Walton Goggins Didn’t Get the Internet’s Grinch Comparisons, Then He Put the Makeup On

Is Walton Goggins‘ doppelgänger … the Grinch?

Back in the spring, at the height of the frenzy about his turn on White Lotus, some on the internet seemed to draw the comparison. And now, thanks to Walmart’s “Who Knew?” holiday campaign, they get to find out whether or not they were right. The Righteous Gemstones actor, 54, suits up as the titular Christmas-hating Dr. Seuss character for an ad that takes place right in “WhoKnewVille.”

Though some might not be flattered by the comparison to the infamously grouchy guy, Goggins “laughed it off” when, “over the course of the last year of my life, and some articles that have come out or some pictures that were taken, a number of people said, ‘Walton Goggins as the Grinch?’ ” he tells PEOPLE. (Weirdly, the comparisons really seemed to take off after fans saw him posing in a Speedo for an NSFW Cultured Magazine cover.)

And though he didn’t see it initially, once he was in full costume, he says, it began to click.

“You can never really know until you step into those shoes, I suppose, into those green furry shoes, and really look at yourself,” he explains.

He explored an original take on the classic children’s book character, from experimenting with his Grinch’s walk to finding his voice.

“I thought, ‘You know what? Okay, I do kind of look like the Grinch,'” he says.

In Walmart’s reimagining of the story, Mindy Lou Who and her green “friend known for his steals” work together to bring the people of WhoKnewVille Black Friday deals. And in this 2025 script, Max the dog even makes a “killer matcha.”

In a previous ad for Walmart, Goggins invited consumers to challenge their perceptions of the retailer to the tune of The Who’s “Who Are You.” His various outfit changes — from a towel (in a sauna) to Western wear — teased his range. But even that range couldn’t necessarily prepare him to portray “one of the most iconic characters in literature.”

“My laughter immediately went to an extraordinary amount of anxiety,” he says. “‘Oh, my God, how can I? How do I pull this off?’ But we did, and I had the time of my life.”

“Very, very important” to transforming into the character (previously portrayed onscreen by Boris Karloff, Jim Carrey and Matthew Morrison), Goggins says, was that “It was all m.” The character came to life when the makeup team put the prosthetic over his nose, he adds.

“As soon as they put that on, I knew exactly who my Grinch was,” he says. “He’s just a little annoyed, you know? But he’s also a hero in this spot,” Goggins adds, saying he tried to channel his inner Charles Grodin to get the tone right.

In real life, Goggins couldn’t be further from the Grinch. He loves Christmas.

His family — wife Nadia Conners and son Augustus, 14 — celebrates the holiday by going to the local public tree lighting and singing carols. Goggins also shares that he showed the commercial rough cuts with them, which got them “in the spirit.”

Goggins loves to celebrate Augustus as “the center of [his] universe” during the holidays. He says the “greatest gift” from his son is “his heart” and who he is as a person. In return, Goggins loves to give memorable experiences together, sharing that the pair took a father-son trip to Mongolia this year.

For Goggins, the Grinch and Black Friday deals are equally iconic indicators of the holiday season on the horizon.

“Black Friday deals from Walmart are a staple — that’s on the calendar,” he adds of the hotly-anticipated shopping event, which runs from Nov. 25-30 at the retailer. “My acquisition of gifts is predicated on one thing and one thing only, and that’s my schedule. So I never know, you know, where I’m going to be, but have I used Black Friday deals? Excuse my language, but bet your ass, I have!”