FX’s hit drama Justified has seen its fair share of guest stars over the years, and this season is no exception, with veteran actor Michael Rapaport stepping in to play Darryl Crowe, Jr. Relocating to Harlan to reunite with his cousin Dewey, it doesn’t take long for Darryl’s criminal activities to attract the attention of Raylan Givens – not to mention putting him on the bad side of Boyd Crowder.

But Darryl is nothing if not resourceful, and as he and his kin begin to expand their reach, he proves himself to be a much larger obstacle than either Raylan or Boyd expected. In a recent conference call with journalists, Michael Rapaport discussed his experiences working on Justified‘s fifth season. Here are some of the highlights.

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The thing I really enjoy about Darryl is that he’s much more intelligent and much more ambitious than, I think, a lot of the other characters give him credit for. But by that same token, I think the other members of his family are holding him back a little bit. Do you think Darryl truly realizes how detrimental they are to his goals or is he just turning a blind eye to it because they’re family?

I think that he’s turning a blind eye to them because they’re family. I think in his head he thinks he’s doing the best thing for his family. He’s running the family and he has taken on this responsibility. So I think in his head he thinks he’s doing the best thing for everybody, but as the season keeps going on we’ll see how that plays out. I think there are a lot of big twists and turns at the end that are going to be, I would say, kind of shocking.

I’ve really been enjoying watching you play against Walton Goggins as Boyd, and it occurred to me too that it feels like your character is in a similar position to him. Have you guys had any discussions about these characters kind of paralleling each other in any way?

Walton is honestly one of the best actors I’ve ever had a chance to work with. It’s been a real pleasure working with him, and him and Tim’s insistence and persistence on pushing the envelope, not just for them but for the show and for all the other actors, has been a real pleasure. It’s been challenging and creative. Those guys, they’re just really good, and they really care about what they’re doing. It pays off in the end result, but they really are team players and very welcoming and encouraging for everybody to do good.

And as far as the characters, yes, we’ve talked about it a little bit. Obviously Boyd is the most fleshed out of all of the bad guys, and I think he’s very humanized. So he’s really a bad guy you could get behind in the character. He just brings a lot of color to the character. Darryl wants the same thing Boyd wants. They’re both criminals, and at the end of the day they’re just trying to find their way and make their way. So that’s definitely something we talk about.

There have been so many great villains who have come in for one season, and so many great performances. Was that intimidating or did that make you really want to get involved with this series from the get go?

Yes, that’s what attracted me to it, because I know the pedigree of actors that they’ve had on the show and I’ve been a fan of the show before I got there. So it made me excited and want to be a part of it. I think they have a really good standard and a bar that they’ve set so far.

What has been your favorite part of playing Darryl, and what has been the most challenging part?

My favorite part is just being able to say and do things that you can’t do in real life and behaving in a way that’s just not really acceptable in the real world. When you’re playing this bad of a character, it’s obviously not reality for someone who’s not living that life. So that’s been the most fun. The challenge has been just the intensity of the work schedule, the accent and my own personal standards. It’s been one of the more fun jobs that I’ve had in a long time as an actor.

To be able to play somebody that says and does pretty much whatever he wants, he’s manipulative and I think he’s very self-serving, although I don’t think he’s aware of it. It’s just been a lot of fun, and sometimes it’s been like venting. You go. You scream and yell. You punch people. You smack people and all that stuff. So it’s fun to do.

I know you’ve done a lot of work, both on the TV side of things, as well as in films and even some voice over work for some video games and some animated stuff. Do you prefer working on TV where you have more time to develop a character or do you like going in and just doing kind of a one-and-done sort of thing?

I think that it’s just a matter of job to job. Each environment is different. Each job is different and each realm of creativity that they give you is different. You try to do the best you can and put as much time into it as you can, but different jobs, different circumstances come about.

Sometimes you know about a job four months in advance. Sometimes you know about a job four days in advance. So it’s all different, and my thing is I just try to stay prepared. It’s like a boxer; you never know when you’re going to get your next fight so you have to just stay in shape mentally and physically and creatively.

Some of this season’s best scenes have been between you and Alicia Witt. I think she lends something to the show that maybe we haven’t seen quite so much, a certain sort of delicacy in a way.

I have to say that I’ve been enormously impressed with Alicia’s work and her intensity, and you’ll see in the last few episodes what I mean. She’s done some incredible work. We’ve had some days that couldn’t have been more intense, coming up in these last few episodes, and they’ve been a pleasure and very impressive.

She really gives the show some really special talents and skills, as the episodes go along. There are some scenes towards the end of the season that are just great, and working with her she was just really special, special work.

You mentioned earlier that you were a fan of Justified before coming into the show. What other shows are you a fan of?

That’s a good question. I was obviously a big fan of Breaking Bad. Everybody was into that. I’ve been enjoying True Detective. But to be really honest with you the thing that I get the most joy out of on television, besides sports right now and since True Detective ended, and I wouldn’t say that I’m embarrassed about it because I’m actually a proud viewer, but I do watch a lot of reality television, for better or for worse, like a lot of Bravo television.

It’s shameful, but sometimes I watch those episodes of television and I’m like, “That was a really good hour of television.” I know, I know it doesn’t sound highbrow and geeky and all that. But you can sit down and watch a couple of hours of some good reality television and it’s as entertaining as anything that they have on cable, HBO, Showtime or anything. I promise you.

You’re not watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians are you?

I don’t watch Kardashians. I’m more of a Real Housewives guy.

What is it about Real Housewives that you love so much?

I don’t know what it is about Real Housewives that I love so much. I just find it really entertaining, and somehow or another they create these characters. I don’t know if they’re characters or real. I always try to watch it and I’m like, “Is this real? Is this staged?” You don’t know. Is it fake? Is it scripted? But if you look at it, let’s just assume that it is all fake, there are some talented non-actors out there in the world.

I don’t know what to say. It sounds stupid and I don’t think it’s sort of chic and cool to say that you’re into these reality shows, but I’m into all that Bravo stuff. It’s fun and entertaining and it’s sort of a release from reality, my reality. I laugh my ass off. Me and my lady, we sit in the bed; we watch that shit and we have a good time.

As we mentioned earlier, there have been several villains that have come into Justified for a single season, and more often than not they leave in a body bag. Was this something that concerned you when you accepted the role?

I was totally cool with it, and I know that I had to accept my fate going into it. I know that a character like this is living on the edge. So it’s really week-to-week. You didn’t know what was going to happen, and I didn’t really know what was going to happen until we finished shooting.

So I finished shooting. You don’t really get a heads up, but I knew that the way that he’s behaving and the fact that I’m a bad guy stepping into a world of other bad guys that there was a risk to take, but I didn’t have any problems with it because it’s just been fun while it’s lasted.

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Justified airs Tuesday nights at 10pm, exclusively on FX.