“Justified’s” Joelle Carter: “If I have to kill to feed my baby, I’m going to do it”

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:20:00 +0000

"Justified's" anti-heroine Ava Crowder, played by Joelle Carter, has been breaking bad since the series' second season. An abused wife who shot her husband in self-defense, she's since fallen in love with her brother-in-law, the charismatic criminal Boyd (Walton Goggins). When Boyd moved into her house, she swore she would kick him out if he broke the law. Now she's helping him run his business. She made him promise not to run whores when they first got together — now she's a madam, who last season punched one particular prostitute, Ellen May, in the face. Last night, Ava decided that Ellen May knew too much and couldn't be trusted to keep her mouth shut. She and Boyd ordered that Ellen May be killed. Ellen May escaped, but Ava took one more step down a dark road. I spoke with Joelle Carter about the character, her motivations, and whether she's still on the side of good.

What do you make of Ava’s arc at this point, and her decision to have Ellen May killed?

“Justified’s” anti-heroine

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:36:00 +0000

When “Justified” began, Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter) was a leggy blonde with a Southern accent and a flirtatious manner who has recently shot and killed her abusive husband over the dinner table. In the three seasons since, Ava, like her lover and brother-in-law Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), has flip-flopped on various ethical issues, sliding deeper and deeper into criminality. I’m really fascinated by Ava’s transformation, not because I’ve never seen it before, but because I’ve rarely seen it in a female character: Ava’s arc is usually reserved for male anti-heroes, and I wish “Justified” would make more of her.

Despite the husband slaying, Ava began the series as generally law-abiding, if quick to pull the trigger on her shotgun. When Boyd first started staying with her, it was under the condition that he obey the law (and consume no alcohol). When Ava and Boyd got together, she accepted him, his criminal tendencies, and the huge swastika tattoo on his bicep, on the condition that he do whatever shadiness he liked, except run whores. Then she shot and killed a pimp terrorizing a space-cadet prostitute named Ella Mae, and decided she would become a madam herself. On last night’s “Justified,” the second episode of the fourth season, Ella Mae tried to quit whoring to spend time with Jesus. Ava wasn’t having it. “I saved your soul, remember? Not God or Jesus Christ, me and my shotgun,” Ava bullied. “You’re a whore, Ella Mae … There ain’t no salvation for people like us. You’ll be back at work tonight … we clear?”

Salon.com > joelle carter

“Justified’s” Joelle Carter: “If I have to kill to feed my baby, I’m going to do it”

“Justified’s” anti-heroine