Actor Timothy Olyphant has said that he had to pay the mortgage on his new house which is why he said yes to playing the bad guy in "Live Free or Die Hard" and an expert assassin in critically-panned "Hitman".

The actor told Rolling Stone that when his popular Western show "Deadwood" was cancelled by HBO in 2006, he had just bought a new house and he suddenly found himself jobless.

But despite the setback, Olyphant said he chose to be the "glass-half-full type" of a person.

"... I said to myself, 'Well, thank God I didn't know they were going to cancel the show. I would never have bought this house.' And let me put this under the list of why these people owe me. What we have to thank for this is the villain in 'Die Hard' and a f***ing bald head in Bulgaria shooting 'Hitman'," the actor said.

Olyphant said when his manager called him about potential acting gigs for him, he agreed to everything.

"That's what that phone call led to. 'How about the villain of Die Hard?' I said, 'Sure.' And they're like, 'Do you want to read the script?' I said, 'I get it. I'm in. I just bought a house. Did you not hear? They just cancelled my f***ing show. Yes, I'll do it.' 'What about this video game adaptation?' 'Yes to that too. I'm in. I've got to make up some TV money'," he added.

The 51-year-old actor, who reprises his "Deadwood" role of Seth Bullock in HBO's upcoming TV movie, said he considers all these experiences "valuable".

"Oddly enough, those kinds of experiences, perhaps arguably more valuable than these. You know? Find yourself bald in Bulgaria doing some pile of s**t, that will get you up a little earlier in the morning and make you work a little harder," the actor added.

"Deadwood: The Movie" premieres on HBO on May 31 in the US.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)