Michael Cudlitz had a nice long run onThe Walking Dead.
Not as long as he or fans would have liked, to be sure, but long nonetheless.
42!!!!
Credit: Monica Schipper/Getty Images
(Which, coincidentally, is now being rebooted with formerWalking Deadcastmate Corey Hawkins.)
“The first day of school,” he says.
“The first day of school, every first day of work.”
“I want to be in the makeup room when the rest of the guest cast comes in.
I’m going to say hi to everyone.
This is your show.
You’re not making me feel welcome.
Whose work suffers because of that?
I’m leaving in eight days anyway and it’s your show.
We then asked Cudlitz about his favorite and least favorite one-off performance.
As for his number one pick: “That would be a toss-up,” he says.
“Both Steven Bochco shows.
Once I did an episode ofNYPD Bluewith Jimmy Smits.”
Wait, Cudlitz was onNYPD Blue?Did he have to show his butt?
But Cudlitz did not always have a great time guest-starring.
He also revealed his most disastrous acting gig ever, and the story is amazing.
They’ve checked your availability and they might be hiring you.
So I went to audition for this thing, it was a cold opening in the show.
It was three and a half pages, single-spaced, monologue with us starting in a quarry.
So I do this audition, it goes really well.
They put me on avail on like a Wednesday or a Thursday.
I don’t hear anything from them.
Sunday night I get a call.
‘Your call time’s 5 a.m. and we need your sizes for wardrobe.’
I was like,for what?They tell me, ‘Push, Nevada.’
I was like, What are you talking about?
‘You booked the job.
‘Oh, great, awesome, but tomorrow?
What are we shooting tomorrow?We’re shooting that scene.'”
But wait, it gets worse.
“Basically, we show up on set and we are ready to go.
Literally we have helicopters on set.
We’re in this quarry.
We’re losing light because the walls of the quarry are so high.
And this is all on me.
It’s no one else’s fault.
This is all on me, and it was a train wreck and it was terrifying.”
So terrifying that Cudlitz says, “I wrote a letter.
Commence your search for the lost Michael CudlitzPush, Nevadafootage now!
Oh, wait, you don’t have to… because it’s right here!
See Cudlitz busting out some truly awesome expository dialogue as Special Agent Derek Smith.
And then imagine him desperately concentrating to remember his lines.
His dramatic entrance happens at the 3:50 mark.
