Magic Man

During a shoot at the famed Harry Houdini estate, Walton Goggins shares the special alchemy of sincerity, humor, and warmth of The Unicorn.

- Fred Schruers

FEW WOULD DISPUTE THAT THREE DECADES INTO his career, Walton Goggins is as straight-up an entertaining presence as we could ask for, onscreen or off. On this sunny midwinter afternoon in Hollywood’s Laurel Canyon, the lead actor in the hit sitcom The Unicorn is bringing a level of energy big enough to compete with the dramatically quirky surroundings of the storied manse and grounds known as the Houdini estate. (The master escape artist once resided here for several months.) “I live back in the woods you see,” sings Hank Williams Jr. from a crew member’s playlist, as Goggins perches a bit perilously on a stone wall. “My woman and the kids and the dogs and me …”

By the end of the verse, when Hank Jr. growls out, “And a country boy can survive,” Goggins raises his arms in the air and bucks his lean, muscled body half a foot upward with them. Just about everyone in the platoon of a crew at today’s photo shoot is right with him on the downbeat: This is a guy who smiles easily, and those around him tend to do the same.

“People who are on the precipice of some great new experience,” Goggins says a bit later, “have great joy. And with great joy, when no one is around, most people I know dance. They dance wildly and unabashedly.”