Michael Cudlitz Talks About C. Thomas Howell’s ‘The Walking Dead’ Cameo
Caution: This post may contain spoilers from episode 9×07 of The Walking Dead entitled, “Stradivarious”.
Michael Cudlitz, previously Abraham Ford on The Walking Dead, returned to direct this week’s episode, which introduced more of the Whisperers, and the new group of people are learning to know better.
The episode also included a cameo by C. Thomas Howell. The actor has starred in several series including The Outsiders, Outcast, The Blacklist, The Punisher, Animal Kingdom, Dynasty and more.
When asked how the unexpected cameo came about, director Michael Cudlitz said he fit the part they needed in a pinch.
Tommy’s a buddy of mine. We needed someone who could ride a horse and act. Apparently, it’s a hard thing to find. We had to get him cleared by stunts, we had to get him cleared by the insurance to make sure somebody could ride, so it tends to fall in the purvey of the stunt world. It’s not a common thing to have somebody be able to do those things, as far as gallop and speak.
He went on to explain what happened when he introduced the idea to the producers.
I knew my buddy was in town and half jokingly, I said “Hey, I got somebody who could do it.” Our producer Tom Luse said, “Who?” He said he’ll check with Angela, and that if it all works out, bring him in.
He says Howell was very interested, one on condition.
I said “I’m doing my directorial debut, and I’d love for you to be part of it.” He goes, “Mikey, I got one question for ya. Do i die?” I said “No.” He said “So I could potentially come back some day right?” I said, “Yeah.” He said. “I’m in.”
Cudlitz said he was so far in, he didn’t even need to see a script.
You can check out the full interview with Michael Cudlitz on our Walking Dead Instant Reaction Facebook Live video!
The Walking Dead airs its mid-season finale on Sunday at 9 PM ET on AMC and will return for the second half of season 9 in the new year, and you can catch Michael Cudlitz on The Kids Are Alright on Tuesday nights on ABC.
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