Timothy Olyphant opened up about getting caught in a shootout while filming the Justified reboot last summer, recounting minute-by-minute details of the "insane" near-death experience in an appearance on Conan O'Brien's podcast.
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The July 2022 incident, which occurred on the Chicago set of FX's upcoming limited series Justified: City Primeval, involved a gunfight between the passengers of multiple cars. The warring vehicles, equipped with pistols and a machine gun, had broken through the production's road barricades, causing the cast and crew to be caught in the crossfire.
Thankfully, no member of the production was harmed during the event, but series star Timothy Olyphant recognized that the harrowing ordeal was not easy to overcome: "It was f***** up," the actor told Conan O'Brien.
After hearing what he described as the unmistakable sound of gunfire, Olyphant and a few other crew members immediately ran for cover.
"I remember crouching down behind the car," the actor said, adding that some crew members didn't know what to do in the moment. "And then there's other people that just froze."
The gunfire continued for what felt like an eternity as the warring vehicles continued circling through the neighborhood in which the production was stationed.
"It's that cliché: Everything feels slow. All the beats are so distinct."
Olyphant recalled spotting one gunman manning a machine gun from the sunroof of a car, and thinking that, sooner or later, he'd be shot.
"It was like 100 rounds," he recounted. "You think, 'I mean, I assume one's gonna hit me.' You know, you're just kind of waiting for that moment. It was just so bizarre."
The actor described one particularly close call that day, involving a young film student working as a production assistant on the film. The PA was sitting at a bus stop when the gunmen drove by, spraying the glass structure with bullets. If he hadn't dove under a nearby car for shelter, said Olyphant, "That kid would've been dead."
Olyphant admitted that the reality of the traumatic event hadn't hit him until the day after the shooting. "That's when all of a sudden you're like, 'Okay, now there's tears coming down my face.'"
The actor requested that filming be paused in the wake of the shootout, and the production team agreed. Filming was halted, and the studio brought in crisis experts to navigate a safe and healthy return to work for the cast and crew.
Despite the horror of the event, the actor managed to lighten the mood in classic Olyphant style: With some well-placed, self-deprecating humor.
"I was told I grabbed a PA and threw her out of the way," he said, jokingly adding that his heroics weren't all that brave after all. "I think what happened was I grabbed her by the arm and I said, 'Uh, babe, I ordered a protein shake like a half hour ago.'"
READ MORE: Everything We Know About the New 'Justified' Spinoff, 'Justified: City Primeval'
