For the past six seasons, The Shield's Walton Goggins has been a part of one of the most popular and explosive cable shows of the past decade. Now, with the The Shield about to come to an end after the seventh season, dubbed "The Final Act", Goggins is looking ahead to a future beyond TV. Leading up the Season 7 premiere of The Shield on September 2 on FX, we found Goggins at the other end of a conference call where we picked his brain on the fate of his character, what it's like to be directed by Michael Chiklis, and what he has planned for the future, which includes a recently sold pilot, but no foreseeable cop roles on the immediate horizon.

THE DEADBOLT: How do you think Shane’s going to turn out at the end? Is he going to get taken out by the Armenian mob, or Vic?

WALTON GOGGINS: You know, I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you this - we have been, both Michael and I, and Kenny, for that matter, have been talking about the possible ending of this show since episode two. I can assure you of that, and everything, every year that we have imagined, does not happen in the ending of this show.

It far exceeded anything that we could have thought up ourselves. Regardless of what happens at the ending of this show, I think for the fans of this show, the audience of this show, they want to know will the guys ultimately reap what they’ve sown? I guess there are varying opinions of what that penalty should be.

For me, in my opinion, yes, I think that these guys get their comeuppance, for sure. It’s riveting, man. It really is something so far outside of my own imagination. I’ve been thinking about this for seven years, and I think that Shawn honored the audience’s commitment to seven years of watching this show. I think that he ended it the way that he began it, from the heart and from a place of passion. I’m excited for you guys to see it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I hope not.

THE DEADBOLT: Michael’s directing the fifth episode of the seventh season and you guys have such good chemistry on screen. What’s it like to be directed by him?

GOGGINS: You know, he directed my second biggest scene, I guess. On season six he directed episode five. Having worked on camera with him for so long, I trust him. I know how talented an actor he is. I trust his instincts and his visual instincts as well, just the blocking of a scene, and what makes sense from a directorial standpoint. It was a pleasure. I think that Michael is actually going to have a very long directing career. I think that that transition for him, if he chooses to do it, will be seamless; I really do.

THE DEADBOLT: I’m sure you are going to probably miss Shane when this thing is finally over. Are you looking to go back into another procedural cop series or do you want to do something different, like maybe medicine or something?

GOGGINS: It’s a great question, man. Television is a great gig. It’s a great gig from a security standpoint and from getting to exercise your muscle every day. Honestly, it’s the repetition. It’s getting in front of that camera and exercising your muscle every day that is your ability to tell stories. That’s such an honor to be able to do that, to be given that opportunity.

That being said, I don’t want to play a police officer anymore. I played one, and I want to honor Shane Vendrell by not doing that again for a while, anyway. Going back into television, I’ve really thought about it. I’ve read some stuff, and had some meetings with people on different shows, and my partner and I, we have a production company, and my partner wrote a pilot for me to star in. We just sold it actually.

I can’t really give out any more information than that. There will be a release here pretty soon. This is a character that I would; it’s the role of a lifetime, as Shane Vendrell was the role of a lifetime. If we’re given the opportunity to tell this story, it’ll be two characters back to back that will be watershed moments in my life. We’ll see.

I don’t know what the future holds, man. I know Spike Lee’s movie’s coming out soon; and we just did another movie ourselves, we produced another movie for a filmmaker. We’ve got Hal Holbrook and a slew of really good actors in it, and I like being on that side of the camera. I want to start directing. I don’t know what the future holds.

Conference Call Highlights:

Walton Goggins on whether Shane is the type of person he'd hang out with:

"I think any actor that has spent seven years with a character feels protective of that character. Is it somebody that I would hang out with? Me, Walton, hang out with. No. The answer to that question would be no, I wouldn’t. How I feel about him?

"It was really sad the last day of filming. Not just because the show was ending. Not just because I’m not going to get an opportunity to see all these people every day. I still see the actors and talk to the writers quite a bit and the crew quite a bit. But, I’ll never get to play Shane Vendrell again. For me, it almost broke my heart when that happened because I love him very much, not from a friend standpoint. I just want to hug him. I just want to go up to him and just kind of hug him and whisper in his ear, 'Buddy, you’re okay. You’ll be okay. If you can start from here and try to live your life differently, you’ll be okay.' There has been this kind of father-son figure relationship between myself as Walton and Shane. That answers your question. It’s true. It’s honest."

On the strong focus on his character this season:

"I do believe that this is a true ensemble, for sure, and we have a deep bench. You could throw the ball to any one of these players. God knows, to be involved with the show is enough, and then to be thrown that ball in the fourth quarter is a big deal in the second half, man.

"I think what you guys are going to see, and there are many threads in this story, but the thread of this friendship between Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell and the disintegration of that friendship and what it has done to these two men that were inexorably tied to the original sin of the this show; and that has been there from the beginning. I think that’s one thing that you’re going to get to see from episode nine going forward. To be in the center of that storm, what greater honor could a person have? Honestly, I just believe in this show so much, and I’m very thankful and humbled by this opportunity - full of gratitude, honestly."

Walton Goggins on Laurie Holden and what she brings to the show:

"She is a beautiful woman, a very talented actor, which is always a good thing around a show that is full of testosterone. I’m sure CCH and Catherine Dent would appreciate the help. Yes, she comes in, and I didn’t have a lot to do with her. Most of her stuff is with Michael. She just brings her integrity as an actor and her storyline is one that is an integral part of this last season, and what plays out with Erin Molus and Vic Mackey. She is a big, big part; and it was a coup to get her."