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Timothy Olyphant
Plays Seth Bullock
HBO: Tell us a little about your character.
Timothy Olyphant: I play Seth Bullock, a sheriff in Montana who has given up his job there to move to Deadwood with the intention of creating an opportunity for himself and his family. Bullock is married, has a child, but they do not make the trip with me to start because it was such a dangerous trip, and also because I wanted to come here and get settled.
So I made the trip with my partner, Sol Star. He and I were life long friends and came here with me from Montana and we opened up a hardware store.
Because it's Indian territory, because it's a lawless town, anyone who represents the law coming in, is not really welcome. So Bill Hickok had to deal with that. And I have to deal with that.
HBO: What is the relationship Seth Bullock has with Al Swearengen and Wild Bill Hickok?
Timothy Olyphant: I think that Seth Bullock is a very dangerous man, a very violent man, a man driven by a great deal of rage and someone to be feared. I'm also a man with a conscience, and I think that's what separates me from Al Swearengen. Seth Bullock may be a sinner. But he's not amoral. And Al Swearengen is amoral. I think it's much more dangerous to be dealing with someone who doesn't have a conscience.
Wild Bill Hickok and Bullock is an interesting relationship because in a lot of ways we're cut from the same cloth. Hickok probably looks at me and sees himself. The way they differ is that Hickok was never very successful as a businessman or family man or really able to just socially get along with his fellow man. I've somehow found a way to find some stability in my life that Wild Bill Hickok never did. It's a fantastic sort of father-son relationship that develops between us. I think men like that in towns that are this small, sooner or later are going to meet one another and recognize the similarities. There's a certain kind of camaraderie or just mutual respect.
HBO: What was it like working with David Milch?
Timothy Olyphant: Anytime, whether it's a television show or a movie or play, it's always nice to feel like you're working for one person who has a complete vision. David Milch is so committed to this and so confident in it that you just would walk through fire, as the saying goes, if he told you to.
At first, I couldn't really appreciate it when David would start talking at great length about scenes. He'd be talking on and on and on and on, just beautiful stuff. Couldn't be more eloquent and smart and funny and insightful. And I just remember thinking, so you want me to go faster? Just give me some direction.
It didn't take too long before I started to relax and enjoy my work enough that I couldn't get enough of him talking. Just today, we were working on a scene and he was saying that when you're falling in love with someone, you may not understand a word they're saying. But you just don't want them to stop talking. You just can't get enough of them talking. And I almost stopped and said, David, I think I love you. [LAUGHTER] Because that's the experience I've got, when he starts going off. I'm not sure I understand it, but keep it coming. It's just fantastic.
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Deadwood Nuggets
Deadwood received its name from the many burned dead trees early miners found when placer mining first began there in 1876.
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Deadwood History
For more information and on the Real Deadwood, try the following source:
Adams Museum and House
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