STACK NZ Sep #77

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H aving 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.”

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

T he sixth season of The Walking Dead promised world would get a whole lot

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.”

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

the series’ post-apocalyptic

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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.”

his life, his child’s life, and all the people he loves.” A pivotal moment in season six is the

• The Walking Dead: Season 6 is out on September 21

SEPTEMBER 2016

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