Agent 47 was played by Timothy Olyphant, which many may recognize today from shows like The Santa Clarita Diet, where he plays Joel. And as he elaborates upon in the aforementioned interview with the publication, Rolling Stone, Olyphant wasn’t in the best position when he took on the role in the Hitman movie. Prior to accepting the role of Agent 47 in the movie (and the villain in Live Free or Die Hard), Olyphant played Sheriff Seth Bullock in Deadwood.
But, according to the actor, when the Deadwood series was originally canceled, he had just bought a house. This seems to originate in some confusing miscommunication, as Olyphant had just received some back pay and a raise from HBO at the time. It was with this money that he bought the house. Just a few days after, Olyphant reports that he was informed the show was canceled (when it allegedly wasn’t) and that led to a series of phone calls that ultimately did lead to the real cancellation of the show.
Deadwood predicament aside, this left Olyphant with a house and no work. He intended to sell it, but instead took the aforementioned roles in order to keep it. When referring to this decision and his work as Agent 47 in the Hitman movie, Olyphant states:
Given that these events took place 12-13 years ago, Olyphant acknowledges that there may be some holes in his memory, but the bottom line is there. It seems everything has managed to go on, as developer Io Interactive’s Hitman video game franchise moved on, Olyphant has appeared in several movies and shows since, and Deadwood’s new movie releases soon.
Source: Rolling Stone
