The Walking Dead: Two Behind-the-Scenes Videos and a Q&A with Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale)
The Season One finale of “The Walking Dead” is coming closer and closer so of course AMC is letting loose with all manner of new behind-the-scenes videos and interviews with the show’s stars. Up next are some hang-out time with Steven Yeun (Glenn) and a closer look at Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale)’s RV along with a Q&A with fan favorite DeMunn.
First, follow Steven Yeun on set as he offers his co-stars free hugs (while slathered in walker guts) and dishes on who in the cast might back him up in a bar fight. Next, actor Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale) takes you on a guided tour of the 1977 Winnebago (including where he stashes his gin).
“The Walking Dead” is based on Robert Kirkman’s popular comic series. It chronicles the months and years following a zombie apocalypse. Frank Darabont is the project’s writer, director of the pilot, and exec producer with Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert also exec producing. KNB is handling the effects, and Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey DeMunn, IronE Singleton, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Chandler Riggs, Steven Yeun, Michael Rooker, Emma Bell, Adrian Kali Turner, Linds Edwards, Keith Allen Hayes, and Jim Coleman star in the series.
Q&A with Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale): (beware of spoilers)
The actor discusses his role as Frank Darabont’s “good luck charm,” sees common ground between “The Walking Dead” and Stephen King, and doles out tips for surviving the apocalypse.
Q: You’ve been in nearly every Frank Darabont project. Can he still surprise you?
A: At this point I don’t think it’s so much surprises as it is that he keeps coming up with such amazing groups of people. I know that when I work with Frank that he will have assembled not just a whole bunch of talent, but a whole bunch of really cooperative people.
Q: Darabont calls you his good luck charm. Do you feel that way too?
A: He’s just a wonderful friend and colleague, and I love working with him. Yeah, I had heard that and he’d told me that, and I suppose we’ve been lucky for each other. It’s been a great relationship.
Q: What was it like working with walkers daily?
A: You know, I ended up loving it… I never said, “Gee I hope some day I get to do a show with zombies.” But it is a genre I have always enjoyed watching, and it turned out to be absolutely fabulous.
Q: Since Atlanta was so hot during the shoot, were you glad Dale always wore a sun hat?
A: I wasn’t sorry about that. The heat was interesting because in the end I think it was a unifying force. Everybody was in it; there wasn’t a person there that wasn’t in this incredible heat. We looked after each other.
Q: You and Laurie Holden worked together on The Mist and The Majestic. Did those previous experiences help your chemistry?
A: Yeah, it’s nice. We trust each other, we know each other. That’s always a good thing.
Q: You’ve done a few Stephen King adaptations. Are there similarities between “The Walking Dead” and Stephen King?
A: When you started asking that, I immediately thought of Storm of the Century a little bit. I suppose there is some similarity there — like there is this force that you really can’t do much about.
Q: Got any post-apocalyptic advice you’d like to share?
A: Twelve-gauge.
Q: Is that your weapon of choice?
A: If I could use any weapon, that’s the one that I would probably grab. The one I am using is a Remington, which is roughly like a thirty-aught-six.
Q: And for your stealthy melee weapon?
A: I am definitely in favor of the axe.
Q: That’s what you used in Episode 3 against a walker who was played by Special FX Make-Up Designer Greg Nicotero.
A: Man, that guy; I tell you, he gave his all to that. I can’t believe it. He’s such a creative talent. And then to let himself be the victim on that one, but he chose that. He really wanted it to be good and to work well. He knew that he could bring that to it, and geez, he took a beating.
Q: You chopped off his head! Were you afraid of missing by a few inches and actually hurting him?
A: Oh yeah! Granted, when push came to shove, that wasn’t a standard axe that I was taking toward his neck, but it still had weight and heft to it. And you’re going through the back of someone’s neck, which is about as vulnerable a spot as it could be. I had to be really careful. We practiced it, and they kept saying, “Well no, that’s not it, a little more.”
Q: What was it like shooting the camp attack scene?
A: The first day that I was around [the walkers], I remember coming around the corner of one of the trailers, and it just stunned me, this creature that was standing there. And then the evening that we shot the scene where the camp is threatened, we had to wait until dark, and we were all just up on the little mountaintop there hanging out, chatting and waiting. Then the vans arrived, and out came about 40 or 45 of these creatures in a bunch. I think they had been told to be quiet when they got to the set because they silently made their way right down the middle of the road. Everyone just parted and got out of the way while this crowd of creatures got to where they were supposed to be.
“The Walking Dead” ends its first season run this Sunday, December 5, at 10/9c on AMC, which is also home to a marathon of all the previous episodes starting at 4:30/3:30c.
To stay up-to-the-minute on all things walker related, follow @WalkingDead_AMC on Twitter and visit “The Walking Dead” on Facebook. For more, including online extras for the episodes aired thus far, be sure to hit up the official “The Walking Dead” page on AMC.com
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