With one king-sized exception, the first half of The Walking Dead season seven was violently depressing at best, and a morbid slog at worst. Even the show’s cast seems to think so. Norman Reedus is ready to put down the dog food sandwiches and “go kill everybody,” while Andrew Lincoln promises the season’s back-half is “probably the opposite of what you just witnessed.” He continued, “It’s the thrill of the fight again. [Rick’s] back in. All I’m saying is that the band is back together.” The band — including longtime members Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Michonne, and Carl — reunited in the midseason finale, but two main characters are still separated from the rest of the group.
And one of them doesn’t sound too happy about it.
When asked by NME what it was like to only appear in two out of eight episodes so far this season, actor Lennie James, who plays stick-wielding pacifist Morgan, replied, “Horrible, just horrible – I swear to God, horrible.” He laughed, then added, “But it was the same for everybody. Everyone’s had more time off this season than they’ve ever had, but it’s horrible. I hated it, and I complained about it – and I’m not a complainer – every day, like: ‘How you doing Lennie?’ I hate it! ‘You want tea or coffee?’ I hate it! It was horrible, because you just didn’t see anybody. And because we filmed The Kingdom in a completely different area to where they were filming Alexandria, the Hilltop, or the Saviors, it meant that no one was close to each other.”
We’ve all been there: one week, you’re at home doing nothing while your co-stars are getting their heads smashed in with baseball bats; the next, you’re hanging out with a CGI tiger. You don’t meet Negan, they don’t pet a fake cat.
“If you speak to anyone from The Walking Dead cast, then you know that everyone just gets on, and that you want to hang out and be around one other,” James said. “But they were filming stupid hours, and because you have so much time off – there was one point where I had three episodes off… I would leave town, as everyone else did. I hated it. I said to [showrunner Scott Gimple]: ‘I see what you’re doing, I respect what you’re doing, but don’t ever do this to me again because I hate it.’ I just didn’t see people.”
If the second half of Walking Dead seven season — which premieres February 12 — has more Carol and Daryl moments, you have might have Lennie James to thank.
(Via NME)
