Once among TV’s most popular series, AMC’s The Walking Dead followed Rick Grimes, a sheriff’s deputy who wakes from a coma to find the world overrun by zombies, colloquially referred to as “walkers.” As he searches for his missing wife and son, Rick encountered a variety of survivors and learns the profound depths of human cruelty and resilience. Over time, the show’s focus shifted from simple survival amid the walker outbreak to conflicts between surviving communities, each striving to establish their own vision of a new civilization. The central theme emphasized the struggles and ethical dilemmas that arise in this gruesome and uncertain world.
Spinoff series The Walking Dead: Dead City continues that legacy. Premiering on AMC this Sunday, June 18, it tracks the journey of beloved Walking Dead characters Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffery Dean Morgan), who leaves behind his young companion Ginny (Mahina Anne Marie Napoleon) as they venture into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan. They are simultaneously hunting a man called The Croat (Željko Ivanek), while running from New Babylon Marshal Armstrong (Gaius Charles). The decayed city teems with both the deceased and inhabitants who have claimed New York City as their own realm, brimming with walkers, chaos and uncertainty. The episodes “Old Acquaintances” and “Who’s There,” which premiered Tuesday at the Tribeca Festival in Nw York, are full of action, suspense and gore.
After the screening Morgan, Cohan, Charles, Ivanek and producer Brian Broockrath took part in a Q&A to talk about the experience and answer fan questions.
The first thing discussed is the way the cast is scaled down within a larger set piece. “It’s a big difference that, instead of having to service 25 characters (like The Walking Dead), we got to focus on the core of five: Maggie, Negan, The Croat, Armstrong and Ginny,” Morgan said.
Cohan followed up with: “We always knew shooting in New York was special because it’s a character on its own. It’s bigger than any one of us could have ever imagined.”
Many Walking Dead fans are excited to see the unlikely pairing of Negan and Maggie, especially with their history throughout the series. After working together for many years, Morgan and Cohan built chemistry as actors, characters and people. For newbies entering the fold, integrating into an already established process can be intimidating. Makes you wonder how much Charles and Ivanek learned from watching The Walking Dead and how that helped them prepare for their roles.
“I went back to watch the original, mainly because I wanted to see this relationship and how this all came about,” Ivanek said. “And I noticed Croat’s story becomes clearer in the later episodes, and his backstory is folded into Negan’s history.”
Charles chimes in stating, “I went back and I watched the original show, and I was just blown away by the acting, storytelling and the writing. What’s cool about my character is that he is new to the lore, so myself and the character get to discover these new relationships.”
‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’
AMC
In Dead City, there’s a new Negan. He’s older, subdued, more empathetic, but there are certain scenes in which “Negan 1.0,” as Morgan called it, peeks through. The actor does miss some of those sensibilities about the character and is stoked that viewers will see glimpses of that throughout the season.
“Negan had to regress a little. Negan 2.0 doesn’t do well on his own and needs to be surrounded by people,” the actor said. “But I love the original and miss him. Not that the new Negan doesn’t have his benefits, but there’s something about the original and his line delivery that I miss.”
The cast had to get real physical in the show. During the episodes I saw, Maggie and Negan were kicking, punching, shooting and swinging their way through New York. They found themselves doing their own stunts most times. Cohan has several grand fight scenes to contend with and said that experience made her performance more authentic.
“I think in some ways, it’s cathartic as the performer and it’s cathartic for the character,” she said. “I think that’s part of the fabric of this show where things get physical, visceral, bloody. I didn’t know how much I was going to enjoy seeing it on this big screen and see the guts fly, but it’s so cool.”
Ivanek has played many unsavory characters during his career and understands what it takes to make a good villain. He often finds the humanity within these characters and manages to translate that into a performance.
“For the vulnerability of people you look at their story and why they got backed into a corner in the first place, and you examine their distorted view of the world,” he said. “Croat is like Negan in he’s thinking about the safety and protection of his people. Can’t blame him for that.”
Added Morgan: “Negan feels like this needs to be controlled, but in later episodes you see where the beef between Croat and Negan started and why they were both on the run. I think that’ll be the fun of seeing what you know makes him tick.”
Broockrath has been working on Walking Dead series since 2010, starting with the original, then the first spinoff Fear The Walking Dead — whose eighth and final season is airing now on AMC — and now Dead City. He explains what it’s like creating all these new shows that have to stand independently on their own and stay connected through narrative, character work and storytelling.
“It’s something we talk a lot about. It has to be both different and familiar,” the producer said. “We’re in this amazing position to stand on the shoulders of this monumental television series. We recognize there’s value in maintaining that sense of familiarity, but then looking for ways to justify the continued existence of these new shows by actually evolving into something that feels distinct and different.”
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