with the same people again, I’m batting a thousand in terms of it being really gratifying. I highly recommend it. And I don’t have a problem with people remaking or rebooting things. I mean, everybody goes to Broadway to see the same couple plays every few years. It’s such a dumb, shallow argument to say Hollywood has no new ideas just because they’re rebooting things.

To your point, nobody ever questions it when they roll out Glengarry Glen Ross with a new cast every couple of years.

Ralph Fiennes is doing Hamlet again? Hasn’t that been done? (Laughs.) I’m not comparing what we’re doing on the Disney lot with Hamlet, but why not revisit stories? If someone wants to redo something, God bless ’em. Just do something new with it. If I’m not mistaken, that Luke Skywalker guy is reminiscent of a Bible story that everybody likes. I think Iron Man went into a cave and came out reborn, too. I wonder if that’s why it works so well? You know what? If we do another Raylan story, I’m putting that fucker in a cave and he’s coming out reborn.

After Justified, you know better than most about how Walton Goggins works. I’m curious what your take was on all that press …

Shoot. (Laughs.) Don’t even write “Olyphant laughs.” That’s not fair. (Laughs again.)

You’re laughing!

No, I’m not. That was a performance. Let me tell you something: Walt Goggins is one of my favorite actors I’ve ever worked with. I love him. I would even say I have a deep friendship with that man, and so I only care about the things that he and I say directly to each other.

OK, you’re talking about the alleged feud that you’ve both publicly denied several times. I was talking about how his press for The White Lotus focused on how he can get into a really dark headspace while filming. You probably knew about this before a lot of people.

Yeah, I know. God bless him. There are a lot of different ways of [doing this job], and he has his. We were in Bangkok for Alien when he was in Ko Samui for The White Lotus. My wife and I went down specifically to hang out with him. Anytime you see a friend on the other side of the world, it’s like, “Hey, look at us!” He seemed to be having a good time to me.

I like to fact-check weird Wikipedia mentions. Are you really a descendant of the Vanderbilt family? And, if so, have you met Gloria’s son, Anderson Cooper?

You’re goddamn right I am, and somebody owes me money. (Laughs.) It’s on my to-do list to head to upstate New York and see if I can get the keys to the house. I’ve never met Anderson. I assume that’s just because I keep missing the family reunions due to work and the kids. But now that I’m an empty-nester, I hope we’ll be having drinks soon.

Before I let you go, why ceramics?

I don’t know if you know this, but the future is in ceramics.

Seth Rogen’s had a lot of success with ceramics. He’s selling ashtrays.

Case in point. And I am riding that man’s coattails. So, that’s where all my chips are. Any young people out there [reading], jump on the train now, before it’s too late.