Jeffrey Dean Morgan Explains Negan’s Character
In the Walking Dead TV series, Negan was one of the most desired characters for quite some time. Then, at the end of Season 06, he appeared for all the world to see. With horrifying (in the good way) results.
With Season 07 on the way, many are looking forward to actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s further interpretation of the character. As Morgan explained to Entertainment Weekly, he did a lot of research on becoming Negan:
“I sure thought about him a lot. I have stacks of all the comic books, and what I have taken from those panels is a posture or a smile or whatever it is, and then filling those blanks in between.”
“As closely as we follow what Negan says and does in those comic books, we also have to add and subtract. We’ve added a lot, obviously, that’s not in the comic books with Negan,” he continued. “Not only trying to keep his language and his persona, but it’s how he walks and how he stands and all that kind of stuff.”
He also went on to note that he worked hard to not make him a “one-dimensional maniac” like he’s sometimes portrayed in the comics:
“If I just make this guy manic and kind of one dimensional then I don’t have anywhere to go. So I thought, for me, and especially after doing that first episode, the introduction, and some head bashing, there had to be a place I could go. I try to make every scene a little bit of a rollercoaster so you don’t know. So it’ll keep you on your toes of where Negan is, and I only have so much I can go on working on the comic book.”
Walking Dead Season 07 debuts October 23rd on AMC.