I had hoped to post the video of the complete The Walking Dead panel from Fan Expo, but technical difficulties are preventing it, so here are the highlights. This isn’t a word for word transcript to the whole panel – but it’s pretty close. In attendance were Carl Riggs (Chandler), Norman Reedus (Daryl) and Lennie James (Morgan). The panel was moderated by Ajay Fry from Space.
Ajay: Lennie, when did you find out you were coming back?
Lennie: Didn’t know when they did the Pilot if there would even be a season 2, but when they did the Pilot he was told there was a chance the character would be coming back. Every year, Gale or someone else from AMC would check for availability and then in season three I came back and from there on there were continuous conversations about me coming back.
Ajay: Chandler, are you still a gamer? Are you playing Destiny? (Lennie voices Crucible in the game)
Chandler: Heck, yeah! Loves The Walking Dead games by Telltale.
Ajay: Norman, would you take your shirt off? Crowd goes wild – it’s clearly a joke. Ajay then asks if Norman realized he’d become a sex symbol when he took on the role.
Norman: Look at me! What are you talking about?! It’s just ridiculous…
Ajay: Lennie, Can you talk about doing the voice for Destiny?
Lennie: I don’t play games, so my experience is they lock me in a room for hours, and they ask me to speak stupidness. And that’s what I do. (In a different voice) You are free, guardian! You’ve done well. Start again! (In his regular voice) I do that literally for four hours, guys jump around behind the booth, and then I go home.
They then went to questions from the floor.
*How does it feel to have a character who inspires a t-shirt like “if Daryl dies, we riot?
*If you could revive anyone who’s died, who would it be?
Chandler: Shane.
Norman: All of them. Hershel. I miss Hershel.
Lennie: I would have shot my wife, so my son would still be here.
*Which set was the most interesting to film on?
Norman: I liked the prison. That was fun.
Chandler: We actually built that set. It was on top of our production office. And all the soundstages they put up fake concrete and bricks. It was really cool.
Ajay: Have you taken any souvenirs from set?
Norman: It’s funny how many of our crew grab things now. In the beginning, it was just throw it in the trash, until the show got bigger and bigger and everyone’s like, ‘I’ll take that lightbulb, I’ll take that sign.’ I take a vest and a crossbow every year for myself. I have the ears. Chris thinks he has the real ones, but I do. After the “Still” episode, I gave Beth the turtle shell.
*Is it weird to hand out with the zombies when the cameras aren’t rolling?
Lennie: I’ve got a favorite zombie. He’s a guy, Coleman, and he’s just really good, so I go and hang out with him on break. We don’t speak. We just sit together and go, “hey” and he goes, “grunt.” Does it for me, cheers me up.
Chandler: A lot of zombies are just really chill. They’re just normal people. It’s just like Halloween all the time.
*Do you have a special diet or work out regiment because it’s a post-apocalyptic world and you wouldn’t have as much food as in the real world?
Norman: I kind of only eat on set, to be honest, just because I never go to the grocery store. But I’m definitely trying to go more cheetah than gorilla, if you know what I mean… I just don’t eat.
*For Chandler, how was it for changing your attitude from season one to now?
Chandler: I was 10 or 11 when I started the show, so I’ve kind of grown up with my character. It’s been really fun playing the character and getting to grow up with the character. It’s funny, people ask me if I ever yell at my character when I’m reading the scripts, but I don’t ever really do that because I understand the motives behind everything that he does. I am Carl, kind of. I just understand why he does things.
*Do you like how you can bring characters in the comic and for Norman how you’re bringing a new character to life?
Chandler: Yeah. I really enjoy playing a character from the comics, and before I started, before I auditioned, I started reading the comics to get a better idea of how to play my character, and it was just so cool to reenact all the things that I’ve read in the comics. It’s been really fun.
Lennie: If I want to know what’s going on in the comics, I just ask Chandler. When we’re in make-up, I just say, what’s this about, then? And he tells us – he’s the font of all knowledge. I read the comics just before I got started, and since I’ve been doing the show, I’ve put them on the backburner because the show is telling Morgan’s story in a slightly different way.
Norman: I too ask Chandler what’s going on. I think we all ask Chandler what’s going on.
Chandler: I just tell you. I’m excited about it.
Norman: We ask Chandler how to use our iPhones… pretty much everything. I don’t mind not being in the comics. But I wouldn’t mind being in the comics. I think it would be fun. In the beginning, I thought I might get a lot of heat for not being in the comics from the die-hard comics fans, and then they kind of embraced me and now were all cool. I wouldn’t mind seeing a little cartoon.
*They were asked if they’d seen Fear the Walking Dead.
Chandler: I have.
Lennie: We ask Chandler.
Chandler: I enjoyed it. I think a lot of people didn’t like it as much, but I really enjoyed it. The cinematography is very different than The Walking Dead. We had Darabont with this just really epic feeling of everything overwhelming you, and for Fear the Walking Dead, it’s more personal and it’s more personal and intimate.
*What has been the most challenging scene for you to film so far?
Norman: I think Beth dying was pretty rough. Stabbing my brother in the face was pretty rough. (laughter)
Chandler: Shooting my mom was pretty intense.
Norman: Shooting your wife… (laughter)
Lennie: Not shooting my wife.
Chandler: We’ve all gone through some stuff.
Lennie: There’s a scene in the upcoming season where we’re all in kind of a challenging situation and it was a challenging location and it was exceptionally hot. It was a tough one just physically. One of the things that’s been slightly different for me, having a bit more time on The Walking Dead this time around is when I popped in and out I could see the guys and see the sort of strain from filming in the Georgia heat and this time it’s me. It’s physically really demanding. You have to be up and ready and hydrated because you’re going to lose a lot of water and be sweating like… our set stinks… it really smells.
*In the show, you’re always looking for a way out (of the room, etc you are in). Ever bring that to real life? Do you ever enter a room and think where are the exits?
Norman: Every time! I do that everywhere I go. Honestly, I think I did that before.
Lennie: I think I said on The Talking Dead how I walk into supermarkets and think how I could take out everyone there with my stick. I think I said to someone yesterday when I was signing, it mostly happens when people are walking toward me… is I get them in the chin then they’re out. (laughter) That’s what I do now.
*The question was about Silent Hill and how he’s like to hear Norman’s delivery on a classic Silent Hill line: “This town is full of monsters! How can you just sit there and eat pizza!
Norman: That was weird. I like that line though. I could use that in New York just walking around. Norman likes both guys involved with the picture and doesn’t know what happened in Japan. He ran into Guillermo (del Toro) recently, but he doesn’t know what’s happening with the picture.
I hope it happens, and that’s all I can say. I like your thing – it was weird and cool!
Ajay: Are you looking forward to Silent Hill, Chandler? Are you into the horror genre?
Chandler: Oh, yeah! I was looking forward to it.
*What is it like working on a show that kills off its characters and you don’t know if you’re the next to go?
Chandler: It sucks because we lose people we’re close to all the time. It sucks. Luckily, with Scott he has the mercy to tell us and give us a fair heads up if we’re the next to go.
Lennie: I just spend the whole time trying to stand behind Norman. Cause they’re not going to kill him…
Norman: Don’t say that! It does suck. It’s kind of like losing a family member.
Ajay: Is there any tradition when someone goes? Give them a severed limb or something on their last day? (laughter)
Norman: We do have the death dinners that everyone knows about that has become more and more private. Tequila shots, and selfies, and tears – like that. I still talk to a lot of them all the time. John and Scott, a lot of them.
*Thanks for the photo op last night (Norman). Since the fame you have in the show has anything come about in generosity and giving?
Norman: First off, how was that photo op? It’s like Hi/Bye, Hi/Bye – they’re really quick. In the last couple years the giving back thing has really filled me with a lot of happiness. Being able to do that. A friend of mine called me up and send his nephew drowned in a swimming pool but they were able to resuscitate him, and they started a kickstarter to help pay the bills, can you do something? And I tweeted out when I was leaving set, if you can help this kid please help him. And by the time I got home, they raised the money. So I pulled the car over to the side of the road and I was like, Wow, that’s awesome! That I could do that, or help do that. Since that moment, I’ve been doing a lot of that stuff. Flying to meet kids, and doing things. It’s probably one of the best parts of this. I’m always doing that, we’re all always doing it. He (pointing to Chandler) did it this morning.
*Do you know about bad lip reading? And what was your reaction?
Chandler: I thought it was hilarious. I was honored to have bad lip reading make a song out of me. It’s fun to watch. I went around and showed the whole cast. I was so excited, it was our show, it’s what we’re proud of and it’s getting really big. It’s really cool.
*Do you guys ever go on Tumblr or Reddit and check out the fan art?
Norman: See that’s what I thought a troll was. (laughter) If you look up your own name, you’re a troll, and I was totally about to cop to that. It’s always ask Chandler.
Chandler: It’s awesome to see all the stuff that people draw and how into the show and how into our characters that they are. It’s really cool.
*What is the favorite line that your character has said?
Chandler: It’s coming up.
Norman: This season has a bunch of good ones.
Lennie: My favorite line isn’t actually one of my favorite lines, it’s a line that Chandler says in the new season. (groans!!) And it is utterly and completely fantastic.
Norman: That’s a really good one!
Lennie: It’s probably the best line ever!
Norman: We need the t-shirt like right now.
Lennie: Wrap-gift – that line on t-shirts.
*Who do you think has the most character development since season one?
Norman: Daryl’s had a lot. We’ve all had a lot.
Chandler: Morgan has a huge transformation. I think everyone has had a massive transformation throughout these years.
Lennie: I think it’s one of the things that’s brilliant about the show. Is that characters get to grow and change. They’re not the same character every single week. You’re not tuning in like you’re tuning in to a good sitcom to see Norm say the same thing at the end of the bar that he’s always been saying. He’s been saying for ten years. You tune in to see how the characters develop and how they change and on this show that really, really happens and the characters also get the chance to carry their history with them. You can pick any character and list the things that happen to them and where they started. Like Steven’s character who started off as the Pizza boy and now, he’s like, God! Everybody changes, everybody develops in this show. It’s one of the things that’s brilliant about working on it.
Norman: And then there’s Andy – (Norman gestured like Andy was all over the place). You can’t even grab at him.
Ajay: Was there a moment in the scripts where you were surprised? Not only by your own character…
Chandler: That’s coming up this season! (laughter) I’m serious! It’s so… I remember I was reading that script, I was like – oh! That’s so cool! I can’t wait to it!
Ajay apologized – he was trying to get us spoilers!
*If you could play any other character on The Walking Dead, who would it be and why?
Lennie: Carol. I like to cook casseroles. I like to scare tall men. (laughter)
Norman: Judith. (laughter)
Chandler: That’s what I was going to say!
Norman: She gets to lay around. Drink milk.
Chandler: She gets to cry and not be cooperative.
Norman: Get off early…
Chandler: Yeah! Like 3 hours.
*A question for Lennie. I’m a big Jericho fan. Are we going to get Morgan’s history next season, and how is Morgan perceiving Rick after seeing what he did last season?
Lennie: I’m trying to figure out how I can answer that question without telling you anything. I think I’m allowed to say yes (we will see more of his backstory).
*In terms of the show’s progression, where do you see your characters going?
Chandler: Death. (laughter)
Norman: I think we’re all headed in that direction.
Ajay: Is there maybe something you’d like to see your characters do or accomplish before the end?
Norman: Maybe sex.
*For Norman. With Daryl always having to be so tough, do you think he will be ready for a romantic relationship? What kind of woman will it take to capture his heart?
Norman: I cried so much last season! I don’t know how tough that was. You have to show all sides of him. I don’t know about the second part of that. If I say anything it will turn into a rumor and get spread around. I have no idea. I think it’ll come out of left field. The thing I like about him is that he’s not really looking for it. And there are certain things about him that are so unexpected. Like going back to that question way back when, I remember doing the Cherokee Rose stuff early on with Carol and I was like, whoa! I didn’t expect Daryl to do all that or even think it. So I think if that ever goes down, it will be some weird, happy accident. And once you do that, you can’t take that back. I don’t think he’s the kind of guy to throw you up against a tree in the moonlight. You know what I’m saying? I don’t think he’s got game. I’ve been saying that forever and I’m still sticking to that. Maybe someone will take pity on him and make out with him – laughs…
*Do you have any fun things you do off set or while you’re filming?
Chandler: Sleep. We don’t get a lot of that.
Norman: Yeah. I was talking to him this morning and asking how was your night? And he says, Awesome! I slept!
Norman: We goof off all the time too. We’ve got bb guns we shoot each other with. Some of us are into golf. I’m not into golf yet. I ride motorcycles back and forth. And sleep.
Lennie: We went to a concert the other night and saw Alice Cooper. This was the highlight so far for me. Alice Cooper ended his set in Atlanta saying “Goodnight Atlanta, home of The Walking Dead.”
Norman: Then we threw knives with him backstage.
Lennie: Yeah, we did!
*What has been your favorite stunt?
Chandler: It’s coming up this season! (laughter) This season is so much like season one, it’s just so big and epic. I was talking to Andy about it a few weeks ago and even the heat is so intense it feels like season one. Everything that we’re doing just feels like we’re going back to season one. Just because it’s so big. It’s amazing.
Norman: Season one on Viagra.
Ajay: Are there any stunts that you can talk about?
Norman: They’re coming. There were so many that I liked. This season has some pretty banana things going on.
Chandler: My favorite is in the first eight.
*During the five seasons, is there one scene you would take back?
The guys were stumped and someone from the audience shouted out “Shooting your wife?”
Lennie: Shooting my wife. (laughter) That’s probably the right idea. If there’s one thing I could change that Morgan’s done, as hard as it would be for him, I’d have him shoot his wife.
Chandler: It would have been really interesting to see Rick kill Lori. As a walker instead of Carl. I think that would have been really interesting to watch. Just because I like to watching Andy hurt. (laughter) No. Not that way…
Norman: I would have liked to see Merle played a little longer. I was a big fan of Rooker before the show. He’s just a tornado of a dude. I would like to see him throw down with the Governor. I don’t think Merle would let the Governor boss him around so much after a while.
*If you could bring one character from the comics onto the show, who would it be and why?
Chandler: You guys are killing me with these questions! It’s coming up next season.
*Daryl has had so much character development. What would season one Daryl think of what’s happening now in Alexandria?
Norman: Early Daryl probably would have just lit everything on fire and run off. We’re doing the Actor’s Studio and they asked us to pick a scene that would most represent our character. I didn’t pick an action scene, it was more of a sit down and talk because that Daryl is so different from the original Daryl. He’s turning into something that you can almost be proud of, you know what I mean? There’s still a little of the old Daryl in Alexandria.
*Were you able to contribute to your character’s story if you had a story idea?
Chandler: They’re open to new ideas. A few years ago, Andy said it would be really cool if we had this group of people called the wolves and we just know about them because they go around and destroy towns, like wolves, but we don’t know who they are. And if we had one scene where Carl’s on a run or something and we see them at the top of this hill, just their silhouettes, and they’re a bunch of kids. And they’re holding these giant guns. It was just a really cool idea. So we’ll see what they do with it. They’re pretty open to ideas.
Norman: There’s been a lot of stuff that I say can I try this and it turns into a thing. But there’s a lot of times where I’m like can I try this and they’re – no. That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard. I’ve said before the Carol kissing me on the forehead thing that turned into Daryl has a backstory of an abused child. There’s all kinds of them. They still won’t let me have a puppy on the show. There was one great idea that Andy came up with that the Governor was going to leave with baby Judith and you see him in the car with baby Judith. I thought that was such a cool storyline.
Lennie: I think one of the fantastic things about the set is that the ideas and changes come from anybody and everybody and sometimes just a member of the crew will go what about if we do this or we do that and suddenly it ends up being great. It’s a very collaborative environment.
They finished the panel by thanking the fans.
