Everyone is waiting to find out what happens next on The Walking Dead, but don't expect Michael Cudlitz to break his silence. With The Walking Dead Season 6 out now on Blu-ray and DVD, we discussed his favorite scenes from last season, Abraham's fate in the comic book series, spending time with fans, and much more:
Season 6 had some huge moments from the comic book series, including the introduction of Jesus, Gregory, and Negan. Did you go into season 6 blind and just waited for the scripts to come in, or did you read the comic book series so you knew what was coming up?
Michael Cudlitz: I asked [showrunner] Scott Gimple if it would be beneficial for me to catch up on the comics, and he said, "Absolutely read it. The emotional backstory and the weight of what happens to Abraham is going to definitely be addressed, and other elements that might affect you."
Aside from that, getting all caught up with the comics was awesome because I got to see what the big differences were in the comic and the show.
Daryl has a lot to do with changing the entire course or trajectory of the characters and who they deal with because he is the right-hand confidant/brother to Rick that does not exist in the comic. In the comic, that role changes. At one point you could sort of argue that Tyreese was that role and at another point in the comic you could argue that it's Abraham who fulfills that position. Rick keeps losing people that he gets very, very close to and can count on.
I was caught up with the graphic novel at the time, but now I'm behind again. I read up until issue 112 or 114, but that still puts me beyond where we were on the TV show. A lot of things have happened this past season. I love the way that the TV show puts those Easter eggs in there for people who actually love and care about the comic. They get it. There is more to be had if you are a fan of both, but I don't think anything is lost on anyone who is not following the graphic novels.
I love that the show plays with the expectations of those who read the comic book series, especially in season 6, where people were expecting to see Abraham get a crossbow bolt to the head. Knowing that your character had a specific fate in the comic book series, were you relieved when you found out that your character was going to live past his original death?
Michael Cudlitz: Abraham is now alive longer in the TV show than he is in the graphic novel. We have a world that has Abraham and Negan in it at the same time. We had a world where Abraham and Tyreese shared the world for a moment. That doesn't happen in the graphic novels. I know that [Robert] Kirkman was never happy with the death that he had given Abraham and he gets to look back now and know that he didn't give him that. We can move forward and see what is next for him and how he operates in this new world.
I remember talking to Robert and he said that was a last minute decision in the comic book series. To see your character continue has been great. Something else about season 6 I've really loved is that it goes from these huge action scenes to some great character moments. For you as an actor, how has it been to play in this massive sandbox with the zombie apocalypse and fighting The Saviors?
Michael Cudlitz: I love the speed in which we do them. One of the cool things is that we are trusted as actors a lot. We make everything very safe and we are trusted as actors a lot to fill in the in-betweens. Our stunt guys go through and make sure everything is safe on the big strokes. Then everything else in-between we have been trained and trusted to take care of.
There's a lot of weight given to us to carry. It's expected and we expect it, and that's one of the exciting things about the job. We jump right in and these things don't work unless everyone is committed, from the crew to the cast to our amazing background artists, who take a tremendous amount of abuse, both physically and just from the elements, and being in all those latex appliances. It's definitely a group effort. It's exciting. We are doing things that you would do in films. We're taking a day to do something that would take three weeks in a movie.
It's incredible what the entire team manages to put on TV every week. It's just been great watching it all unfold. From your time filming season 6, do you have a favorite moment or memory that really stands out, or anything you want to share with our readers that maybe they won't know about?
Michael Cudlitz: I loved filming the breakup with Rosita [Christian Serratos], because we did a bunch of different versions of that and each one was more heartbreaking than the next. It was interesting because Scott was very specific about what he wanted, but within that and within what was written, there were a lot of different permeations and it was a lot of fun to go and play with Christian, as an actress.
I would say the same thing for the scene with Josh [McDermitt], saying goodbye to Eugene, sending your kid off to college. He has to let him go do this amazing thing for the group, this selfless act. It was a lot of fun to do it. Both Josh and Christian are terrific actors. It's just so much fun to work with people who are fun.
Yeah, it seems like everyone has such a great time together. On that note, and staying on the behind-the-scenes stuff, I know that Norman is known for pranking the cast, especially Andrew Lincoln. Has he gotten you with anything?
Michael Cudlitz: Yeah, he has not gotten me yet. I would say that he really does get Andy. That's their own little thing and the two who have a lot of fun nailing each other. I have yet to get pranked. I expect that at some point it's coming. I should say I don't think that it won't ever come. Now, it'll be in print and I know it's coming. Now I'm going to come out and my car is going to be up on blocks.
I'm not going to ask you what happens during the season 7 premiere, because I'm sure everybody does. Has it been difficult for you to not talk about it with friends and family? Do you have people constantly asking you?
Michael Cudlitz: It gets asked a lot. It's easy because none of us say anything about it. It's actually very easy to not talk about it. You just don't talk about it.
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