Is Negan staying or going at the end of The Walking Dead finale?
Jeffrey Dean Morgan reveals the answer and talks about those big scenes with Maggie.
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers on theThe Walking Deadseries finale.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jace Downs/AMC
There has not been a bigger chatterbox inThe Walking Deaduniverse than Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
The guy positively loves the sound of his own voice.
But where was he going?
Jeffrey Dean Morgan on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jace Downs/AMC
How did Negan answer the Clash’s eternal question of should I stay or should I go?
Did Negan indeed accept Maggie’s invitation to stick around?
“He’s not sticking around,” Morgan tells EW.
“He’s going off to start a family and kind of start over.”
And that nod to Daryl certainly seemed like a goodbye.
“He has that bit to Daryl, and then he’s off,” Morgan says.
“That’s it.
I think that they’ve all reached an understanding.
And of course, then he leaves.
He and his wife are going off.”
(His words.)
Let’s trim it down a little bit."
I thought it was important obviously that we had the Negan and Maggie moment.
They’re not allies.
They never will be allies.
They’re not going to be friends.
But I think there is an understanding.
They have an understanding at this point.
I thought that was an important way, especially after the last year, spending so much time together.
That was Negan’s biggest goodbye in this finale.
Let’s talk about those two big Negan and Maggie scenes.
What was filming that scene like for you?
I think there’s been a couple moments in the course of this year where it’s been close.
She was never going to forgive him.
There’s never going to be this big friendship.
It’s brief, but it’s as honest as I think Negan can be.
Negan is not big on sharing his feelings, which I think is okay.
He’s always going to have an armor around him, as is she with him.
We’ve had a lot of fun working together.
We very much enjoy each other’s company, Lauren and Jeff do.
We’ve come a long way in six years.
But it was fun.
It was great that that scene was there, and I think it was important.
I think [showrunnerAngela Kang] knew that that scene needed to be there.
[Chief content officerScott M. Gimple] knew that scene needed to be there.
It gives us the opportunity for the story to continue.
What was that like for you and for him to just sit there and take that all in?
I remember listening to it and thinking, “Oh, I could respond to this.”
I can very much think in Negan’s brain.
Just a little bit, just enough to give a little poke.
I remember listening to the rehearsals of her doing it and going, “Oh, man.”
I mean, she was great.
She was so good.
It doesn’t matter if he’s understanding and being nice.
And I didn’t get a chance to, which is good.
Negan needed to shut up.
It’s not the first time.
Over the years, I have said to Scott and Angela, “He needs to shut up.”
And he finally did.
It was good, and it was time for him to listen and shut up.
It’s important that he didn’t say something.
Had there been something there, I probably would’ve fought it.
But I think everybody knew it was tough for Negan to shut up.
It’s an accumulation of a lot of lessons he’s learned in the last couple years, too.
Even don’t smile.
Don’t do any of the Negan s—.
He did and it was great, and I’m glad they let us do that.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
