‘The Walking Dead’s Khary Payton on Carol Burning The Saviors: “You don’t mess with my woman.”
Published on December 11th, 2018 | Updated on December 11th, 2018 | By FanFest
The final Walker Stalker Convention of 2018 took place over the weekend in Edison, New Jersey, and cast members, both past and present, from AMC’s The Walking Dead were in attendance to meet and mingle with fans.
On Sunday, King Ezekiel and his right-hand man Jerry, Khary Payton, and Cooper Andrews took to the stage for their panel. Here are some highlights from their fan Q&A.
The panel kicked off with a question about Jerry’s impressive ax-wielding skills, which fans got a glimpse of this past season. Cooper told the crowd that the ax he used to film that scene was very much real and that he only uses one specific ax even though there are multiple props for him to use. He said:
“There are multiple axes on the show and I only use the one. It’s made of wood and metal. You’ll find those things on other axes. It was their first time making that ax and it was so heavy. When I was swinging on that gate, that was real. When I chopped a dude in half, that was fake.”
The crowd wanted to know what the most intense and difficult moment was for Khary and Cooper to film from The Walking Dead. Cooper’s response had to deal with physical difficulty while Khary’s answer was more about emotional trauma. They said:
Cooper: “Every scene in that I had to do something physically painful. Mainly carrying him.” (pointing to Khary)
Khary: “He did all the work. I did nothing. I just hung there like dead weight and he was carrying me all over Atlanta, but in that episode where Shiva died, that was the most intense.”
The death of Shiva was difficult for the fans as well. The New Jersey crowd asked Khary what animal he would want to replace Shiva next if he could have any animal in the world. His response was definitely that of a King’s. He said:
“I really want an elephant. I think the perfect apocalypse animal is an elephant. It’s got a nice, thick skin. I’ll sit up nice and high. It has a trunk that can get things for me. Yeah, I want an elephant.”
The crowd then shifted gears to the current ninth season of The Walking Dead, and one fan asked Khary what he thought about the way Carol (played by Melissa McBride) burned down the group of estranged saviors. He answered:
“You know she got fired up. What can I say? You don’t mess with my woman.”
Lastly, a fan asked Khary his thoughts about King Ezekiel’s relationship with Carol and how it differs from the source comic book material. In the comics, Ezekiel is romantically involved with Michonne, not Carol, which could make for a drastic difference in his storyline. Khary had the perfect response. He said:
“I just think it’s cool that you can have two of the most powerful and strong women ever to grace the television screen on this show.”
We’ll get to see more of King Ezekiel’s relationship with his new Queen Carol when The Walking Dead returns on February 10th at 9 PM EST on AMC.
A karaoke obsessed, craft beer enthusiast and lover of all things pop culture, Denise enjoys all facets of entertainment from Broadway to box office blockbusters. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, concerts (lots and lots of concerts), volunteering, reading and playing with her rescue kitten, Samantha (who rescued who, right?).
