The Walking Dead Season Three Norman Reedus Gale Ann Hurd

0:00Hi, this is Syphi Talk, the podcast on how Syphi Fantasy, Horror and Comics help us explore our humanity. Works! We're all about exploring what it means to be human these days, and redefining our place in this world and this universe. With this podcast, we'll take this journey together. We're walking dead ended their season last year. My series of roundtables continues, and we'll hear today from Norman Reedus and producer Gaelin Hurd in a moment. Three compared to two, as far as two. It's really intense. It's intense. The stakes are heightened because they're no longer in the sort of Shangri-La environment. They're on the road, they're on the run, they're living pretty much hand-to-mouth. Even the prison location, it's never completely safe. Then of course we've got Woodbury and

1:04whole new characters. That's going to change your opinion. The brother? Yeah, there's a lot of tension inside the walls. As much as there is outside of them, there's a lot of toes being stepped on. There's a lot of loyalty issues going on. I think at the heart of it, both brothers want to be with each other and there's decisions that are made. It's very complicated at this point. This season we all go through a lot this season. We could take three episodes and stretch them for a season all the way through the season. It's very complicated and it's fast and it's heartfelt. New old. There are certain scenes that I saw that I wasn't in where everyone around me was crying.

2:10These are people that are there every day. We saw what the first episode tomorrow. We saw that on set and people were screaming at the top of their lungs and they see this every day. It's intense. An interesting point made by Andrew Lincoln in the session you heard before that this is a world where the word zombie doesn't exist. We really want to keep it grounded. If you start making references to well in the evil dead or a knight living dead, etc. This is how they killed zombies. That takes you out of being with our characters and treating it dead real as if this infection is really happening. It's also why we don't have clown walkers or cheerleader walkers or you'll see them like at the high school. It was FEMA. You'll see people with FEMA stuff on or doctors or

3:11whatever. But we don't go the campy route. It's actually amazing how much you can do on AMC what you've done. How far you can push it. I'm sure you've heard this. We've never gotten a note. We have never gotten a note saying dial this back. In this season? Wow. Yeah. That's you what you've seen the first episode right? So you know the fact that there was not one note. Crazy. It's pretty intense stuff. And the way that Greg does this zombies too it's that you see the sick dying lost person behind the monster. So it's not like it's that you actually it's a part of you that your heart breaks inside you know and it's his whole team. Each zombie makeup there's a rational who the person was how they died were they were bitten were they scratched was if our loved one was it not. I mean and I think that really makes the difference. It's not just a factory. Oh get

4:16someone in here. We'll throw a few things on them. It really is each zombie is a character just as much as the cast. It's some of the people that play that some of the people that play the zombies come back and play other zombies and you don't even recognize them at all. Hi keep listening to the dead sessions. We have more so stick around. Let's get back to the dead sessions and the undead. We learned how people are already infected. Can you talk about how that's explored in season three? There are a lot more walkers in the world now. You know they've left the farm and because of this new information that you turn regardless if you die unless you have brain trauma you'll be seeing a lot more people with and by the way we knew this from the very beginning. So every time we had a big scene like the highway scene we talked about okay you see the people in the cars. Let's make sure that if people go back and watch the series again after they find this information that it makes sense. But yeah I mean you know you'll also find out the season that not everyone has that

5:22knowledge. I remember the logs like I didn't see it bite I didn't see a scratch in that I mean. How close do you want to get to the graphic novel? This here seems like you're dancing a little bit closer to it but still maintaining your own path. I mean is that kind of like the way you want to steer the ship the rest of the way? There are some pretty big departures actually but they're always I mean there's such fantastic characters there's such fantastic iconic imagery. In the comic book and you'll always see some of that at the same time if we played it exactly the same plot points or the some of the arch more over the top characters that wouldn't be our show either. So we had we we we we follow our path and the comic book informs it throughout the throughout the season. What was the casting like for some of the new folks that you're bringing in? It was fantastic. It really was I mean the first season I mean full credit I have to say I mean Norman and a few

6:27of our other cast really wanted to be in the show. I mean but that's not everybody because you know when you think of the cast trying to tell them are you're going to star in a show that's from a comic book and the comic books about zombies? That's not exactly the first thing that a lot of actors would say yes sign me up for that but because the show has a following and it's been embraced critically now people go oh I've heard that shows really good if they haven't seen it so it's really opened up the doors but it turns out that David Morris is actually a good friend of Andes of Ander Lincoln's. And plus when you when you read the pilot you saw the names that were attached to it you know like this is going to be amazing you know so there's that as well. And you know and and Denai who is also fantastic not as well known perhaps as David but we through the casting process through auditions she blew us away. You know I don't know I

7:29don't know if you know this but she's a multi award winning playwright. She's won an obi for her playwriting and right now the play that she put on in Los Angeles the convert is up for 11 invasional awards so she's a multi talent. And damn good with it. That's how to use a guitar which makes her more sex. Yeah absolutely. Now the shooting outside of Hollywood actually give you more freedom. Absolutely yeah I mean I don't think we could shoot this anywhere else but it's way out in the sticks by ourselves you know there's none of that sort of Hollywood thing there's none of that it actually brings the cast and the crew together in a way that you could only be stuck with somebody to become that close you know so we're sort of on our little island getting to know each other's little nuances and insecurities and you know I mean we have multiple conversations about

8:33what's bothering you and we get to know each other for real you know so all those play out in the characters well but yeah we couldn't do this on a sound stage in Burbank you just wouldn't work. Do you have a favorite zombie kill that you've done for that? I just did it. Oh yeah I did it yesterday. You could be a little while before people say it. It was pretty choice. I love that crossbow. Yeah it's fun. It's cool. It's hard not to look cool. Yeah. Is there a challenge to find new ways to shock the audience? Well if you've read 102 issues of Robert's comic book you'll find out that he is always come up with new ways to shock the audience. I don't know if you read issue 100 but the day that Stephen Young came to set Glenn meets his demise in that comic book and I think Stephen was wondering if his case might be my name. Oh I think he's still it. Yeah I think he's traumatized. It's like we all are. I think he really is. He was sort of taken back like it really happened

9:35to him in real life. But we also you know so we have some of those that are inspired by the comic book and we also have the second twisted minds of our writers producers Greg Nicotero who's actually played quite a few of the zombies himself. Yeah for his team of talented heavy winning effects artists. Now do you find that this series has given you opportunities that her feature film would not? Every day I mean when you think about a feature film you have two hours maybe you know every now and again there's a three hour movie and it takes you five years to get that one to get that going. How much character can you really put into those two hours in genre? You just really can't and this season we've 16 hours and we have an ensemble cast you know and we've already shot I mean and the last Tuesday isn't there are 19 hours so it's it's it's it's

10:39honestly like being a kidney candy store. That's great for me too because I was just saying over there like in a film you go from here to here but there's the possibility of you know dropping a seat over here and it turns into a tree and tripping over that and it's maybe something I might be able to see later you know what I mean so it's it's it's a it's a vine you know what I mean so it's it's very liberating to work that. I can grow and I can grow and I can just I can throw up onto season directions and they may or not make you know but I'm roads are open and up you know what I mean it's kind of fun. You know and you have the opportunity with a TV show you can have some slam bank I mean pedal to the metal 0 to 60 for an entire episode and then you can dial it back and have an incredibly just as intense on a dramatic character level episode in which there are a ton of zombie kills you can't do that in a movie. Speaking of which are there like this is keeping

11:40busy enough that you can't do any other projects. I you know I executive produced it and movie the summer in indie films called very good girls written and directed by Naomi Foner shot in New York with Lizzy Olson and Dakota Fanning Peter Sars guard to me more so. Nice character. Yeah. In line with that do you feel more confident you can plant seeds knowing that you have a few more seasons to go to nourish them. I mean the AMC mandate is make it complex make it deep don't go surface don't do something just to shock the audience. I mean there are a lot of shows and to me I mean you know the famines jumping the shark. They jumped the shark because that's honestly what the writers are doing okay how can we top that last shot and that does not work for the show I mean every time you lose a character it's not just it's not a shop audience it's there's an

12:40entire reason behind it and often it's how it's going to affect the survivors you know for the for the the rest of the run of the of the series. Some of the yeah some of our most powerful moments are that set of this is yeah I mean just those that slow back slow to just realizing this and how it's affecting you. It's so heavy. I mean like we were talking about when when you you mean you put all that energy into finding and defining Sophia and the reaction to that and how you know in his relationship with Carol you know and how Carol responded to him when he tries to push her away and she understands him you probably better than you understand yourself. Exactly yeah I'm like this and she's like go ahead do it do it and it makes you I mean that moment of what huh is is intense. There was a lot of understatement and what you did in some of those scenes and that made it extremely powerful. You did it. You hit it out of the park it was like that's the way to play.

13:47You wouldn't be able to do that in most genre shows on most networks you really would and we're just encouraging more. Is there any chance that walking dead might go beyond television someday? A lot of people have to weigh in on that one but you know I mean you know Robert's initial thing was this is this is a comic book series and you can't just you can't just have one movie. So thank you. Yeah looking forward to seeing more kids. Why don't you see three because you haven't seen met the governor yet. I have met the governor. It's insane. It's it's not. I mean every day we're like I can't believe the ladies do this. That's great. That's great. It's great. It's like as my Sunday night ritual every week. Thank you. Hey thanks guys. Thanks so much. It's still a pleasure. The walking dead all of the episodes are available now with AMC plus every season. This is Tildred.