Timothy Olyphant's 7 Greatest Thrillers, Ranked

Published Nov 11, 2026, 12:45 PM EST Padraig is a Senior Features Writer and has been part of Screen Rant since 2017. Padraig is a writer, editor and retired Game of Thrones extra who has been writing about movies and TV online for over a decade. He has also written for The Irish Times, Den Of Geek, Little White Lies and many more. It's pronounced Paw-rick, BTW. When he's not fronting Westerns or stealing scenes in every show he appears in, Timothy Olyphant has some great thrillers in his filmography. Olyphant has had a wild ride of a career. While he was once tipped for leading man stardom, he never quite found the right movies to push him over the top. Thankfully, Timothy Olyphant's various TV Westerns, like Deadwood and Justified, finally cracked his screen persona. While TV continues to produce his biggest hits - including Alien: Earth and Lucky - he regularly pops up on the big screen too. Olyphant is returning as actor James Stacy in the upcoming The Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth - Netflix's semi-sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - and most recently appeared in the dark comedy Over Your Dead Body. Outside of Westerns and horror, Olyphant regularly pops up in thrillers. Whether it's playing a slimy villain (the type of role he seemingly relishes) or a troubled hero, he always gives these movies a welcome jolt of energy. 7 A Man Apart (2003) This early 2000s action thriller Vin Diesel trying out a more character-driven role, following his breakout with The Fast and the Furious. The results are mixed, as while Diesel gives a surprisingly moving performance as a cop grieving his wife's murder, the story feels like very familiar revenge movie terrority. That said, A Man Apart is helped by director F. Gary Gary's sure hand with action (he and Diesel would later reunite for The Fate of the Furious) and its strong supporting cast. This includes Olyphant as the villainous "Hollywood Jack," who injects much-needed humor into this often deathly serious thriller. Olyphant is so good that the film should have promoted him to main villain, with Jack's cold-blooded execution of an associate being A Man Apart's most shocking moment. Overall, it's neither Olyphant nor Diesel's best, but it's still worth seeking out for fans of either actor. 6 Havoc (2025) Image courtesy of Everett Collection A Netflix original from the director of The Raid that stars Tom Hardy and Timothy Olyphant promises an electric action thriller. The reality is a little more disappointing: while Havoc features some delightfully bone-crunching setpieces, the thriller aspects feels undercooked. An issue with director Gareth Evans' crime saga is that it never fully settles on a tone. Is it a character study of Hardy's corrupt detective rediscovering his moral center, is it a Hong Kong-style heroic bloodshed actioner, a '70s cop thriller? Havoc throws all those ingredients in the pot, and often feels like it's switching tones from scene to scene. Even so, it is elevated by a superb cast. Hardy can't help but be compelling, Olyphant adds another scuzzy villain to his roster, and the likes of Forest Whitaker and Luis Guzmán add texture and character to Havoc's bleak world. Come for the admittedly impressive setpieces and stay for the performances. 5 Live Free Or Die Hard - Unrated Version (2007) Image via MovieStillsDB The fourth Die Hard movie whipped up a mild controversy upon release. While every previous outing had been rated R, Live Free or Die Hard came with the milder PG-13, which watered down the violence and language. These were restored for the eventual "Unrated Version," which is still the best way to experience this divisive sequel. While Live Free or Die Hard had fair criticisms leveled at its somewhat implausible action and turning Bruce Willis' McClane into an invincible action hero, it's still an entertaining blockbuster. Willis and co-star Justin Long make for a likable buddy duo, while Maggie Q is great fun as the subvillain. Surprisingly, Olyphant is one of the weaker parts. His hacker villain lacks the wit and verve the likes of Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons brought to past outings, and the actor himself feels bored by it all. A disappointing showing from Olyphant aside, Live Free or Die Hard's unrated cut improves the critically dismissed sequel by at least one star. 4 Over Your Dead Body (2026) Image credit: IFC Films /Courtesy Everett Collection Over Your Dead Body is a remake of the cult Norwegian thriller The Trip, and plays like a mix of War of the Roses and Evil Dead. It is a delightfully acidic, mean-spirited comedy where Jason Segel and Samara Weaving play a married couple whose plan to murder one another gets rudely interrupted by criminal gang. The film has enough bloodshed to tip it into the horror genre, but despite the gruesomeness, it is never an unpleasant watch. Over Your Dead Body is a story with no true good guy, and events just seem to get darker and darker. Segal and Weaving drive the movie, but Olyphant adds a welcome comic touch to proceedings. Sadly, Over Your Dead Body did poor business upon release, but it feels bound to build up a fanbase in the years ahead. It's the rare instance of a comedy and a horror thriller that gets the mixture just right. 3 Go (1999) Go feels like one of the most 1990s movies in existence, with its cast of then up-and-comers (Olyphant, Jay Mohr, Katie Holmes, etc.) and Pulp Fiction-style interweaving narrative. While it was accused of being a Tarantino wannabe, Go is a more ambitious and energetic offering. If anything, this Doug Liman-directed movie has more in common with Run Lola Run than Pulp Fiction. Both films are kinetic and relentless, with their narratives constantly resetting and offering different perspectives on the same event. While Go is more of an ensemble outing, Olyphant still stood out as the cool but also kind of unnerving drug dealer, Todd. The film is a colorful and vibrant comic thriller with a banger of a soundtrack, featuring the likes of Fatboy Slim and LEN. The fashion of the film may not have aged impeccably, but there is still much to enjoy from this late 1990s gem. 2 A Perfect Getaway (2009) Image via Universal A Perfect Getaway failed to make an impact upon release, but despite being largely forgotten, it holds up incredibly well. It has a nice, Hitchcockian hook, where three couples go hiking together (played by the likes of Olyphant, Milla Jovovich and a total unknown named Chris Hemsworth), but the twist is that one of these couples are a pair of serial killers. Writer/director David Twohy (Pitch Black) mines this concept for all it's worth, while also allowing his talented cast to play off each other. Olyphant unleashes a torrent of charm as Nick, the former soldier who becomes the main suspect. Twohy is an old hand at the thriller genre (he also penned The Fugitive, FYI) and the reveal of the killer couple is very satisfying when it arrives. A Perfect Getaway has largely slipped through the cracks of time, but it's low-key one of the best Timothy Olyphant thrillers. 1 Scream 2 (1997) In amongst Timothy Olyphant's most famous roles, people tend to forget he played a version of Ghostface in the Scream franchise. In fact, Scream 2 was something of a breakthrough for the actor, who was a relative unknown. That worked to the sequel's advantage at the time, though newcomers looking at the film now might suspect Olyphant's college student Mickey from the off. While Scream 2 lacks the freshness of the Wes Craven original, it's still a very engaging and witty whodunnit. Despite a rushed production and having a screenplay that was constantly in flux, Craven directs the hell out of this slasher follow-up, staging many heart-pounding setpieces and gory deaths. By design, Timothy Olyphant's Mickey is pushed to the side for most of the runtime. Though Scream 2 drops hints of his true nature, such as Mickey's very meta line, "Many sequels have surpassed the original!" his true nature only emerges in the finale. Again, newcomers might clock this twist now, but the reveal was genuinely surprising back in 1997 and Olyphant hams up a storm when his unmasking happens. Timothy Olyphant Birthdate May 20, 1968 Birthplace Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Height 6 feet 0 inches Professions Actor, Producer, Voice Artist