The Walking Dead (2010–2022)
Trivia
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Spoilers (23)
All of the principal actors have a "Last Supper" the day they film their death scenes. This "unorthodox idea" came to Frank Darabont's mind when he was watching Season 1 of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (2009), a comedy show starring actor/singer Gustavo Goulart.
During production of season eight, stuntman John Bernecker fell 22 feet from a balcony onto the concrete floor, missing the crash pad by inches. He was rushed to Atlanta Medical Center and pronounced dead soon after. Episode 8.1 is dedicated to his memory.
Addy Miller reprises her role as the little zombie girl from the pilot, The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye (2010), in the episode The Walking Dead: Mercy (2017). Rick Grimes comes across her after scolding Carl for almost helping a man that was talking to himself and begging for food.
Melissa McBride was offered the role of Carol Peletier without an audition after Frank Darabont was impressed by her performance in his film The Mist (2007).
In an interview Robert Kirkman claimed Norman Reedus (Daryl) originally auditioned for the part of Merle Dixon. He was rejected, but his audition so intrigued the producers that they created the part of Daryl just for him.
The extras who play walkers have to go through "walker school" to learn how to walk and move like walkers.
Sonequa Martin-Green originally auditioned for the role of Michonne. While she was unsuccessful, producers liked her audition so much, that they created the role of Sasha Williams for her (the character does not appear in the comics).
In an interview on National Public Radio, Steven Yeun said that his parents, who emigrated from South Korea as adults, watch the show faithfully, but do not always understand the English dialogue, so they get a bootlegged version with Korean subtitles. Yeun also said that his father once asked him to thank Melissa McBride for saving his life. Even though Yeun reminded his father that it was all make-believe, Mr. Yeun insisted that his son should thank her, which he did.
For Season 3, the make-up team used darker skin tones for the walkers to show further decay as time had progressed.
Laurie Holden originally auditioned for the role of Lori Grimes, before she was offered the role of Andrea Harrison.
In 2018 a new AMC policy was announced that allows both The Walking Dead (2010) and Fear the Walking Dead (2015) to use the "F" word twice per season.
Frank Darabont was fired by AMC halfway through filming of the second season. Glen Mazzara then took over as showrunner before leaving after season 3 due to creative differences with AMC. Scott M. Gimple then took over before leaving after season 8 to become Chief Content Officer at AMC, overseeing the whole franchise. Gimple was replaced by Angela Kang.
There are two zombies in the first episode of the show that are the same actors and make-up as two of the zombies used in Zombieland (2009).
According to Glen Mazzara, the family who own the farm that was used for the Greene Family Farm in season 2 initially refused to let the series film there after they objected to its content. Frank Darabont then flew out to the farm to discuss the series with the family, after which they relented and allowed production to film.
In the entire series, Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, and Sarah Wayne Callies are the only cast members to have been credited alongside images of themselves in the opening credits. This occurred in the first two seasons only.
According to Alanna Masterson, the character of Tara was originally only supposed to appear in 3 episodes.
In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly Frank Darabont was asked whether he had watched the show since being fired by AMC during season 2. Darabont answered: "No more than I would go to the wedding of somebody who broke my heart and left me for the Pilates instructor. One does become very emotionally attached to the things that one does. I get tremendously invested. Why would I do that? Absolutely not, I won't."
In an October 2011 interview with io9 George A. Romero talked about turning down an offer to work on the show, saying: "I love the books, I haven't seen any of the episodes. Listen I love Frank [Darabont], I know he's done a good job. I love the books, I never watched any of the episodes because... my zombies are sort of my own. I didn't want to be part of it. Producers called and said, 'do you want to direct some of these,' and I said no. Because I just didn't think it was me."
The series was shot on 16mm film for most of its run, but switched to digital video starting with The Walking Dead: Home Sweet Home (2021) due to difficulties shooting with and processing film during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The character Edwin Jenner, the doctor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is an homage to Dr. Edward Jenner (II), who developed the first vaccine (which was for smallpox).
When Frank Darabont was in discussion with HBO about taking the series, Thomas Jane was attached to play Rick Grimes. The negotiations fell through, and when the series was eventually greenlit by AMC, Jane was unable to appear due to working on Hung (2009).
The woman (Phillip's wife) in The Governor's (David Morrissey's) family photograph is producer Denise M. Huth.
From season to season, the title score is transposed between a semi-tone and a full tone lower to reflect the darker atmosphere of the series.
In an appearance on Conan (2010) Robert Kirkman explained why the term zombie is never used in the show: "We wanted to kind of give you a sense that The Walking Dead takes place in a universe where zombie fiction doesn't exist. No one inside The Walking Dead has seen a Romero movie, so they can't get the rules from that. We felt like not having people use that word would separate it from that a little bit, make it a little more clear." Kirkman went on to say that he still refers to it as a zombie show, and that the walkers are referred to as zombies in the scripts, just not in the dialogue. (In the comics, characters have used the term several times).
The trailers for the show released at Comic Con over the years, has always been popular around the world. However, the trailer for season 8 released in July 2017, broke several records. Four days after its release, the trailer had been watched over 31 million times, beating all other trailers released at Comic Con 2017 with the same time frame. It also beat the highly anticipated 7th season of the show, that had 25 million views in its first four days.
During cold filming (for example, "Beside the Dying Fire"), walker breath has to be digitally removed in post-production.
While Woodbury is an actual town in west Georgia, scenes featuring the town,were filmed in downtown Senoia, GA, which is about 30 miles away.
In 2015 at a SXSW showcase, executive producer David Alpert recalled the approach made to NBC in 2005 about taking on the series. Alpert said: "I remember sitting down with the president of NBC at the time and saying, 'You want to put this on your network?' and I held up the book and it has a picture of a zombie with blood all over his face and scared Rick holding a gun. 'This is never going to go on NBC.' The exec said, 'No, we're going to do something different and really shake things up!' So we delivered the script exactly the way we said we would, and they passed." According to Alpert, the NBC exec said the network couldn't put zombies on TV.
Originally, the characters of Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino) and Mika (Kyla Kenedy) were going to be cast as different-gendered twins, with Mika being a boy named Mike. However, after Kyla Kenedy's audition via Skype, they scrapped the idea so they could cast her.
According to Norman Reedus, he accidentally incited a small panic among the show's fans when a photo surfaced of him sporting a prosthetic dismembered stomach. This photo is not of Reedus' character of Daryl Dixon, but rather his character in Pandorum (2009).
In 2019 at Walker Stalker Con Matthew Lillard revealed that he auditioned for Negan and went down to the final two before losing the role to Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
In the comics Magna (Nadia Hilker) has a pistol that she wears in a drop leg holster. Prop master Gillian Albinski wanted to echo that look with Magna's knives, so she carries them in a sheath on her leg.
The horse seen in the pilot, The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye (2010), is the same horse used in Survival of the Dead (2009).
In an online interview it was revealed that Frank Darabont envisioned having several self-contained episodes that would not continue the main story. One such episode would have been the Season 2 premiere. It would have involved Sam Witwer (who Darabont used in The Mist (2007) and played the tank zombie in the series premiere) as a soldier in a Black Hawk Down (2001)-styled Atlanta. Witwer's character would have encountered several of the cast before being bitten and locking himself in the tank.
In an interview with Empire Dave Bautista revealed that he had asked to be a zombie on the show, offering to appear for free, but was turned down because the makers of the show believed he was too big to play a zombie.
An article in Hollywood Hills reported that Rutina Wesley had been cast in the role of Michonne. This was subsequently denied by Robert Kirkman who claimed Wesley had never been considered for the part. Wesley did go on to guest star in season 9 episode The Walking Dead: Scars (2019) as Jocelyn, a former friend of Michonne's.
Morgan Jones' son's name is Duane. Duane Jones is the name of the lead actor who played "Ben" in the original Night of the Living Dead (1968).
In 2016 at a masterclass at the Edinburgh Intl. TV Festival executive producer Gale Anne Hurd talked about NBC passing on the series. Creator Frank Darabont presented the first version of the script to the network, with whom he had an overall deal. According to Hurd, NBC responded by asking if there had to be zombies in it. NBC then went on to ask Darabont if the show could be a procedural in which the two main protagonists would "solve a zombie crime of the week".
According to Alanna Masterson, the character of Tara was originally much older but was rewritten after her audition.
The show was made into a haunted house at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, FL. There was also a maze in Universal Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights for its 2012 event.
Two zombies from George A. Romero's Day of the Dead (1985) can be spotted in the series. The first one is the iconic Bub, who can be seen in the zombie-infested tunnel in S4E15, The Walking Dead: Us (2014). The second one is the very first zombie that appears in Romero's movie and can be seen in S7E9 The Walking Dead: Rock in the Road (2017), laying against a wall. Greg Nicotero, make-up artist in The Walking Dead (2010) was also part of the make-up team in Day of the Dead, in which he also appeared playing Johnson, one of the soldiers.
According to Greg Nicotero in an interview with Huffington Post, the set for the fictional West Georgia Correctional Facility at Raleigh Studios cost $1.5 million to construct.
Ross Marquand (Aaron) previously auditioned for the role of Gareth.
Angel Theory originally auditioned for the role of Connie. She did not get the role but her audition impressed enough that the character of Kelly was rewritten for her and made a sister to Connie. (In the comics Kelly was a man who was Connie's boyfriend).
Illustrator Charlie Adlard based Negan's look in the comics on Henry Rollins. In an interview with Forbes in June 2016, Rollins revealed that he had auditioned for the role.
Following the airing of the Season 11 Premiere, Acheron: Part I, The Walking Dead became the most in demand show on planet earth according to Parrot Analytics.
In March 2011 Stephen King revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he was in talks with Frank Darabont to co-write an episode with his son Joe Hill for either season 2 or 3. This did not end up coming to pass.
John Hawkes turned down the role of the Governor. Hawkes explained to Movieweb: "They offered me the role, and I just felt there would be someone else who could do it better. I was flattered, and I took a look at the series. It held interest for me, but I just didn't feel like I was the guy for it. I have to be careful of what TV shows I choose, particularly ones that have commercials in them, because it's going to be a different kind of television show. There are going to be sponsors. No matter how good the show is, if there are commercials, it's going to be a different show, to me. That's just my personal feeling. Yeah, it was nice of them to ask, and it's a good show, but, again, I just didn't feel I was the guy. They came to me and sent me the graphic novel and the first two seasons. I took a look at them, and just didn't feel like it was for me."
According to Chad L. Coleman, Robert Kirkman lobbied for him to be cast as Tyreese as he was a fan of Coleman's work in The Wire (2002).
A female saviour who is quite close to Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), is named "Arat" and is played by Elizabeth Faith Ludlow. In the comics her name is actually Tara but it was reversed for the show to avoid confusion with Alanna Masterson's character, who was already named Tara.
In a January 2012 interview with Movieweb Tom Savini revealed that he had lobbied for the role of The Governor. Savini said: "Listen, I have been campaigning to be the governor on that damn thing with Greg Nicotero for over a year. Everytime I see the graphic novel, and I see a picture of The Governor, who looks just like me, I send Greg a picture. I just won't give up. Last time I talked to him about it, when I was in Los Angeles, he said they were going after a name for that part. I said, "Who?" He said John Hawkes. Well, I never heard of John Hawkes. But then he reminds me that we were in From Dusk Till Dawn together. He is the guy at the beginning in the store that fires on them. Apparently he was up for an Academy Award. He was up for something called Winter's Bone. That's whom they are going after for The Governor. But everyone I talk to, the people that read the graphic novels...They've all said that I would be the perfect governor. Because he is tough and brutal. And...I look just like the graphic depiction of him!"
Garret Dillahunt, a fan of the show and the comics, tweeted a picture of one of the comics compendiums, the specific compendium tweeted leading some people to believe Dillahunt had been cast as Negan. After reading the comics, Dillahunt did have a conversation with showrunner Scott M. Gimple but does not believe he was ever seriously in the running for the role. (Dillahunt also mentioned that his commitment to Hand of God (2014) meant that he would have been unable to take on the role anyway). Dillahunt did go on to be cast as John Dorie in spin-off Fear the Walking Dead (2015).
In an interview with "Music Times", Chris Daughtry revealed that he auditioned for the role of Dwight.
In 2015 The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Timothy Olyphant had auditioned for the role of Negan. Olyphant later denied this had happened, telling Digital Spy in 2017: "I'm not familiar with it. I mean, I know it exists and I hear it's great. But if somebody offered me a part in The Walking Dead, I never heard about it."
Tovah Feldshuh based her portrayal of Deanna Monroe on Hillary Clinton.
In an interview on the WINC Podcast in October 2017, Matt Morgan revealed that he auditioned for the role of Abraham Ford. Morgan said: "I auditioned for that part and I was all but told that it was mine. So I got bitchy about it and refused to watch because I didn't get it. I was at my brother's house in Boston, supposed to be there for the holidays and I didn't pay attention to anybody because I was supposed to be memorizing my scripts and then, at the last second, they pulled the carpet out from underneath me."
In an interview with PEOPLE Now in October 2016 Maria Bello claimed that a friend of hers who was a producer on the show, was writing a role for her in the series upcoming eighth season. Bello did not end up appearing in the show.
Spoilers
In the Season 5 premiere, The Walking Dead: No Sanctuary (2014), when the Terminites were slicing throats, the main cast members were not told about the prosthetic necks and fake blood that would ooze through the trowel in front of them. So their reactions at having their "throats" cut were real.
The last five episodes of Season 5 (The Walking Dead: Remember (2015), The Walking Dead: Forget (2015), The Walking Dead: Spend (2015), The Walking Dead: Try (2015), The Walking Dead: Conquer (2015)) are named based on a quote by Dale in Season 1: "I like what a father said to his son when he gives him a watch that had been handed down through generations . . l I give it to you not that you may REMEMBER time, but that you may FORGET it for a moment now and then and not SPEND all of your breath TRYing to CONQUER it."
In the show, Michonne hates The Governor based on a hunch, and he loses an eye. However, in the comics he rapes her for days, leading to the loss of his eye, arm and testicle when she gets her revenge. In a 2018 interview David Morrissey, who played The Governor said he was glad the violence was toned down for the show. Speaking to Cerealkillerz at Vienna Comic Con Morrissey stated: "I was pleased that some of the stuff between the Governor and Michonne didn't come out into the TV version.I thought that was pretty brutal in the comics. Not just the fact she cuts his nuts off or he loses his eye with a spoon, but some of the way they treated Michonne and the torture and stuff, I wasn't wild about."
Dale had not originally been scheduled to die as early as he did in the show. However, after his close friend Frank Darabont was fired as producer, DeMunn asked to be killed off. Later he had a change of heart, but his death had already been scripted and budgeted for, so his request to continue on the series was denied.
All of Carol's children are played by actual siblings. Sophia, who turns and is shot by Rick is played by Madison Lintz. Younger Henry is played by Macsen Lintz, and older Henry is played by Matt Lintz.
At the beginning of Season 1, Episode 5, The Walking Dead: Wildfire (2010), Edwin Jenner mentions in his live video recording, that it has been 196 days since "wildfire" (when the disease got out of control, but not yet global). This episode is on the fourth day after Rick wakes from his coma. If there is no mention or signs of a "disease" at the time of Rick's nearly fatal shooting (first episode), this suggests he could've been comatose for over six months.
A few seconds after the Season 5 mid-season finale, The Walking Dead: Coda (2014), ended, AMC's Facebook page mistakenly shared a picture of Daryl carrying Beth's corpse, with the caption "R.I.P. Beth". It was badly received by people who had not watched the episode yet in the West Coast, Europe and South America.
At a panel at Walker Stalker Con in July 2016 Laurie Holden revealed the original plan for the character of Andrea. Holden said: "Well I had an 8 year deal, I was supposed to be there until the end. I was supposed to end up with Rick. I was supposed to save Woodbury on a horse, and I was buying a house in Atlanta. I got the call at 10 o' clock the night before, while I was shooting, from the show runner who is no longer a part of The Walking Dead, saying that they couldn't write the episode and that he was killing my character. So we all got the script everybody on the set was sobbing. I felt like I got shot. None of it was supposed to happen the way it did."
The storyline of Connie's disappearance in season 10 was written so Lauren Ridloff could go and film Eternals (2021).
In an interview with RadioTV Talk in December 2017 Scott Wilson revealed that he kept one of the prosthetic heads that was used for Herschel's decapitation by The Governor. (Another one of the heads is on display in the Smithsonian museum).
At a panel at Walker Stalker Con in September 2017 Laurie Holden revealed that she disagreed with the deviations from Andrea's storyline in the comics. Holden said: "I think the departure from book Andrea to the screen was a mistake. I mean, it's not like I couldn't pull it off. I think the whole stuff that they wrote about Andrea and the Governor was complete and utter nonsense. I did the best that I could to tell that narrative, and to justify it where Andrea kept her heart. I love Scott Gimple for giving me a gorgeous death with redemption so that you understood, and she wasn't a victim - she died on her own terms. But I think that there was so much beautiful narrative that was lost and that she should have been there a long time, and been the leader that Kirkman created in the comic book."
The church structure that plays a prominent role during the first half of season five, was not a real church. It was built from the ground up, and then aged to look appropriately worn and real. In the DVD extras, it is explained that they decided they had to build a new structure, instead of filming in a practical church location, because they knew from before the season started, that the brutal and bloody events in "Four Walls and a Roof" would have to be filmed there, and they were quite certain that no actual church would allow for those actions to be simulated on their grounds. By contrast, the town of Alexandria (which plays a similarly prominent role in the second half of season five) is not only a real community (Senoia, Georgia), but the development, in which the show is filmed, has a codicil in its charter, that its residents have to allow movies and television shows to be filmed there.
Following Episode 9.5, The Walking Dead: What Comes After (2018), Scott M. Gimple revealed a spin-off movie would be made. Andrew Lincoln will reprise his role of Rick Grimes and it will center around his encounter with the helicopter group who rescued him in the closing moments of his final episode of the television series. The first film in the planned trilogy, to premiere on AMC, will explore the "vast mythology" behind the community trading for "A" and "B" people and will be told from Rick's point of view.
The three questions Rick asks the woman in the woods, in the Season 4 premiere, The Walking Dead: 30 Days Without an Accident (2013), were foreshadowed by Season 3, Episode 6 The Walking Dead: Hounded (2012), when Rick was getting phone calls in prison after Lori's death.
The storyline of Kelly's progressive hearing loss was based on Angel Theory's own hearing loss in real life. (After being in a car accident, Theory first started losing her hearing in her right ear before starting to lose hearing in her left.) Theory told Insider that she currently wears hearing aids in both ears but has been told of the possibility that she may lose her hearing completely. Showrunner Angela Kang said to Insider: "Rather than fighting against that, we just thought we'd make it part of the story."
Beth's death, in the Season 5 mid-season finale, caused an uproar on social media, with fans sending hate mail and death threats to Scott M. Gimple, along with boxes of plastic spoons being sent to AMC (a reference to the silver Washington, D.C. spoon Beth found). A Change.org petition titled "Bring Beth Back" was also created, and had collected over 135,000 signatures and was even discussed on Good Morning America (1975).
In an interview with SFX Magazine Greg Nicotero revealed that Carol was going to die in The Walking Dead: Killer Within (2012) but the plan was changed and T-Dog was killed instead. (In the comics Carol did die in the prison, when she ended her life by letting a zombie bite her).
In an 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter Robert Kirkman revealed that his one regret about the show was the CDC story at the end of season 1 (which was not in the comics). Kirkman said: "If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have done the CDC episode. It possibly gave away too much information and was such a big change very early on in the series. I feel like there might have been a better way to wrap up the first season. It ended up being a fun episode. I love the character of Dr. Jenner and thought Noah [Emmerich] did an amazing job. But there were things in that episode that I think seem very much not of The Walking Dead world."
Heath, who was last seen in the season 7 episode The Walking Dead: Swear (2016) was written out of the show due to Corey Hawkins being offered film roles. In season 9 episode The Walking Dead: What Comes After (2018) Jadis escapes in the same RV that Heath was last seen driving. Angela Kang subsequently confirmed that Heath had been captured by The Scavengers and traded to the Civic Republic Military (CRM) for supplies.
All three main child characters (Judith, RJ and Hershel) have never met their birth fathers. Judith's father, Shane, was killed by Rick before her birth. RJ's father, Rick, disappeared during the bridge explosion and is presumed by the survivors to be deceased. RJ was born after this incident. Hershel's father, Glenn Rhee, was murdered by Negan prior to his birth.
In an interview for the podcast 'Talk Dead to Me' in May 2020 Lew Temple revealed that Axel was originally written as a serial killer who would go on to kill Beth. This storyline was dropped as it was felt to be too dark.
In the Comics, Rick loses his right hand in his first interaction with the Governer. Governer chops it off. However, in series, this doesn't happen.
Ritchie Coster (Pope) previously auditioned for the roles of Abraham Ford, Bob Stookey and Negan Smith
