INTERVIEW: Josh McDermitt, Austin Amelio and Tom Payne talk The Walking Dead s7 finale

The Walking Dead‘s seventh season has certainly been a talking point. From a dreary, pessimistic first half to a second half filled with bold adventure and optimism – we’ve gone on a long journey in just twelve episodes.

We sat down with series stars Josh McDermitt, Austin Amelio and Tom Payne to talk about what filming the new season was like, what they can tease for the futures of their characters and what exactly might be in store for the “satisfying” finale.

Season seven of The Walking Dead has been a bit of a change of pace. What has that been like filming?

Josh: Each season brings its own challenges for sure. We have so many people on this show now. It used to be you were in every day, walking through these desolate roads or walking through the woods and doing stuff like it’s 15 hour days and you’re exhausted and it’s every day you’re in. Now we have two or three episodes off and we get to go back to Los Angeles and hang out with our families and stuff like that. It’s been challenging to take so much time off when you’re used to working so much.

Austin: It was a completely different season. You go to set and you’re like ‘Hey, I’ve never met you. You’re on the show, oh great.’

Josh: I think at the same time, because the first half of this season was a little more dark and a little more depressing, it made it a little bit easier because we didn’t have to live in that headspace for so long.

Tom: I think it was a big deal to come in and be a character who made Rick and Daryl look a bit stupid. In the first episode I come in, that was like ‘Woah, what’s happening? This doesn’t happen on this show!’

But [the show] needs that. It absolutely needs the characters to be beaten down to come back up again. There has been a kind of ‘We want Rick to be like this’ but he can’t be like that the whole time because it’s not realistic. We all go through ups and downs in life.

It’s exciting now to be in the last half of the season for everyone to have got together in the midseason finale and the mid season premiere to try and figure out how we can rise up. I think it’s good and I hope the audience enjoys where it goes.

What were your thoughts on the season finale script when you first read it?

Josh: I thought it was a fitting finale, as they say. I was very happy with it and I think the fans will be happy. The fans lack patience sometimes. I think even us as actors lack patience at times. I think that if people stick with it, they will be happy with that finale and excited for what comes next.

Tom: One of the best parts of the show is that we get to read the scripts before anyone else so we get to be like ‘OH WOW, OH WOW, OH WOW’. There’s some great pay off moments where you’re like ‘Wow, that’s really cool! I can’t wait to see that!’ and ‘That’s amazing!’.

Austin: I think they’ll be satisfied, for sure.

What has been the most satisfying moment for you guys?

Austin: I think the last episode that just came out, for me at least [7.11 Hostiles and Calamities], because most of the time I’ve been popping out behind trees –

[Laughter]

Josh: Who’s this creep with the scar on his face?

Austin: – Shooting fan favourites and wearing Daryl’s stuff and torturing him. Poor Norman, man, he’s been such an awesome guy on set. I mean the whole season, he’s just been completely destroyed. It was nice at least for me to have an episode where people can kind of see where I’m coming from, which is like really important for my character and gives an insight into him. So people don’t look at him like ‘Who the f is this dude? Just coming up and shooting people and taking the bike and the vest, what’s his deal?’

How did you feel when you saw the episode?

Austin: It was incredible. It’s a collaboration, and Kari, who directed that episode, was great. It was the first time where we actually got to – at least for me in the television show – where I got to rehearse. Normally, you get the script and you go in and the first take is the first rehearsal. Yeah, it was nice to have that. It was refreshing and I thought it came out really well.

Will we see Dwight and Eugene try to suss each other out in the Sanctuary?

Josh: I don’t know who you can trust in this world… Even Jesus is leading the group around to all these different communities and we feel like we can trust Jesus but there’s this element of is this guy leading us into a trap? You just don’t know.

Dwight and Eugene have a unique history, a very brief unique history, and I think – I love that last scene because I think Eugene misses social cues. There are times where he’s like ‘Oh, great, we’re friends now, we’re on the same team, we’re team Negan’ and Dwight’s sort of like ‘Who is this guy? like I’m trying to figure him out’. It’s completely lost on him that this is the guy whose crotch I bit.

Austin: This new guy – I’ve come up and had to do certain things to get a certain ranking under Negan – and then I walk up the stairs and there’s a guy eating a pickle shouting orders. Shouting orders! What the fuck? I’ve had my face burned, I’ve had to do all these horrid things, and there’s this new guy who’s a huge asset because he’s smart. I think it is going to be a lot of that – that interaction – trying to figure each other out. I don’t know if they’re going to be dancing to ‘Easy Street’ in my room together-

Josh: That might be the finale.

Austin: I think it’s going to be a lot of that. You can’t just right off the bat trust this guy.

INTERVIEW: Norman Reedus, Greg Nicotero and Christian Serratos talk The Walking Dead s7

The Walking Dead‘s seventh season has been a whirlwind of emotion, none more so for Daryl, who was tortured by the Saviours for the entirety of the first half, and Rosita, who is seeking revenge after the brutal murder of former partner Abraham.

We sat down with series stars Norman Reedus and Christian Serratos as well as executive producer and special effects guru Greg Nicotero to talk about the unstoppable seventh season, diverging from the Walking Dead Comics and the show’s enthusiastic fanbase.

The show has moved further away from the comics this season than ever before. How far do you think the two mediums can continue to diverge and does it excite you?

Greg: I’ve worked with a lot of exciting writers many times. Robert has said there’s a lot of things that Scott Gimple and the writers have brought to the show that he hadn’t thought of, and if he had thought of it, it would’ve been in the show! We had this opportunity to create this sort of hybrid of what the comic book can be and what the writers can add their salt and pepper to. To me, it’s the best of both words, because you have great source material and then you have opportunities – Daryl wasn’t in the comic books.

Norman: There’s an article – I can’t remember where it was – but the title was ‘The Walking Dead has a Daryl Dixon problem’ and I was like, ‘oh god, I don’t want to read this’. And it was a positive spin. The headline made it sound bad, but the whole thing was about Robert and how much he liked that character and he welcomed the opportunity to say ‘how is this person going to affect my comic book?’. I was so relieved. It would be boring for us to just do the comic book, and if we’re bored, you’re bored.

We saw Daryl and Carol have a really emotional reunion, but he did lie about what really happened with Negan. If or when she finds out, how will that impact their friendship?

Norman: I thought about this. I think she’s going to go ‘man, I knew you were lying.’ I think she knows him so well that she’s going to be like ‘I just let you lie’, but I don’t think she would hold it against him. She would know the reasons why he didn’t tell her.

What was it like working with Melissa McBride again? We haven’t seen a scene between Daryl and Carol for a while.

Norman: Right? It’s been forever. It was great. It was one of those days where we were both really excited to do the work. We did a rehearsal and we both burst into tears. I think everyone on set was crying that day. We have such a rapport, she and I. There’s a lot of Norman in those scenes and a lot of Melissa in those scenes. She’s like one of my best friends. Every time an episode comes on, we’re texting throughout the whole thing to each other.

Christian, how did you feel about Rosita’s transition in season seven?

Christian: I was so excited about it, because we’re seeing a different side of her and we’re seeing what trauma will do to her. That’s what I love about the show – the individuals and the people and the stories and what they go through and how it affects them. That’s sometimes in a way that the fans like and sometimes in a way the fans aren’t used to. They’re not used to seeing her really be as outspoken as she’d been and it’s a little sharp. She’s being a little sharp. That’s something that can happen to an individual, even us in real life – we can all be pleasant one moment but we go through something traumatic and that could easily push us over the edge. That’s what we’re seeing and that’s why we’re fascinated by it and why we’re excited to play it.

We saw a bit of tension between her and Sasha too. Will there be a confrontation?

Christian: Yeah, that’s a possibility, seeing this volcano explode. We’re seeing the tension. I think that’s interesting – we’ll see what it builds to. I love working with Sonequa. When we worked together in the first episode this season, you saw us kind of share a common understanding – you couldn’t quite figure out what it was but there was something there and that was really exciting to do with someone like Sonequa because we feel so comfortable with each other that we can let it all hang out and give the best possible performance. And now, getting to battle each other a little bit is even more fun for us because we’re so close.

Obviously you have an amazing fanbase, and I know you love your fans, but have you ever felt overwhelmed by it? Have you ever had anything happen with a fan that’s a bit too wild?

[Everyone laughs]

Norman: How long do you have?

Christian: Of course it can get overwhelming at times, but that’s based on love. That’s just because they love what we’re doing and thankfully we’ve made them proud. That’s what we keep striving to do, keep giving them bigger, badder episodes, keeping them on the edge of their seats, keeping them happy because that’s what really drives this show and those comic books.

Norman: It’s insane. I think maybe we have different people following different people, I don’t know. I get the ‘give love back’ part, but sometimes it’s a little overwhelming, I’ll admit. It gets to a point where it’s crazy. Most of the time – 90% of the time it’s great – but it gets creepy at times. Real creepy.

Christian: Especially for the guys, I feel like there’s this superhero aspect to the men on this show.

Norman: [Joking] I get that a lot.

Christian: Seriously! [Laughs] I can imagine that it’s pretty difficult.

INTERVIEW: Ross Marquand, Seth Gilliam and Alanna Masterson talk The Walking Dead s7

The Walking Dead‘s seventh season has been a rollercoaster so far, with Negan going on a killing spree, Rick losing and rediscovering his mojo and our many adventures outside of Alexandria.

We sat down with series stars Ross Marquand, Seth Gilliam and Alanna Masterson to chat how they’ve found the new season, the criticism surrounding the first half of the season and exactly how amazing the s7 finale is going to be.

Season seven has been a rollercoaster. What has this season been like for you guys filming?

Ross: I think the emotional severity of this season, for the first half, is what set it apart from other seasons. We’re just seeing this group beaten down over and over again by Negan and the Saviours and I think what we’re going to find in 7B is the straw that broke the camel’s back for most people has occurred. People are finally realising you can’t appease these men anymore. The only thing to do now is fight back. It’s just a matter of deciding what’s the best way to do that.

Seth: I personally was very excited by it. I liked the idea of the heroes being beaten down to the point of nonexistence and trying to rediscover their inner fire. I think this season has been great for that.

Strangely enough, the Saviours may have been one of the better thing’s that’s happened for [Father Gabriel]. It’s given him the opportunity to prove that he has some kind of worth to this group, that he can act quickly on his feet, that he can be a steadfast in his convictions and that he can be of service. To me, it’s been really exciting.

We don’t get to see the episodes before they air so we’re watching them at the same time everybody else is, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what else is coming. We know what we put in the can, but we have no idea what it looks like.

Alanna: On this show we get fans saying ‘THIS IS SO STUPID, YOU COULD HAVE KILLED NEGAN RIGHT THERE IN ALEXANDRIA’ and you’re like ‘cool, what would the show be…?’. It would be the most anticlimactic show in the world.

I think it’s actually really great. We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to handle this dude and these people and I think it’s good to give a real motivation and get everyone together on the same page to really see that.

Even you take out Negan, there’s outpost after outpost after outpost, what we think could be thousands and thousands of people – we have no idea. We thought we took out all of them in season six. We just don’t know the scope of it. Now we need an army. That’s what we’re looking for.

Seth: What’s interesting is that we can feel that we’re the good guys, because obviously we’re the characters that people have been following. But when you look at it, we really did just burst into the outpost and kill a bunch of sleeping people and take their stuff.

Alanna: That’s how you do it! You don’t face them while they’re alive! That’s just suicide.

That’s an interesting point. We follow these guys and we see them as the good guys because we understand their point of view, but they have done some terrible things. Are they just as much the bad guys?

Alanna: I think that in this type of world – obviously I’m not living in it actually, but if I were to – my justification would be what’s the greatest good for the greatest number of people? Is it to kill five people that would potentially kill five hundred? I think that’s why it’s justifiable, because we’re trying to do the right thing. We’re also trying to protect good people and the people who can’t fight and the people who don’t know how to fight – the Judiths of the world. If it happened right now, you would do whatever it took to protect the goodness and the people you love.

Seth: I think the key difference between Negan’s Saviours and Rick and the survivors is that the Saviours engage in a level of cruelty that the survivors don’t.

Alanna: They’re not bribing people. They’re not making people work for them.

Seth: [They’re not] looking to take over camp after camp and looking to expand their horizons in the empire. I think, in a lawless post-apocalyptic society, it comes down to the questions of what is humanity to you and are you actively doing what you can to survive or are you trying to take as much life so that you can survive as possible? It seems to be that the Saviours engage in a level of cruelty that the survivors don’t and that slight difference makes the difference between a good guy and a bad guy.

All of your characters are very loyal to Rick. Is there anything you think in the future that could make them go over to the dark side?

Ross: I think that in the last episode we see Aaron and Eric deciding whether this course of action was really the best one. Both of them have seen most of the Alexandrians that were in the group when Rick arrived wiped out and I think Eric is finally starting to draw a correlation there. It hasn’t worked out the way we hoped. He just wants to know – moving forward – if we are going to fight against them, do we have certain assurances that most of us are going to come out on the other side of this unscathed? There are no assurances, obviously.

I think with Rick, he’s always trying to do right by everybody, but I think for Eric it just seems like a suicide mission. For a lot of the Alexandrian survivors in Rick’s group, they’re deciding if they even have a fighting chance at all with limited resources and limited munitions. It’s tough to say.

Everyone wants to believe in Rick. Everyone wants to believe that he’s the leader that they hoped he would be, but once you implement their plans, will it work out? Because in the past, it hasn’t always worked out the best for him.

We saw Father Gabriel have a moment where he stepped up a few episodes ago and showed his bravery. What does this mean going forward for his character? He’s finally earned Rick’s respect.

Seth: I think Father Gabriel was ready for that moment from the very first episode and Rick wasn’t ready to recognise that. I think Father Gabriel is like a car just revving at the light, waiting for it to turn green, and finally the other people have been given the opportunity to see he’s ready to go. Father’s Gabriel’s like ‘I’m ready coach, put me in, I’m ready!’ and the coach is just looking past him down the bench to some guy who’s in a deep slump. That’s a baseball analogy. I don’t know if that’ll fly here.

Alanna: [Whispers] They don’t have baseball here.

Seth: Cricket? Rounders? I think Father Gabriel has been ready for a while, and I’m excited as an actor that the storyline has gotten around to the point where he can finally prove it.

Although there’s been some criticism of the pacing of this season, I really think it could be the shaping up to be the best season ever.

Ross: I’m glad you say that. I think it was. It was this rollercoaster of getting to know who the Saviours were, getting to know who Negan is and why he acts the way he does. I think we find out every season we can’t appease everybody, but when it gets too action heavy people are like ‘we want to see more character development’, when we do character development they say ‘we want more action!’

Alanna: As frustrating as [the pacing] can be for some viewers, it’s subconsciously filling this world up and making it really big so when you do start to lose even a person say that doesn’t have as many lines and maybe isn’t in every single episode and you’re like ‘oh man, I really liked that guy’.

I think for all of us when we read the finale, we were like ‘OH MY – THIS IS AMAZING’. It really blew me away. I was really excited and it was super fun to shoot. I think if it hadn’t taken fifteen episodes really setting it up, the payoff wouldn’t have been… it would have been ‘oh cool, yeah’… but now we’re really on board. I think it’s really good.

Seth: I think societally we’ve grown far more impatient with each day. Instant gratification, instant information – having everything at our fingertips. I think it’s a good thing to remind people what storytelling is all about. It’s not about having the answers the moment a question is asked. Let’s give it some thought and see what the best answer is.