Walton Goggins responds to fans comparing him to the Grinch

Walton Goggins has addressed the wave of fans comparing his appearance to that of the Grinch.

The actor reached a new level of mainstream recognition this year after starring in the third season of HBO's The White Lotus.

But as his fame grew, Goggins found himself the subject of playful comparisons to Dr Seuss's green Christmas-hating character.

He recently leaned into the joke, taking on the role of the Grinch in Walmart's Who Knew? holiday campaign, set in the festive world of WhoKnewVille.

Speaking to People, The Righteous Gemstones star said he "laughed it off" when "over the course of the last year of my life, and some articles that have come out or some pictures that were taken, a number of people said, 'Walton Goggins as the Grinch?'"

Goggins admitted he has since begun to embrace the comparisons.

"You can never really know until you step into those shoes, I suppose, into those green furry shoes, and really look at yourself," he quipped. "I thought, 'You know what? Okay, I do kind of look like the Grinch.'"

In Walmart's reimagining of the classic tale, Mindy Lou Who teams up with the Grinch to deliver deals to the residents of WhoKnewVille.

The actor confessed he was initially nervous about portraying "one of the most iconic characters in literature".

"My laughter immediately went to an extraordinary amount of anxiety," he told the outlet. "'Oh, my God, how can I? How do I pull this off?' But we did, and I had the time of my life."

Reflecting on how he found his version of the character, Goggins noted that everything clicked once the make-up team applied a prosthetic nose.

"As soon as they put that on, I knew exactly who my Grinch was," he explained.