Thats a trait shared by Justifieds Wynn Duffy, a mainstay of the shows Dixie Mafia, who escaped the chopping block not once but twice in the FX dramas early seasons. At first, said Burns, Wynn was supposed to be shot and killed at the end of his original two-episode stint in Season 1. And by the second episode, they figured out a way to not kill him, as they sometimes do on Justified if they like a character, said Burns. They shot me in the shoulder instead.
One season later, Wynns number came up again. It was this showdown between Raylan [Timothy Olyphant] and I, a fantastic scene. The problem was that I died at the end of it, Burns said. And I think Tim was not happy with that scene that day, and as often happens on Justified, stuff gets rewritten on the fly. Its a very collaborative show, in a good way. So that day, he didnt die again.
The shows frequent last-minute rewrites also lead to Wynns most memorable moment: the scene early in the Season 3 finale (Slaughterhouse) in which the usually unflappable Duffy completely loses his shit as an exasperated Raylan plays Russian roulette with him to pry loose some needed information. I got a call the night before we were to shoot a different scene, saying, Can you come in three hours early? Tim wants to talk about that scene between you and him, said Burns. Tim had found a passage in one of Elmore [Leonard]s books that had a Russian roulette scene in it, and Tim pitched to me, Instead of doing whats here, why dont we come up with something? So he and I createdmostly him, but we did it togetherthis scene. We sketched it out on paper and showed it to Dean Parisot, who was directing that episode, and one of the writers, and they said, Great! Lets shoot that! It played like gangbusters.
As Justifieds fourth season concluded last month, Wynn revealed that the Detroit mob had put him in charge of its heroin business, and enlisted Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) to run things for him in Kentucky. Does this mean that Wynn could finally become Justifieds Big Bad next season?
It seems that way, but you never know on Justified, said Burns. Its a cast of thousands and you never know how things are going to shake out. I might have had a bigger part last year, but then I got pneumonia, and then they were allowing me to go back and forth to Canada to shoot Bates, so Im not really sure. But maybe next year will be Duffys year.
