SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Sundays What Comes After episode ofThe Walking Dead.
And his story will live on as well.
Read through both pages of the interview to get the entire scoop.
Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
(Also verify to read our episode & movie interviews withEP Scott M. Gimpleandshowrunner Angela Kang.)
That was one of the great joys.
And then the idea of the bridge, the metaphor for the bridge.
Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
I thought that was really smart.
And it was a brilliant and beautiful way to finish my tenure on the show.
I find that fascinating that you said you were cautious and maybe a little concerned about those hallucinations.
Andrew Lincoln on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
Why is that?I think because I dont necessarily like repeating.
I thought we did it so beautifully for Tyreese in his episode.
I really enjoyed it.
Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
I thought it was so elegantly done when Chad.
Of course, I loved the idea of Scott Wilson, Jon, and Sonequa returning.
I thought as long as it earned its keep.
I dont want it to be a callback to the first episode unless it really yields something.
And fortunately, it did.
And I realized halfway through, I went, ItsThe Wizard of Oz!
Were shootingThe Wizard of Oz!
Hershels the courage, Bernthals the heart, and Sonequas the wisdom of when you have the peace.
And Michonne is home.
And its that whole thing of being whisked away into the helicopter, and spinning away in the house.
I said, Were inThe Wizard of Oz!
And everybody was like, Oh, yeah.
Thats what Im saying anyway.
It all made sense with me.
I loved the full circle aspect of it.
I mean, just going onto that set and seeing the hospital set gave me goosebumps.
He made me look like a clown on my last day.
Just like the way we began it.
We sort of finished the way we began it really, and that was incredibly satisfying.
It was like no time had lapsed in an eternity.
Hes my brother, man.
He set the tone.
I came to America to work with people like Sonequa, and Scott, and Jon Bernthal.
And so I walked away happy, which is a rare signal.
I would imagine its like doing one of those crazy ski jumps.
You have to lean into the jump.
Your body is screaming, Dont lean towards the slope, and I think its the same with that.
Man, dont f with me with this blue screen!
Or theres going to be a boulder rolling behind me.
I said, Im trying to do some real stuff here, but dont put dragons behind me!
Its fun, though.
The crew were amazing.
Youve got to keep a little bit as a conjuring trick.
Im a bit of a Magic Circle aficionado.
You have to keep a little bit hidden, and then it makes the magic all the more real.
(Interview continues on next page.)
When did this idea of transferring Ricks stories over to the movies first happen?
And then that became season 9.
And I dont know, it couldve been Scott, it couldve been me, it couldve been anybody…. And I suppose it was borne out of the idea that Ive always been fascinated by the bigger picture.
And I suppose I just threw it out there to [Walking Deadchief content officer Scott Gimple].
I said, What do you think about doing a film?
A two-hour contained story, a continuation.
And he described it as where our show is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern the grown-up show isHamlet.
And Ive always thought: Why dont we look at whats happening?
When we meet people, and What happened to you?
Whats been going on?
Its not the way that Ive done the show.
So I said, Well, what about if we did something like this?
And it was very late.
It was last year, and then it came in right towards the end of the year.
They just said, Lets do it.
Wow, so this was really late in the process.Im really excited about it.
Its also creatively very scary for many reasons, but I instantly loved the idea.
Its almost akin to the movieUnforgiven.
If youve seen the beginning: Theres a pig farm, and he falls over in the stall.
Hes chasing pigs, and you go, Wait a minute.
This is a gunslinger.
The most bad-ass gunslinger ever, and hes covered in excrement.
But you know what hes capable of because hes Clint Eastwood.
Youve seen his other movies, and him being A Man With No Name.
I thought that thats quite an interesting starting point.
And it was new.
It was a new idea.
How much have you and Scott talked about the exact story and arc of these movies coming up?
And were going to have to have it soon because obviously I believe were going into production next year.
Theres something that Ive really wanted to do, and I wanted to complete the story.
Its very difficult to want to complete something in a show that doesnt want to be completed.
That was the feeling that weve always had, so I didnt want to affect that, really.
And so its not the beginning of the end, its the end of the beginning, really.
Thats what it feels like.
It was a dance where I said, This is my last year in the TV show.
I was trying to use semantics to sort of not quite rule out the potential of this happening.
By the way, did you get to meet the new Judith [Cailey Fleming]?I did!
She came in for hair and makeup, and we had this extraordinary sort of meeting.
Shes a far better actor than youll ever be!
[Laughs] So I think theyre doing fine.
I mean, that had to have been the hardest part.
And many of them are on the other side of the camera.
Its been a rare thing.
Its always about the people.
For moreWalking Deadscoop, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
