The cast and creative team discuss their last days of filming the long-running drama and tease what comes next.
“And especially when [REDACTED].
Of course, that’s all because [REDACTED].”
Alan Clarke/AMC
He must be freaking out right now about the end of this 12-year journey.
“There’s too much to do.”
Well… what about Corey Reed?
Alan Clarke/AMC
“I’m still busy,” the wordsmith says while pouring over pages of the script.
“I have two more scenes to work on.
Maybe next week.”
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan and Lauren Cohan as Maggie on ‘The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
“Not yet,” shrugs Kang.
“I think it will hit me next week once we are closer.”
“It feels like a finale, but not aseriesfinale.
Christian Serratos as Rosita on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jace Downs/AMC
In a way, many of them will, and already have.
And that was only the beginning.
Sixteen million got bummed out watching Violet the pig get sick.
Laila Robins as Pamela Milton on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jace Downs/AMC
An incredible 17.3 million fans saw Rick Grimes and Co. escape the cannibals of Terminus.
No scripted basic cable program has posted ratings like that either before or since.
Even those hiding under a dumpster couldn’t avoid the show completely in its heyday.
Season 1 zombies on ‘The Walking Dead’.AMC
(Still too soon?)
So why end it after 11 seasons?
“It certainly was hotly debated and discussed,” says AMC president Dan McDermott.
Khary Payton as Ezekiel on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jace Downs/AMC
At the end of the day, all great shows have to come to a conclusion.
We’re talking about 11 seasons of this one.”
“That was AMC,” says Gimple.
Eleanor Matsuura as Yumiko on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jace Downs/AMC
“It was heavy when it happened.
I wasn’t expecting it and had all sorts of plans for the future.”
And so the plans changed.
Josh McDermitt as Eugene and Margot Bingham as Max on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jace Downs/AMC
“When the end was announced, it was like, ‘Okay, how do we pivot?'”
“‘How do we enmesh even some of our plans for the future into this final season?
And how do we do it in other ways, outside the series.”
Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride ride onto ‘The Walking Dead’ as Daryl and Carol.Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
), there are worries that come with the new strategy.
For one thing, there’s the very real possibility of slight pun intended Walking Deadoverkill.
However, McDermott argues that zombie math is on their side.
That’s 42 episodes of television.
That’s a lot."
The Daryl Dixon show is going to be six episodes.
The Maggie and Negan show is going to be six episodes.
We haveTales of the Walking Dead.
So you’re actually going to seefewerhours ofWalking Deadcontent on our platforms."
Of course, all that is down the line.
I assumed that wasn’t going to be announced.
“We were a little surprised,” Nicotero reveals of the early announcement.
“But this is how it was chosen to play out.
Maybe we couldn’t have kept the secret.
But it seems to me we could have given it a shot.
“What psychic scars that’s going to leave?
Are they going to be horribly injured?
Are people they care about going to face an awful fate?
Or, as Morgan says ever so cagily, “There are still some tricks up our sleeves.
“We definitely didn’t want to just make it a setup,” adds Gimple.
“We wanted to have a conclusion toThe Walking Dead.
“Everybody wants to say, ‘Is this going to be theMAS*Hfinale?
Is it going to beTheSopranosfinale?
Is it going to be theSeinfeldfinale?
Is it going to be theGame of Thronesfinale?
What is it going to be?'”
There are other characters who still have stories.
So it’ssort ofan ending.
Some of those detours have already begun.
And it’s going to bewaydifferent.
The story’s way different.
The characters are way different.
There’s a different tone, there’s different light, there’s a different sound.
It’s a whole different vibe.
This is going to be f—ing epic.”
What are these tests, and what exactly was happening in this French lab, and by whom?
How did he get here?
How’s he going to get home?”
I’m going to end this and walk away,'” says Morgan.
And I felt invigorated and wanted to continue it.”
Invigorated is exactly the same word Cohan uses to describe the experience of filming the series in New Jersey.
“It was that kind of excitement and fan mania.
And so to have that again, it’s super cool.”
“I think it’s critical because Rick Grimes really isThe Walking Dead,” says the director.
We started the story with him.
So it made me realize thatThe Walking Deadevolved into a lot of different things.
And I’m really excited about where that’s headed."
But is there a chance we might see Rick and/or Michonnebeforethen?
Could one or both of them pop back up in the series finale?
“I can’t answer that question,” laughs Kang.
“But I appreciate you asking.”
What about you, Scott Gimple?
An incredulous smile crosses his face.
“I’d never tell you that in a million years.”
“I love that Connie is just stirring the pot,” says Ridloff.
“Connie is always searching for social justice, and she determines that cost is worth it.”
But is everyone willing to endure that cost once the Commonwealth retaliates?
“Daryl’s leading this group that is outside of the walls,” says Reedus.
But there are other problems beyond just the living.
The calls are coming from inside the house."
And it turns out the person making the calls is… season 1!
When they did, they noticed something.
And they started climbing a fire escape when chasing after Rick andSteven Yeun’s Glenn in an alley.
One even picked up a rock and was using it to smash a department store window.
“We were still figuring it out.
But we decided that it was an opportunity.”
But zombies with weird retro abilities will be far from the only connection to season 1.
These eight episodes help to capture some of that feeling of legacy."
“This is as big an episode as we’ve ever done,” says Nicotero.
They said, ‘We love you.
Sorry, you’re just the one here.'"
If they weren’t snapping at the director, the cast would often simply ignore him.
“It was just f—ing hard to do,” says Morgan.
“It was hard for all of us in so many different ways.
“We just said, ‘Look, this schedule’s going to work.’
The only problem is if one of these things gets pulled out.'”
And then the pulling began.
“Everything that could go wrong, went wrong,” laughs the director.
“We had a four-hour lightning delay one day.
Ah yes, the concussion heard round the world.
“That whole ordeal, for me personally, was terrifying,” says Reedus.
“I thought I was going to die.
It was very serious.
I’ve been hit in the face and the head a million times.
I’ve gone through car windows.
But that one rung my bell.
I was holding onto the walls.”
Meanwhile, everyone else was just trying to hold it together.
“Every day I would get home going, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’
But at least they would get to all go out together… or not.
“But that did not work out.
So rather than everybody getting to wrap at the same time, it was a series of wraps throughout.
You got to get this actor done by this day.'”
“I was ready to go,” Morgan admits.
“I just needed to get home.
Greg was directing and I was like, ‘Look, dude, I got to get home.
I got a 4-year-old who’s so upset that I haven’t been home.’
And so I wrapped first, and I just gave some quick hugs and disappeared.
I was gone!”
“It made me think of my wedding day,” says Ridloff.
“I was a mess on my wedding day.
And so fast forward to my last day of shooting, and I was a mess.
Cohan and McBride weren’t the only ones left speechless during their speeches.
“I’m never one to not have something to say,” says former stand-up comedian McDermitt.
“I’m always quick with a joke or a quip.
And then it came time, and I couldn’t even speak.
I was just overwhelmed with emotion.
I couldn’t say anything.
My throat just couldn’t.”
And with that, the actor catches his breath.
“I feel my chest tightening right now!”
Reedus was at least able to string a few sentences together.
And it was really sad.
So it was a bit of that.”
And when itwasfinally done, and Greg Nicotero yelled “CUT!”
for the last time, the party complete with confetti cannons blasting streamers across the Commonwealth began.
“It didn’t feel real for a long time,” says Reedus.
“I just thought there was more coming.
Now it feels really real to me.’
Even when I drove off going, ‘Bye, guys, I miss you.
I love you,’ I still thought I was going to see everybody the next day.”
And now I’m just driving away.
Is that it?”
Luckily for the legion of Carol fans, the answer feels like no.
But that doesn’t mean McBride is finished with the character.
When asked point blank if she is done playing Carol, the actress cracks a sly grin.
“I feel like Carol has more story to tell,” she says before pausing.
“I’ll leave it at that.”
“I think she’s got some more story.”
Reedus is far more direct on the matter.
“Their journey’s not over,” he boasts emphatically.
“Theywillmeet down the road.
you’re free to pretty much bet all your money.
These aren’t just random hopes and dreams.
The person chiefly responsible for mapping out the characters’ futures is fully on board for more DarylandCarol.
“We will be telling stories with each of them moving forward,” says Gimple.
“I’ve never stopped talking to Melissa about this.
Many of the series’ iconic locations were on this lot.
“I took a walk around the studio with a camera,” says Gimple.
“I walked up to the Hilltop.
And I walked over to Oceanside.
And I walked where the Heaps were.
And I walked where the Prison was, and where we shot a million things.
It was sad because it was over, but it was also a lot of gratitude.”
He wasn’t the only one who took a final solitary stroll around the lot.
“They had taken down all the departments and were cleaning it all out.
There was no hustle and bustle.
There was just quiet.”
But not for long.
