The Walking Dead Jeffrey Dean Morgan is Negan!

[Nightmare]

Can't wait to hear his uncensored version of negan!

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan sizes up a Negan vs. Governor battle

They’re the two biggest baddies in The Walking Dead universe: Negan and the Governor. David Morrissey brought the Governor to the screen back in season 3 and wreaked all sorts of havoc before he was ultimately dispatched in season 4. And now Negan has burst onto the scene with his barbed wire-covered baseball bat named Lucille.

The two never overlapped in either the comic book or the TV show, but what if they had? Who would come out on top in a Negan vs. the Governor battle? We asked Negan himself, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and the current EW cover star says the contest would be no contest whatsoever.

“It’s not even close,” says Morgan, flashing that devilish grin. “I mean, I love David Morrissey, but he wouldn’t stand a chance. Wouldn’t stand a chance. I’d put Negan up against anybody. He’s super smart and there’s no filter, no fear. The Governor was a little bit wack. Negan’s got it together. It wouldn’t even be close. And I’m sorry, ‘cause I really love David. He’s awesome. I worked with him for a year and there’s just not a better guy. But Negan versus the Governor wouldn’t be close.”

 

[Schlosser85]

Negan seems a lot more organized and better-coordinated.

The Governor would just kind of wake up on the wrong side of the bed in the morning and make some haphazard attack just to be doing it.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan had no idea the season was ending in a cliffhanger

While viewers may have felt left in the dark when The Walking Dead ended season 6 with a massive cliffhanger, they can at least take solace in the fact that they weren’t the only ones.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan — the man who delivered the killing blows to the face of one of the as yet to be revealed series regulars — tells us that they never told him whom he was killing, that he had no clue that the scene would end in a cliffhanger, and that he did not find out the identity of the victim until he read the first script for season 7.

Not only that, but Morgan says that shooting the emotional return episode amounted to “10 days of hell” for the cast and crew due to the end result of Negan’s little game of eeny-meeny-miny-moe, and he also has a message for anyone who feels “cheated” by the cliffhanger. Read on to learn more from The Walking Dead’s big new baddie.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When you shot the season 6 finale, did they tell you whom you were killing?
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN: No.

They didn’t tell you?
No, they did not tell me. I don’t know that anybody knew on that particular evening, and if they did, no one has copped to me. But I certainly didn’t know. I’ve seen interviews where Norman has said, “I know,” but I honestly don’t know that anybody really knew what was going to happen until the first script came out. Maybe during the summer people found out some stuff. I didn’t find out whom we were going to kill until I saw the first script coming back this year.

Wow.
Yeah. And it’s heavy, man. It’s a heavy deal. It was heavy when we shot it last year and it’s only gotten more intense this year, I think. That first episode back was crazy. It was just crazy. What you’re asking of these actors to put it on the line like they do, and then this scene in particular, especially if they had the summer to dwell on it, it’s a lot. Then I go blowing in like a hurricane, just dance around on my tiptoes swinging Lucille around — it was 10 days of hell, I believe, for everyone involved. Hard work, but it went well beyond that. I mean, you’ve been around, you see these relationships that these guys all have with each other as well as the crew, and everyone is so invested and so passionate. And that ending — or this beginning, I should say — is jarring. It’s a reset on The Walking Dead world and it’s f—ing Negan’s world now, you know? It’s a lot.

Did it surprise you, the reaction to the cliffhanger? A lot of people were very upset.
Yeah, it surprised me how upset people were. I think it kind of shocked all of us, frankly, that people were so upset. Look, it’s storytelling at its best, and from the beginning of time there’s been cliffhangers. And by the way, I didn’t even know it was going to end in a cliffhanger. I didn’t know that, you know? The way that we shot it last year, my feeling was they just didn’t want to see us actors see the crushing blows of who was at the end of Lucille, so they were going to shoot that separately, and we would see it at the finale. It turns out exactly what I shot is exactly how it ended.

But I liked it. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly understand the audience being pissed for a day or two, but to dwell on it as much as they have, I think it’s good for one. I think by the time October rolls around all those people who are like, “I’m never watching Walking Dead again. I feel cheated,” they’re going to be the first ones lined up in front of their television. And I’ll say this, you have to be careful what you wish for, audience, because you’re going to get those answers answered and more, and you’re probably not going to be happy with it.

I don’t think it took away from Negan’s entrance because Negan’s entrance was Negan’s entrance, and I think that was a pretty great entrance to do.

Do you think it was a little bit of a no-win situation because everyone already had in their mind exactly how that huge moment from the comic should play out, and if you do it the same way, it’s predictable, and if you do something else, it’s a cop out?
I think that’s a very good point. Even people that have never opened the comic book before, by the time that aired, everybody had seen those panels and what Lucille had done, and so everybody was waiting for it. We don’t follow the comic book to a T. There are deviations, and there have to be. Otherwise the audience is going to know what the answers are before. It’s about keeping the audience on their toes, but you’re right. I think if everybody was ready to feel it one way or another, whoever it was going to be on the receiving end, and when they didn’t see that they somehow felt cheated. Well, I say to that, bulls—, and just wait, and again, be careful what you wish for.

 

[Teelie]

I think by the time October rolls around all those people who are like, “I’m never watching Walking Dead again. I feel cheated,” they’re going to be the first ones lined up in front of their television.

Haha. NO.

And I’ll say this, you have to be careful what you wish for, audience, because you’re going to get those answers answered and more, and you’re probably not going to be happy with it.

Already not happy with it so he's got that part right.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: New Season 7 Promo
[YT]QNHWtJ7KS-8[/YT]
It's mostly footage from the comic con trailer with sprinkles of new footage e.g. Negan tapping on the ASZ gate with Lucille and Morgan aiming his firearm at someone/something. At least it didn't contain much footage from the lineup.

 

[The Joker]

Morgan is killing it as Negan

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead's Jeffrey Dean Morgan on Negan and Lucille: 'It's his d---'

Negan just might be the most colorful character in The Walking Dead universe. So it fits that the man who now plays him on TV, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, can be a little colorful himself, especially when talking about the love of Negan’s life: his barbed wire-covered baseball bat he affectionately refers to as Lucille.

We asked Morgan what it was like the first time he got to actually hold Lucille, and… well, his answer pretty much says it all.

“It was awesome,” says Morgan. “It really kind of, for me, informed my character and who I was — just kind of the heft of her and the love that he has for her. It makes him hard, for God’s sake, just holding her. But it was great care taken with Lucille from the guys that built her.”

Morgan then went on to talk about the symbiotic relationship between Negan and Lucille, a relationship he says is even closer than we thought. “There’s something about her, especially when there’s blood dripping off her. There’s a certain beauty that she has. And for me it’s an extension of Negan. They become one in these scenes together. It’s his d—. I mean, for lack of a better thing, it really is.”

A crude analogy, perhaps, but one that make sense and tracks if you are familiar with the vulgarity of the character. Allow Morgan to explain. “It’s how he walks differently with her, he holds her, and it’s a part of him. He uses her to emphasize certain points, not just ‘I’m going to kill you.’ There’s a thing that he has with Lucille, and it’s as close to love as maybe Negan will ever have. He loves Lucille. She’s a character of her own. I mean, she really is, and I love the way he talks about her and he feels about her and how he treats her. But yeah, the first time I held her I knew — this is it.”

Of course, Lucille is not the only iconic Negan prop. We also asked Morgan what it’s been like wearing the black leather jacket, especially when working in that Atlanta summer heat. “It’s very hot. I mean, it’s very hot,” laughs the actor. “When we shot the [season finale] in November, I was like, ‘This is great!’ I was so happy, not thinking oh, July in Atlanta. Now I’m just f—ing sweating. I can’t keep in enough fluids.”

The one day we saw Morgan working on set in 97-degree heat, he was downing Gatorade between takes. “I’m pounding Gatorade, but I’ve still been fighting cramps,” he says. “I get horrible cramps midway through a scene, my ribs will cramp up or my legs or something. So it’s about trying to get that under control. You don’t go back to your trailer on this show. It’s not like other shows where you do a scene, you go back to your trailer, and you sit in the air conditioning. We all stay on set all day. We don’t leave. Once you get to work in the morning, you go to set and you’re there for 14 or 16 hours in that heat with the crew.”

As least he has Lucille to keep him company.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan on how his Negan is different from the comic

When it was announced Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be playing the infamous Walking Dead comic book villain Negan, the casting seemed perfect. And having watched him on set, I can say that Morgan has Negan’s mix of evil motives and disarming charm on lockdown. The guy is bringing it every single take.

But his approach is not a carbon copy of the comic book baddie. Morgan is adding some new wrinkles to the character with his take on the leather-clad lunatic. We spoke to the actor to get some insight as to what to expect from his Negan when The Walking Dead returns with season 7 on Oct. 23 on AMC.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You came on set for the finale to film that one scene and then had a long break before starting on season 7. How much were you thinking about this character during that time off and how you wanted to approach him?
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN: I sure thought about him a lot. I have stacks of all the comic books, and what I have taken from those panels is a posture or a smile or whatever it is, and then filling those blanks in between. And as closely as we follow what Negan says and does in those comic books, we also have to add and subtract. We’ve added a lot, obviously, that’s not in the comic books with Negan. Not only trying to keep his language and his persona, but it’s how he walks and how he stands and all that kind of stuff.

I’ve created this whole kind of physical presence that is unlike anything I’ve ever done before, kind of how he moves. My move now for Negan and what I’ve taken physically from him is a kind of lean-back smile, which I saw in one panel one time. I’ve taken that and run with it. What I have found in doing it and seeing a little bit of playback is it is really unsettling because it just shows this kind of comfort and casualness that Negan has in these horrendous situations when he’s doing his thing.

Watching you on set, it seems like your Negan is a little bit less manic than the comic version, but with this disarming charm and what-me worry smile that could erupt into violence at any second, which makes him even more disturbing in a way. Do you notice any differences between your Negan and the original?
This is unlike anything I’ve ever done as far as a character. I mean, Negan is just an original. I could try to draw parallels with say, the Comedian, and I’ve done a couple of other bad guys, but I’ve never done anybody like Negan.

And as far as similarities with the comic book, yeah, he might be a little bit more manic, but understand that I’ve got to connect those panels together and how Negan does that, there’s not a script for. So the writers will give me the material and then it’s about okay, well, how can I make that work? I’ve got to make this guy real, you know what I mean?

I think that was the key — if I just make this guy manic and kind of one dimensional then I don’t have anywhere to go. So I thought, for me, and especially after doing that first episode, the introduction, and some head bashing, there had to be a place I could go. I try to make every scene a little bit of a rollercoaster so you don’t know. So it’ll keep you on your toes of where Negan is, and I only have so much I can go on working on the comic book. Then I get all this dialogue. How can I make that make sense and make it effective for the other actors that I’m working with?

So what we’ve created is very disarming. I think there is this f—ing charm and devil may care, but you’re going to do it my way. But he does it with a smile. But when that violence comes, there is no doubting what this guy is going to do and how he’s going to do it, and I think we’ve established that very early on, that at any given moment you can die in front of Negan. What I hope is that it does make it scarier. I think after the premiere airs this year, I think the audience is going to get a very good idea of what Negan is capable of. So if there’s a scene where he’s smiling and people are like, “What the f—? He’s not a badass.” Well, just watch, because at any given minute, you know, Lucille is going to take your f—ing head off and he’s going to do it with that same smile. That’s the thing.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan says Negan's backstory is coming

Here’s what we know. Negan has swung his barbed-wire baseball bat down and someone is dead because of it. But what happened prior to all of that? And what happens next? We sat down with Negan himself, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who told us to expect lots of answers, including some intel on how the leather-clad lunatic has been surviving — and thriving — in the zombie apocalypse.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So we’ve seen Negan’s baseball swing. What comes next?
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN: Well, the show’s not over. This introduction will continue through the first episode for sure, and it’s just kind of Negan setting the rules and telling everybody this is how it’s going to be, and if you don’t follow these rules this is what’s going to happen. He’s going to make a real clear example that everyone is going to understand, but he’s going to do it with a little bit of flair and panache that only Negan can have.

So basically what you’re going to look at is picking up right where we left off. You’re not going to have to wait. Once we sit through the six months, on October 23 you’re going to know and that will be that. But you’re going to see a lot more of Negan. I think we saw 12 or 15 minutes of him establishing himself and how this new world is going to be for the survivors, swinging his d—, pleased to meet you. We just touched on it.

I think the premiere will answer all the questions you need to know, immediate questions about who Negan is. They’re in Negan’s world now. Simply put, the premiere is continuing that speech in a way that I don’t think the audience is going to be ready for. Not only are you going to see who is on the receiving end of Lucille, but you will see how Negan’s mind is working, and it is constantly working. One thing I will say about Negan is he’s no dummy, you know? In a game of chess, he’s two moves ahead.

What is Negan’s world view? How does he see this new post-apocalyptic world, what he should be in it, his relationship to other people? What does that mean to him?
We’re going to find this out. We’re going to actually find out a lot more about his world. The last six seasons we’ve followed Rick and his band of merry men. Now you’re going to find out in that time Negan has been running his own show in his own way and coming across all sorts of people and taking care of business. So he has created his army of followers and some are probably reluctant followers, and if they’re reluctant followers he has a way to deal with that as well. If you read the comic books a lot of this isn’t coming as a huge surprise, but we’ll get to see a little bit of that. So basically Negan is going to impose his will one way or another.

So in finding out more about Negan, we’ll find out how his life has been since the zombie apocalypse started, since the outbreak began, and we’ll find out sort of how Negan has come to be who he is. He rules with an iron fist and a sense of humor. He’s a very charismatic guy. But a lot of those questions will be answered and more are coming, but we’re going to find out some backstory very quickly on how the Saviors operate and how Negan operates. I think by mid-season or so a lot of those questions will be answered.

 

[NotNickFury]

"So in finding out more about Negan, we’ll find out how his life has been since the zombie apocalypse started, since the outbreak began, and we’ll find out sort of how Negan has come to be who he is."

We're not even done with there 'Here's Negan' mini-series yet. It's too early to jump into that territory. At the very least, I think we'd see how Negan came to lead the Saviors, but not his life pre-apocalypse.

 

[Elevator Man]

TWD facebook page banner was replaced with this

We're Just Getting Started

 

[rashad]

[YT]ll-IGc5kINw[/YT]

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Andrew Lincoln says Negan has 'breathed terrifying life' into season 7

You would think the cast of The Walking Dead would be none too psyched about the arrival of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, seeing as how the big bad from the comic books is currently halfway through… you know, killing one of them.

But the longtime regulars have been super impressed with the job Morgan has done so far. “It’s such a great part and it’s so beautifully written,” says star Andrew Lincoln of Negan. “And he’s such an important part of the show, this character, that we needed an actor that could step up and take the bull by the horns and drag it forward, and make it his own. And certainly, that’s what we have this season.”

Ahhh, this season. We already know that season 7 (which premieres Oct. 23 on AMC) will begin with the continuation of that harrowing cliffhanger scene, and according to Lincoln — who was on set for at least that scene if nothing else in season 7 — we haven’t witnessed anything yet. “I think everybody got a sense of what this actor is capable of in the last episode,” says Lincoln. “But rest assured that that’s really just the beginning of what Jeffrey is creating. It’s very impressive and it’s great fun to work with him.”

Lincoln also thinks the addition of Negan is worth whatever subtraction in terms of characters we will have as a result of his presence. “Without the baddest of the bad guys, it wouldn’t be the same show,” says Lincoln. “And I think it’s breathed a new terrifying life into the show, and at no better time. What an extraordinary thing, to wait seven seasons to reveal the baddest of the bad guys.”

Extraordinary for everyone except whomever is on the receiving end of that bat.

 

[The Joker]

After all this hype build up, I hope Negan is as good as they're saying.

 

[NotNickFury]

Wait for it: Negan won't appear in any of the episodes until the very end of each episode, and just before he says something, the episode ends.

Ragging on the cliffhanger aside, I do hope Negan lives up to expectations because the folks working on this show know a thing or two about hyping up the fans.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan names his favorite TV villains ever

Seeing as how Jeffrey Dean Morgan is playing perhaps the biggest villain on TV right now in Negan, we asked The Walking Dead star at our recent EW cover shoot to pick his favorite pop-culture baddies, and he named two gems.

First up, Morgan went back to the old west with his pick of Al Swearengen from Deadwood. “Ian McShane’s character in Deadwood was awesome,” says Morgan. “And a little reminiscent of the character I’m doing. He liked to pontificate.”

That is certainly true as both Negan and Swearengen were born with the gift of gab. The same could also be said for Morgan’s other pick for favorite TV villain, the one and only Mel Profitt. “I also loved Kevin Spacey in Wiseguy,” he says, “which is kind of the character where we sort of all got to know who Kevin Spacey was.”

Wiseguy actually had two great villains — in Ray Sharkey’s Sonny Steelgrave and then Spacey’s Profitt — but Morgan went for the latter. Why? Hey, only the toes knows!

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan was flipped off by an 80-year-old for playing Negan

If Jeffrey Dean Morgan didn’t realize that Walking Dead fans are very serious about their favorite TV show, he does now. And it’s all thanks to one unruly octogenarian. Morgan stopped by Entertainment Weekly Radio (SiriusXM, channel 105) recently and told us about a bizarre encounter he had alongside buddy and costar Norman Reedus that clued him in to exactly how people feel about his character Negan, who is in the process of bashing in the face of one of the show’s stars.

“I was with Norman,” says Morgan. “I spend a lot of time with Norman because he lives in Georgia. He might not be alive on the show, people, just because I’m saying I was with Norman, but we had been riding motorcycles all day and we were in the middle of nowhere and stopped to get a coffee. And this lady is at our car, and she’s probably 80 years old, and she comes up and just flips me off and says ‘F— you!’ And Norman falls off his chair, laughing, and I’m like ‘Whoa! Whoa!’”

It turns out the senior citizen was not alone and not done. “It was crazy,” continues Morgan, “And she did have her daughters with her, by the way. But then her next question is, ‘Where do you live?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to tell you where I live!’

Of course, while Morgan may not personally enjoy getting cursed out and flipped off, he also realizes that the fact that his portrayal of the ultimate Walking Dead big bad can get a reaction like that is ultimately a good thing. “It’s that kind of passion, which is awesome,” he says. “We’ll see what happens after the first episode airs. I’m not convinced that my life is going to be totally awesome, as far as the fan base, after the first one. I think it’s going to take a minute. I think it’s going to take a minute for people to get to know the character and love to hate him as opposed to just the hate.”

Even with his work on Supernatural and Watchmen, the intensity of this fanbase has taken some getting used to for the actor. “I just did the [Live with Kelly] show,” he says of making his way to the SiriusXM studios. “And we had people following us down the road, just riding bikes, running down the middle of the road. I mean, god bless Supernatural, but no one did that. Comic-Con was a whole other experience, and I’ve been there for the last 10 years in a row with anything from Watchmen to The Losers to Supernatural, but this? It’s a different thing. It’s a different intensity.”

And an intensity that can sometimes cross over to being a bit scary. “This is my first foray into the fandom that is Walking Dead,” says Morgan. “But I see how some of the cast get handled by fans. I’ve witnessed some crazy stuff. I mean someone followed me home from the set. And I live like an hour away from the set, so to follow me home at 1 in the morning and then try to post my address, I mean, come on, people.”

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Norman Reedus compares Negan to the Joker

How does Norman Reedus know that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is doing a great job on The Walking Dead? Because “everyone wants to f—ing kill him,” says Reedus. Of course, that’s during filming, when Morgan is tormenting them as Negan. Once the cameras are off, however, it’s a different story.

Reedus told us what working with Morgan has been like (or was like, if Daryl does not survive the season 7 premiere on Oct. 23), and compared Negan to another famous villain.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This has always been a dark show, but it sounds like you guys are really treading in some pretty deep, dark territory when we come back.
NORMAN REEDUS: Every roller coaster goes up and down, and there’s no way this show has ever been a flat roller coaster. We’ve gone really high and fallen really low, and we’re definitely in a very low point right now.

What are you seeing from Jeffrey Dean Morgan in terms of his interpretation of the Negan and what he’s doing out there?
He’s a prick [laughs] but you know, I have to say, Jeffrey’s killing it — no pun intended. He’s great. He’s super charismatic, and he’s enjoying being this jerk way too much, as a matter of fact. You know, it’s a real blessing we have him on the show. He’s brought so much new energy to this show, and that character is like the Joker. It has to be great, and he’s delivering, and everyone likes him, and he’s fun. He’s a cool guy and everything, but in the moment, everyone wants to f—ing kill him, and then we wrap, and we’re all having fun again. So he’s a great addition to the show.

And I know that even in the season finale scene there was a lot of emotion going back and forth, with everyone giving their all, even if they were not on camera.
You know, he came onto this show, and he’s doing these horrific things, but he’s only as scary as the other actors around him make him look, you know? So he was really impressed with our cast that even off camera, they were giving him full tears, and they were giving him every sort of thing that would really be happening even when they weren’t on camera. That’s kind of rare on a set, you know? Sometimes you act to a tennis ball.

So this is a different type of beast. Everybody here gives 150 percent all the time to the other costars. I remember after the first day, Jeffrey was like, “Holy s—! Thank you guys for doing this. I’ve never been on a set like this where every actor, even when they’re off camera, gives full tears and full snot.” So he gives that to us, and we give it back to him. It’s a good give and take on this show, and it’s always been like that on this show, to be honest.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan reveals what Negan was like before the apocalypse

Judging by the fact that Negan is in the process of bashing in somebody’s brains with a barbed-wire covered baseball bat, we’re starting to get a pretty good idea of what sort of fella we’ll be dealing with on season 7 of The Walking Dead. But what was the leader of the Saviors like before the zombie apocalypse?

We posed that question to the man playing him, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and he said this is not a case of a good guy gone bad. “I think he was probably a little bit of an a–hole and a little bit of a bully,” says Morgan of pre-apocalypse Negan. “I don’t think this all just came about after the apocalypse. It would be fun to do a prequel to who Negan was. I know [creator Robert Kirkman] has been writing this before-we-know-Negan graphic novel. He’s releasing little pieces of it now.”

Morgan says that unlike the villain you love to hate, Negan — even in his younger form— was more like the jerk you hate to love. “I think Negan’s always been the dick you went to high school with,” says the actor. “But he also has a razor sharp sense of humor, which goes hand-in-hand with this sort of bullying he does — it’s all with a sharp wit. Here’s the thing with Negan: He’s going to make you laugh. Even through the worst of it, you will find yourself smiling against your will. And I think that’s exactly how he was as a kid and through high school and stuff. That’s how we’re playing him, anyway. That’s how I’m going at it. He didn’t turn into this in one day. He’s been working at it for a while.”

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: 'Jeffrey Dean Morgan on Playing Negan'
[YT]iM1C9ui_fpM[/YT]

 

[The Joker]

After the latest episode I can safely say they have done Negan justice

 

[Lantern Venom]

After the latest episode I can safely say they have done Negan justice

That was a gorgeous performance, wasn't it?

 

[MurkeNyou]

I hope he's around for a while, this show needs a wild card. Damn that was good, hated how cocky the characters got, this humbles them, even more than the comic did.

 

[rashad]

I hope he's around for a while, this show needs a wild card. Damn that was good, hated how cocky the characters got, this humbles them, even more than the comic did.

That's what made the impact greater. Their false sense of security was setup wonderfully in 6B.