“I fought it!”
says Jeffrey Dean Morgan of uttering Negan’s shocking line.
‘I immediately called and was like, “I can’t say it.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan in a scene from The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
I can’t f—ing bring up Glenn’s name here.”
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Sunday’s season 11 premiere ofThe Walking Dead.
Negan’s gonna Negan.
Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan on ‘The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
He also took us inside Negan’s final decision and why he ultimately left Maggie to die.
(Also read ourepisode Q&A with showrunner Angela Kang.)
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN:I fought it!
I can’t f—ing bring up Glenn’s name here."
I tried to nix the line completely.
I didn’t think it was necessary.
And I thought, for sure, they would let me change it.
And so I filmed it three or four different ways.
I tried everything else.
I said, “Your husband” and other stuff.
“[Laughs]They had to put it in.
But look, I get it.
I’m living in her head, and she’s leading us to our deaths.”
We have no idea what we’re going to.
Negan is the voice of reason suddenly.
He’s f—ing right!"
The minute I say that Glenn line, 50% of them, I lose immediately.
It doesn’t matter if he’s right.
Because I think Negan is thinking the whole time that Daryl is in on this.
And that really, the only reason that he’s there is to be killed.
And he’s sure that Daryl is in on it.
So there’s that little storyline going on there between the two of us, as well.
But yeah, when I first read that line, I was like, “Goddamnit!
“[Laughs]
Lauren Cohan told me you didn’t want to say it.
We talked about it.
Why would you do that?”
I was like, “I don’t know.
I wouldn’t.”
That’s the thing, is Negan is smart enough that he would except to elicit a reaction.
I legit gasped when he said it.
I couldn’t believe it.
The edges are taken away.
He does still have that edge, and that makes him dangerous.
And from a viewer’s standpoint, that makes him exciting to watch.
Yeah, and you’re right.
It’s like I started off saying: Negan will always be f—ing Negan.
And I think that’s really important to remember, not just for our audience, but for me.
But what we find out in this first episode is that he hasn’t.
He’s not going to be accepted.
And Maggie is going to kill him.
And probably everybody else is in on it.
So he’s looking over his shoulder the whole time.
And that also brings out the f—ing edge.
He’s going to go down f—ing fighting.
He wants to survive, which probably leads to your next question.
Super huge moment and one where you have to convey a lot without saying anything.
Tell me how you wanted to play that.
I thought, personally, that they may have held on it a beat too long.
And so it’s a really easy thing.
And I don’t.
Let’s have the philosophical discussion.
Is leaving someone to die just as bad as killing them?
Not in Negan’s mind.
I think there is a huge difference, but I don’t think he necessarily leaves her to die.
I think it’s like, more like “F— it.
You’re on your own.”
I was going to ask you about that.
Yeah, I think that’s it.
He knows these people well enough to know that they are also all cockroaches, just like him.
I’m not going to go out of my way.
I’m not going to risk my neck for yours right now.
If you survive, you survive.
If you don’t, bully for me.
And that’s kind of the thinking there.
There’s no malicious f—ing twirl of the mustache.
It’s just like, f— it.
He’s not going to risk his life for her.
And that’s sort of where he is.
It’s a very kind of blank look, and that’s what she’s seeing, too.
I didn’t want to convey anything.
We had talked about, is there something there?
Is there a hint of a smile?
And I was kind of adamant that there should be nothing.
This is a situation that he’s very cold about.
And he just turns away.
I actually watched these first two episodesand I don’t watch everythingand I really liked them.
And he did a killer job on these first two.
And the writing, I thought, was f—ing great.
There was a horror aspect to the show, which I had missed desperately.
It was really a great way to start this last year.
