The Walking Dead Michael Cudlitz is Sgt. Abraham Ford

[Elevator Man]

After that break up it'll be hilarious if Sasha turns down Abe, when he attempts to hook up with her. And if that happens will he crawl back to Rosita?

 

[Brother Jack]

Abraham's probably not long for the world, unfortunately. He adds much needed color to the show.

 

[Elevator Man]

 

[TheVileOne]

It almost looked like Abraham was volunteering to take the kill for the team with his body language. Unless I was misreading that.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

It almost looked like Abraham was volunteering to take the kill for the team with his body language. Unless I was misreading that.

I thought that as well, and thought for a long time it will be Abraham who dies, but then seeing how twisted Negan was makes me think he went for one of the weaker members of the group.

 

[The Joker]

Abraham was definitely offering himself up to be killed there. Balls of steel has Abe.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Abraham was definitely offering himself up to be killed there. Balls of steel has Abe.

Yep, which is why I don't really want it to be him who dies. But then I don't want that for any of the group who was caught.

 

[Elevator Man]

Who. Will. He. Choose? Find out when #TWD Season 7 premieres 10.23.16.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Michael Cudlitz says season 7 will 'make people's heads spin'

Sergeant Abraham Ford will be reporting for duty in The Walking Dead season premiere on Oct. 23. After that, however, things get a bit murky seeing as how Abe is one of the 11 potential victims in Negan’s lineup of death.

But regardless of whether Abraham is alive to see it or not, the man who plays him says that what happens after the premiere should make the big cliffhanger reveal viewers’ “least concern.” We spoke to Michael Cudlitz to get his take on the big cliffhanger and what comes next.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s start with how things ended last season. What’s it like for Abraham — a proud guy and a soldier — when he has to get down on his knees?
MICHAEL CUDLITZ: Oh, that’s probably the weakest moment for everyone. This whole group has made a series of terrible choices that culminate in this. I mean, a lot of people blame Rick for completely underestimating, and I think that Rick blames Rick, and we are in a completely helpless situation at this moment. And from there, it’s just sort of [let’s] see what can be done. Is there a moment when we’re going to be able to… because the show can’t end like this. I mean, there has to be at some point some fight back, some push back in some way with what happens after.

So that’s what I’m curious to see is how that dynamic plays out and how the audience gets to see how we get to the next step — how these characters move forward from that moment on because there is going to be loss, there is going to be a power shift, then how do we go? How does the group stay together? Does the group stay together as we know it? And it’s going to be really cool to watch the audience react to how we all react to what happens.

How emotionally draining was it having to go through that entire scene again for the start of season 7?
Well, the cool thing for me was sort of thinking about this as we were coming back and going, okay, we’ve got to get to this place again. For me, the cool thing was when we all sort of dropped down on our knees, back into position, it was as if we had never left. The weight of that moment was so real and so palpable and so immediately there, it didn’t have to be found. We knew where it was, and it was this group — in this moment in time, on our knees — that brought back the emotion and everything has to do with that.

You know, that being said, as an actor, I was just very proud of the people I was working with. There’s some amazing, amazing work that is done that everyone hasn’t seen yet, and to share that with everyone in that space, knowing that the dynamic and the group was going to change from this point forward, I was really proud to see how everyone handled it.

How would you describe what’s in store for us?
I find it interesting that what seems to be lost in all these discussions — we talk about the loss in the show and where these journeys are taking all these characters —I think it’s interesting how little is being discussed, almost like nothing, about what happens after this episode. Because there is so much stuff that goes down after this first episode and the continuation through this next season that it’s going to make people’s heads spin. I mean, it’s like, trust me, your least concern at this moment should be the season opener.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Michael Cudlitz looks back at Abraham's biggest moment

Ahead of the release of The Walking Dead’s seventh season, EW takes an inside look at the horror franchise. Entertainment Weekly’s Ultimate Guide to the Walking Dead is on sale now and can be found with a collectible cover on newsstands after October 14, 2016. As part of the book, we spoke to key Walking Dead figures to look back at one of the biggest moments from each season. Some may be major, others a bit more subtle. In the fifth installment of the series, we chatted with Michael Cudlitz about a key moment from season 5.


SEASON 5 KEY MOMENT
THE INTERVIEW: MICHAEL CUDLITZ
THE MOMENT: EUGENE TELLS ABRAHAM THE TRUTH
EPISODE: “SELF HELP”


It was the lie that saved two lives. When Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) was at his lowest point and about to kill himself after the death of his family, a mullet-sporting scientist named Eugene (Josh McDermitt) needing to get to Washington, D.C. to help save mankind arrived, giving Abraham a new mission and purpose for living. It was a win-win situation, until that scientist revealed he was not actually a scientist, but rather lied to secure protection. And then, in an instant, all of Abraham’s pain returned — before he delivered some physical pain of his own onto Eugene. We spoke to Cudlitz to get his take on the brutal takedown.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So let’s talk about Abraham’s reaction to Eugene’s big lie that he’s not actually a scientist. We get both the calm and then the storm, don’t we?
MICHAEL CUDLITZ: It starts with the repeated failure of Abraham trying to get this mission going and make sure that he gets Eugene to where he needs to get to him. So while Abraham is at his most frayed and very much at the end of his rope because he’s barely keeping a handle on it, Eugene lets out this admission that it’s basically all a lie. For Abraham, there’s this huge flood of not only was this all falling apart and he was completely at his wit’s end, but then he realizes that every single thing he has done up until this point has basically been a lie and for nothing.

It’s not only the people that he has killed to keep this guy safe, but it’s the people who have died along the way to keep this guy safe. So there’s a tremendous amount of turmoil inside of Abraham, basically having a nervous breakdown because he can’t process all of this at once. And then Eugene for some reason thinks it would be wise to point out that he is actually smarter than him at that point.

And that’s the snapping point. Because up until that point, it looks like Abraham’s mind is in another place.
He’s trying to process everything that’s gone on. It’s like, “What, are you f—ing kidding me?” He realizes that this is the truth and he’s really just putting everything together in his head until he says that one specific piece of dialogue, and then everything turns to anger and gets unleashed on Eugene. It’s literally like, “How dare you, you motherf—er?!”

How do you transition from such a quiet place to immediate pure and utter rage?
I think it’s simmering. You push it down. The strength of the show is that the circumstances and the reality of the show is so heightened, but it has to be grounded in a very real place or else it doesn’t work. Because we have so many “ridiculous” things that we do, if it’s not anchored in reality, I don’t think it’s believable at all. Then you wind up transcending graphic novel and going into “cartoon,” and the show is anything but cartoon.

How do you sell that aggression when you go there and you pop Josh a bunch of times in the face into that fire truck. I know precautions are being taken, but how do you sell that aggression while making sure you don’t actually hurt the guy?
That’s when all the departments come into play. We walk through everything a number of times. Things are planned out very specifically and cameras are placed in the exact proper place. That particular fight sequence — or ass-whooping sequence, I guess you’d call it, because it’s more of a beating that is handed out — was shot in such a way that it was very easy to keep everyone safe, and I was very far away from Josh at all times. They shot it with a long lens, which compresses all the action. As long as I’m in between him and he’s reacting properly, it sells. All of that is just me selling the hit, the punch or the thrown elbow, and Josh snapping his head back the right way.

Sure, accidents can happen and they do. I’ve been punched square in the face many a time. Never on this show, but it happens. It’s what we try to not do, but everybody understands that there’s a little bit of a risk involved. Nobody’s going to die, you know? There’s not that type of risk, but the risk of getting punched in the face or falling out is high and real and it happens, and it’s kind of a great day when you get hurt a little bit. I know that may sound strange, but we enjoy what we do and, when you really get into it, you don’t mind the occasional bumps and bruises that come with it. It’s part of it, and it’s an exciting part of it.

What’s so fascinating about this scene is that while Eugene lied to Abraham to save himself, as we see in these flashbacks that also appear in the episode, he really saved Abraham with that lie as well.
Absolutely. He saved his life and it’s not lost on Abraham over the course of the series, and that is why there is such an affinity. You can go back even to when they hadn’t made up yet when Eugene goes to drink the water on the road that was left by Aaron and Abraham smacks it out of his hand, because protecting him is so ingrained in him that it has become a part of him. And he’s not sure any more at that point if it’s just a habit or if he actually has genuine feelings for this person. And as we realize through the series and up until last season’s finale, he absolutely does.

 

[tzarinna]

Peace out.

 

[Elevator Man]

Spoiler

RIP Abe. You’ll be missed. This character had so much potential that the writers were never able to reach, imo. They basically turned him into the show’s comic relief with all the hilarious one liners he came up with. Like I said he’ll be missed.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

Peace out.

One Heartbreaking Thing You Missed On ‘The Walking Dead’ Premiere

 

[Drizzle]

Spoiler

Abraham really grew on me over the past couple of seasons so I was sad to see him go. Some people were saying that his death should have been shown in the finale with Glenn's death as a surprise for the premiere. I think that might have been better, because having Glenn's death happen two minutes after Abe's really overshadowed his death.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Abe was awesome, he will be missed

 

[Elevator Man]

I didn't notice he threw a peace sign at Sasha.

 

[Drizzle]

I just realized that [BLACKOUT]Abraham is the second boyfriend of Sasha's to die on the show after Bob. She's bad luck. [/BLACKOUT]

 

[kvz5]

I just realized that [BLACKOUT]Abraham is the second boyfriend of Sasha's to die on the show after Bob. She's bad luck. [/BLACKOUT]

I hope she hooks up with Daryl then.