Warning: This article contains spoilers for Sunday’s episode ofThe Walking Dead,“Archeron Part II”.
OnThe Walking Dead, Eugene is a world-class liar.
Is Eugene indeed a virgin?
Josh McDermitt on ‘The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
“That is absolutely true,” Mc Dermitt confirms to EW.
I think he’s a virgin," McDermitt recalls.
“And Gimple said, ‘No, he’s not a virgin.’
Josh McDermitt on ‘The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
And I was like, ‘Scott, he’s a virgin!’
I don’t know why it was edited out.
I don’t care.
It gave us a better moment, in my opinion, for this.”
JOSH McDERMITT:His friends have been split off.
He doesn’t know what’s happened to them.
And he’s unspooling at this point.
But Eugene does well with people who are in positions of authority.
Look at Abraham and Negan.
It’s like he has this muscle memory of, just do whatever I can to survive.
And he kind of spins this yarn.
He gives just enough truth so that Mercer is satisfied, but holds back on other parts.
And really, lying is Eugene’s superpower.
That’s all he wants to do, is survive.
But he just kind of calms his hands.
I mean, he did tell him the truth, but it wasn’t the whole truth.
The Eugene-vs.-Mercer of it all is a great confrontation.
It’s almost like an Old West showdown in a way.
That’s all a part of it and why lying is his superpower.
He knows what he has to do to convince someone of something.
So he knows how to talk to people like that and play them the marionette sort of thing.
And yeah, he’s very nervous outwardly.
What’s it like for you when you have to film a scene like that?
It’s a big scene.
You’ve got a big speech there, a lot riding on it.
What do you remember about being on set for that?
Each one is different.
He has riddles, he speaks with a lot of alliteration, and that sort of thing.
And I have a hard time with it.
It was super-simple, but I still showed up on set and I was nervous.
And I was hoping that I wouldn’t s— the bed.
I’m working with Michael James Shaw, who plays Mercer, for the first time really.
This guy is going to think I’m a joke.
And he’s going to regret signing on to do the show."
Mike is just sitting there with this really intense look he gives Mercer.
And then right before we rolled, he just stuck his fist out to give me a fist bump.
And I was like, that’s just all I needed to kind of chill out and calm down.
And we had a great time.
We only did a few takes of it, and it was great.
But it turned out to be one of the more pleasant and easy things to do.
And I think a lot of that was because of Michael.
We finally get to see, and not just hear, Stephanie at the very end.
What can you say about that meetup and Eugene’s journey moving forward?
And he’s kind of taking in all his surroundings.
It’s very surreal.
They’re very well-organized in the Commonwealth, and he sees that.
So I definitely think that they’re hopeful about what’s to come for the group.
That’s an exciting place for this guy.
