"It was the best investment I ever made."
The "it" that Margo Martindale speaks of is the role in Justified that would win her an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2011: Mags Bennett, the diabolical matriarch of a Kentucky crime family who has a tendency to poison her enemies with homemade moonshine called "Apple Pie."
"I called my agent and said: 'I must have this part. I will go anywhere to do this. I will do anything I have to do. And I will do it for nothing. Well, almost for nothing."
That decision paid off for both Martindale and for fans of FX’s Elmore Leonard adaptation from showrunner Graham Yost, as the veteran TV and film actor delivered one of the most compelling TV villains in recent memory. Mags was introduced in Justified’s second season, as she and her violence-prone sons-slash-enforcers, Dickie (Jeremy Davies) and Doyle (Joseph Lyle Taylor), go to ruthless lengths to protect their marijuana empire and continue their generational feud with the Givens family — which comes to a head when U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) puts the Bennetts in his crosshairs after they murder his aunt.
Season 2’s storyline put Mags in the middle of some of the show’s most enduring moments, such as squaring off with the verbose con man — and Raylan’s nemesis — Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins). She also develops a complicated relationship with Loretta (played by then-newcomer Kaitlyn Dever, just 14 at the time), the grieving daughter of a man that Mags has killed. Loretta’s grief boils over into a brief but intense pursuit of vengeance that brings about Mags’s tragic end in the gripping season finale, "Bloody Harlan," where Mags hoists herself on her own proverbial petard by imbibing some of her lethal Apple Pie.
In this exclusive interview ahead of Justified's 15th anniversary on March 16, 2025, Martindale celebrates the milestone with a deep dive into the making of her Emmy-winning character, the unscripted moment that occurred during Mags’s death scene and whom she thinks is the best actor she has ever worked with.
Margo Martindale: I just want to start and say it’s a pleasure to talk about this show. It was certainly a gift to me.
Television Academy: How were you initially approached about the role of Mags?
I live in New York, but I had flown out for the premiere of Secretariat [in Los Angeles], and I had gotten a job on an episodic [show] at the time, so I decided to stay a week. My agents called me and said, "They'd like you to come audition for this show Justified." I said, “I've heard of it, but I haven't seen it.” They told me it's about a Kentucky woman who is a big, bad [villain] and runs a mountain. And I said, “I have to go meet for that? Don't they know that that's something that I could do?” [laughs]. So I said, “Send it to me, I'll read it.” I read it and, when I was done, I called my agent and said: ‘I must have this part. I will go anywhere to do this. I will do anything I have to do. And I will do it for nothing. Well, almost for nothing.” But, as I tell Graham, that was the best investment I ever made [laughs].
I know it's been a long time, but do you recall what scene you initially read prior to meeting with producers?
I believe it was the first scene with [Walt], the father of little Loretta, and when I killed him with the "Apple Pie." [Editor's note: Walt was played by Chris Mulkey, whom Mags killed by putting poison in a mason jar glass before serving her moonshine]. By the way, I have a whole case of those things that somebody from the show gave to me — I can’t remember who. But it says [Mags's] line on the jar, the "poison was already in the glass," or whatever it was.
Wow, that’s great. Do you recall any conversations about maybe changing Mags's fate or —
Well, here's the real truth: I didn't know she was going to die. I thought they liked me in this part. I thought it was going well. And I came in one day, toward the end of shooting [the season], and I think I had just read the last episode. And Tim said to me, "How are you today?" I said, "Well, I'm dead." [laughs]. And Graham had not told me. I texted him and I talked to him. I said: "Now, when was it you told me that I was dead?" He said, "The day you got the script, and I'll never forgive myself." But you know what? It couldn't have been more perfect. I would have hated to see her limp into Season 3.
In "Bloody Harlan," there’s a subtle, emotional beat in Mags’s final scene with Raylan in her house, at her table. She just drank her poisoned Apple Pie, but Raylan doesn’t know it. He doesn’t sense that something is off until Mags takes his hand and holds it for a beat too long. Was that bit of business scripted?
It was not. I am pretty sure it was just something that happened between Tim and I. It was a great scene. And everybody was in that house, packed with crew. It was an interesting shoot, because I think they didn't quite know how it was going to work. I know that I had some input. I can't remember what it was. I mean, I don't know if I switched the glasses. I think that, in retrospect, I might not have. But, in my head, I think I was the one that came up with that.
There was also this really interesting moment in an episode that season — I think the ninth episode — where they told [my character] that somebody was dead. And then the light went off in my eye. And somehow, Tony Goldwyn, who was directing that one — he got that. And I've always been grateful to him for understanding what I was doing.
Also in the season finale, you have a final showdown of sorts with Loretta.
Oh, I just thought she was probably the best actress I had ever worked with. And she was 14, I think, at the time. And she was from Texas. From The Colony, Texas, I think, is where she was from — which is right around where my husband's from. I loved her. I thought she was spectacular. And boy, look what she's done. I'd love to get to work with her again.
I assume your work on this led to your role as Claudia, the Russian handler, on The Americans, another FX show that Yost had a hand in.
Yeah, I had gone to do [the feature film] August: Osage County in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and Graham called me, I think, the day after I got home. He said, "Hey, you want to do this show about Russian spies?" I said, "I don't know, is it good?" He said, "Yeah, it's good." I said, "Do I have to speak Russian?" He said, "No." I said, "Yeah, I want to do it." [laughs]. That's how it went. I can't say it enough how grateful I am, though, for Justified and Mags coming into my life.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Justified is now streaming on Hulu.
