Walton Goggins, the weathered face (and lack thereof) of Amazon’s acclaimed Fallout series, has drawn a hard line in the irradiated sand: he has never played a single title in Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic franchise, and he has no intention of ever doing so.
“No, I haven’t sat down to play the games,” Goggins told PC Gamer in a recent interview. “And I won’t. I won’t. I won’t play the games. I’m not interested.”
For most actors stepping into a beloved gaming adaptation, firing up the source material would be standard homework. For Goggins, who transforms into the noseless, centuries-old bounty hunter known as The Ghoul — and flashes back to his pre-war Hollywood-star persona, Cooper Howard — the games represent a threat to the illusion he has spent years cultivating.
“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,” he explained. “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.”
By refusing to pick up a controller, Goggins preserves the conviction that the leather-duster-wearing gunslinger is a living, breathing inhabitant of a tangible wasteland rather than a customizable protagonist waiting for player input. “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,” he said.
His co-star Aaron Moten, who suits up as the idealistic Brotherhood of Steel knight Maximus, has adopted a slightly softer but still disciplined stance. “Can’t play them now,” Moten admitted. “I feel like I need to be done with the work that we’re doing before I can jump in.”
Moten described the rare privilege of walking through full-scale sets that recreate the Capital Wasteland and beyond. “I feel like I get this really uniquely particular opportunity to be within the world of the game, like the Disney World version of it, where it’s life-like and built out in front of me,” he said. “But I’m still gonna wait. I’m gonna wait till I’m done.”
Not every member of the core trio shares the same abstinence. Ella Purnell, who plays the eternally optimistic Vault 33 dweller Lucy MacLean, dove into Fallout 4 while preparing for the first season. She described the experience as “really fun and exciting,” though she noted that playing the game didn’t directly shape her performance since Lucy is an original character who doesn’t appear in any of the titles.
Heading into Season 2 — which draws heavy inspiration from Fallout: New Vegas — Purnell made the deliberate choice to stay away from that particular entry. She plans to finally boot up the Mojave-set classic only after the new season has aired. “And then I don’t know what I’ll do for Season 3,” she laughed. “Maybe I’ll play them all and become, like, a really addicted gamer. Who knows?”
While some performers scour speedrunning forums or consult lore wikis to nail every detail, the Fallout cast has largely treated the practical, life-size production as their primary portal into the irradiated expanse — each actor finding their own balance between immersion and interaction with the games themselves.
Their approach has evidently resonated. The first season of Fallout exploded onto Prime Video in April 2024, earning near-universal praise for capturing the franchise’s mix of retro-futuristic absurdity and brutal survivalism without feeling like a slavish recreation.
As filming continues on the second season — which will bring familiar New Vegas locations such as the glowing Strip and the ominous New California Republic to life — Goggins, Moten, and Purnell remain committed to experiencing the universe first and foremost through performance.
Fallout Season 2 will premiere on Prime Video on December 17, 2025, with new episodes dropping weekly thereafter. The eight-episode season will conclude in early February 2026, giving viewers plenty of time to stock their shelters before the next wave of radiation hits.
You can watch the trailer for Fallout Season 2 below:
