Goliath returns for season 3 on Oct. 4, streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Season 3 begins with the unexpected death of an old friend which leads Billy McBride to take a case in Central Valley. When he gets there, he comes face-to-face with his next Goliath: billionaire rancher Wade Blackwood and his sister Diana. Billy is also facing his own personal demons in the wake of Marisol’s betrayal at the end of season 2.
HollywoodLife sat down with Billy Bob Thornton at the Goliath press junket in New York City to discuss Billy’s journey in season 3. Billy will still be reeling from what happened with Marisol. Thornton noted that his character is “still a little messed up over that” because that kind of betrayal “doesn’t just go away easily.” But that’s not the only thing on his mind. Billy will be taking a new case in season 3 and he’ll be introduced to Wade Blackwood, played by Dennis Quaid. Thornton talked about working with his dear friend and why Billy and Wade’s dynamic will change over the course of the season.
Season 2 ended with David not being on top of Goliath this time. So where do we find Billy in season 3?
Billy Bob Thornton: Just trying to find himself. While there’s the case, there’s also him just having to confront himself, finally. Just to see himself and find out who the hell he is, you know what I mean? So he’s a little bit confused at the beginning of this season. I don’t even get on the case this time because I’m looking for it. It’s through people that I know and all that kind of thing. He’s also not sure himself because it’s not the kind of case he’s used to. He doesn’t know that much about it. He has to actually learn as he’s going along what it even is.
And at the end of last season as well, there was the explosion of the relationship between Billy and Marisol. It was a very huge shock for Billy. Is he dealing with that in season 3 or still trying to figure out what the hell happened?
Billy Bob Thornton: He’s still a little messed up over that. I think something like that, that kind of betrayal, doesn’t just go away easily. That’s definitely something that’s on his mind. It’s one of many things, and once you start getting into this, it’s all of a sudden. I think this is a very paranoid season because he doesn’t really know what’s going on around him in a lot of ways. He’s just trying to figure out — who do I trust anymore? Do I trust myself even?
It was a little open-ended at the end of last season with Marisol and the whole Gabriel aspect. Could we see them again or are we moving in a totally different direction?
Billy Bob Thornton: Well, it’s a different direction but there’s some leftover stuff. Not a lot, but there is some.
Billy is faced with a new Goliath this season in the form of Dennis Quaid and Amy Brenneman’s characters. What can you say about their dynamic and how Billy finds himself facing all of them?
Billy Bob Thornton: It’s funny because in the beginning Billy and Wade, who Dennis plays, they’re the same kind of guy it seems. Billy doesn’t have instant hatred for this guy like in the first season with Cooperman and all that. It’s a different thing. It’s a couple of regular guys sort of talking to each other for a while. As time goes on, Billy starts to uncover more and more so the relationship with Wade changes as the season goes on. But the relationship between him and his sister is just so weird that I don’t know what the hell is going on with it. It’s great for the audience because the audience gets to learn this stuff through me learning it. They get to really take the journey with me. I’m not in charge. I’m not in control of stuff this time so much.
What was it like for you and Dennis to go toe-to-toe with each other this season?
Billy Bob Thornton: It was very cool because Dennis and are good buddies. He’s kind of like my only actor friend that I hang out with. I don’t really hang out with a lot of actors. Dennis and I have known each other for a long, long time. It was fun to see him on the set at the time because we’re buddies. We had worked together in The Alamo years ago. We only had actually one scene together. This time, we got to actually be around each other a lot and be in scenes together. But there are advantages and disadvantages to knowing someone. It’s like if you know somebody really well, you have to separate knowing them in the scenes you have to get there mentally, but then there’s such ease in scenes talking to each other. So you get both things. but you got to be really diligent about that.
In the poster and the trailer, there’s a black crow, which is a symbol of death. What can you say about what that means for Billy?
Billy Bob Thornton: The crow is representative of that. Also, there’s the sort of Native American idea around the casino and everything. There’s a lot of spiritual stuff in this. Billy’s having to confront himself in this one and look at himself a little closer. He starts to not know what’s real and what’s not. Like I said, a lot of that stuff, I try to not think about it too much because I want it to be natural. I try not to study or prepare for that kind of thing much, which is against what actors usually talk about. I want to be as surprised as anybody.
I loved how the first and second seasons were so different. How would you say the third season compares to the previous two seasons?
Billy Bob Thornton: Three is actually a combination of the two. There was a lot of courtroom stuff in the first season. Not as much in the second season. I was out in the field more this time. There’s more courtroom stuff in there than there was in season 2, but not as much as season 1. I would say it’s a pretty good balance of the first two seasons.