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Creator Robert Kirkman agrees,
citing the actor’s performance as
crucial to Negan’s instant impact.
“The way Jeffrey Dean
Morgan portrays him is warm and
engaging, while threatening and
terrifying. You aren’t necessarily
into his actions, but his character
is going to be very well loved,
despite what he does.”
T he sixth season of The
Walking Dead promised
the series’ post-apocalyptic
world would get a whole lot
bigger – and it does. Alexandria
is under threat from both the
walkers and the Wolves; another
enclave of survivors, the Saviors,
is lurking on the sidelines; Morgan
returns with a backstory episode
that fills in where he’s been;
and the group faces the horrific
consequences of their actions in
that infamous cliffhanger.
“The thing that drew me
to this show, and what’s still
being done beautifully in terms
of the narrative arc, is that it’s
an exploration of a war zone in so
many ways,” says Danai Gurira,
who plays Michonne. “It’s
really hard to have simplistic
morals and standards when
you’re dealing with a world
that’s this hostile.”
Rick, in particular, has a
lot to deal with this season.
“It’s not a good space for
Rick,” says Andrew Lincoln
of the stalwart leader’s
position. “Everything that
he’s fought for, shed blood
for, lost family for, has
been irrevocably changed.
I think that he’s powerless
for the first time since
he woke up from the
apocalypse. He’s in fear of
his life, his child’s life,
and all the people he
loves.”
A pivotal moment
in season six is the
introduction of Negan – the
ruthless leader of the Saviors,
whose weapon of choice is a
barbed wire wrapped baseball bat
named Lucille.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan says he
relished the opportunity to play
this fan-favourite character from
the comics, who made his debut
in issue 100 and is poised to top
the Governor as the series’ primo
villain.
“To play that role is kind of a
dream come true for me. It’s a
blast! It’s the most fun I’ve ever
had in my life, and horrible for
everyone else. The introduction of
Negan is hard, and I think it was
hard for us as actors. I felt like,
‘they might not like me’ – and
they don’t, as it turns out,” he
laughs.
Dean Morgan adds that Negan
walks the show’s blurred line
between who’s the hero and
who’s the villain, explaining that
it’s all a matter of perspective.
“From Negan’s perspective
he’s not a bad guy. I think what’s
different about him is kind of this
charisma and sense of humour
that he has, even though there is a
sense that he could kill you at any
given moment. There’s something
about him that will draw you
in – even if you hate him, he’ll
make you smile occasionally. He’s
different from any character I’ve
seen on the screen.”
TheWalking Dead is one of the most watched shows in the
world, with audience numbers growing like the zombie horde
threatening Rick Grimes and his band of survivors.The season
six mid–season finale broke ratings records with 14 million US
viewers tuning in, and the second half climaxed with one of the
greatest cliffhangers inTV history. Words: Scott Hocking
•The
Walking Dead:
Season 6
is out on
September 21
Having served as an assistant
to makeup master Tom
Savini on George A. Romero’s
zombie classic Day of the Dead
(1985), Greg Nicotero knows a
thing or two about bringing the
dead to ghoulish life.
He’s also a partner
in the award-
winning KNB EFX
Group (with Howard
Berger and Robert
Kurtzman), whose
experience in makeup
effects design spans almost
three decades and over 400 film
and television credits.
So who better to supervise
the plentiful zombie and gore
effects required by The Walking
Dead? Nicotero is also one
of the executive producers of
the show and has directed 15
episodes, including the season
six finale.
He says the average walker
makeup takes about an hour
and forty-five minutes to create.
“The writers come up with
great gags, and we collectively
continue to keep coming up
with stuff that we haven’t seen
before.
“We never do gore for the
sake of gore,” he adds. “It
always filters into the story.”