Fan Fest News

News for Fans, By Fans!

This Nearly Caused Jeffrey Dean Morgan to Quit ‘The Walking Dead’ This Past Year

Fans of The Walking Dead were caught off guard in March when it was announced that there would be a new spin-off, featuring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan as Negan and Maggie, although the show’s actual cast and crew were just as surprised too!

“We didn’t know the exact timing of the release of information,” says Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang to EW, who was hoping for a little more mystery when it came to two characters’ fates for the final run of episodes beginning Oct. 2 on AMC. “I assumed that wasn’t going to be announced. So it does change the way certain things are going to play in the season compared to how we thought they would play.”

This Nearly Caused Jeffrey Dean Morgan to Quit 'The Walking Dead' This Past Year

“We were a little surprised,” executive producer and finale director Greg Nicotero reveals of the early announcement. “Because we thought, ‘Well, that could mean that certain characters are going to live, and now there’s a little bit less jeopardy involved knowing that. I think even Jeffrey was a little like, ‘Well, okay, I guess the cat’s out of the bag and we don’t have to worry about anything happening to Negan or Maggie because they’ve already announced a spin-off.'”

Six months later, Morgan remains disappointed in the early reveal.”That’s not the way we should have gone about it,” says the actor when talking to EW in its Walking Dead Fall TV Preview cover story. “But this is how it was chosen to play out. And who knows? Maybe we couldn’t have kept the secret. But it seems to me we could have given it a shot. I would’ve tried to go about it in a different way, but look, that’s above my pay grade.”

What was even more surprising to the guy who played Negan was the fact that he wanted to be on the show in the first place, as shocking as it may have been.. “If you had told me that a year ago that I would be doing it, I would’ve said, ‘There’s no way. I’m going to end this and walk away.'” says Morgan. “The new adventure awaits doing something else.'”

So what changed? The actor pauses and considers: “I think that The Walking Dead ending and walking away from it would’ve been a noble thing for us all to do. But the story was so good and so worth telling that it simply came down to, I couldn’t say no. And I felt invigorated and wanted to continue it.”

First Images of 'The Walking Dead's Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan in New Show, 'Isle of the Dead'
AMC

The Walking Dead: Dead City is a new series that will be set in New York City. AMC president Dan McDermott says it will continue the story from the original series:”Negan and Maggie’s journey onto the isle of Manhattan, where the bridges and tunnels were blown up at the onset of the pandemic, because the walker herd had just overrun the island and it’s been left that way for 12 years. And so now it’s a two million walker strong herd that is dominating the streets and making it treacherous and dangerous.”

Filming for the series started in New Jersey in July. This was around the same time that the other cast members of The Walking Dead were celebrating the end of the original show at Comic-Con in San Diego. Even though Morgan plays a familiar character, he has felt separated from the rest of the cast. “Lauren and I are deep into this now. And we look around, and we’re looking for our castmates. We’re looking for their chairs. We’re looking for the people we know, because as familiar as it all is, it is also very different. You look behind video village and It’s not any of the same faces that you’ve known forever. We’re actively looking for our castmates, and they’re not there. It’s weird.”

The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Shares Set Photo from Last Day on Set
AMC/Gene Page

Morgan has noticed that there is a big difference between the old show and the new one. The old show had a main cast of over 20 people. That meant that everyone could take time off so their story could be told. But on the new show, Dead City, there is a lot more work because there are more recurring characters.

“The two of us are on set 24-7 every day,” says Morgan. “And that’s also odd. We’ve had such a big cast for so long. You work three days an episode and then you’re working on the next one. And now I’m struggling to stay f—ing five seconds ahead of what we’re doing tomorrow!”

But, alas, some things never change. “Negan’s back to f—ing chatting up a storm,” notes the actor about what we can expect from his character on the new show. “So it’s been fun and it’s very familiar, and yet it’s different and it’s new. What’s really great is that Lauren and I are together, and that [showrunner Eli Jorné] wrote these stories that I think are f—ing outstanding. Trust me, I would not have continued this role otherwise.”

Judging by the frenzy around filming in the Garden State, it would seem that many people are excited about the new take on the old character.”There’s been 200 people out to watch us film, which reminds me very much of how it was when I first got on The Walking Dead,” Morgan says. “It was that kind of excitement and fan mania. And so to have that again, it’s super cool.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *