THE WALKING DEAD at PaleyFest 2013: Nine Panel Highlights

PaleyFest 2013 officially kicked off on Friday with a panel devoted to AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD, and we have some of the highlights of the night for you…

On the parallels between Rick and the Governor:

“Rick and the Governor are facing the same problems: they’re both leaders; they’re both trying to keep their communities alive,” executive producer Dave Alpert noted. “Right now, certainly where we are [in the series], the Governor is actually doing a better job. Rick is…in an emotional, unstable state. The Governor, I think there is a part of him that’s good, there’s a part of him that wants to be a father figure. I feel like the situation, with the zombie apocalypse has unleashed this part of him that has allowed him to grow and prosper.”

On the complicated Dixon brother dynamic:

“[Merle]’s kind of like your drunk uncle at the Christmas party,” Norman Reedus (Daryl) said. “I love how [Michael] Rooker plays Merle, because he’s kind of like a cobra — you don’t know when he’ll strike. [Daryl’s mindset is] he’s in my family, he’s my problem.”

“I think the Dixon brothers fight because they’ve always had to,” Reedus continued. “Their backs have always been up against the wall. So there’s a sensitive side you can see in both of them, and I can see it in Merle, especially with what’s going on…Daryl’s becoming the man he never would have become if this whole tragedy hadn’t happened. And having people rely on him for the first time is giving him a sense of self-worth, and I think his brother is a little jealous. That’s something he wants but he’s never going to get.”

But can Daryl trust his brother? Reedus said his character “hopes” Merle can be trusted, “but then again, he’s tried to kill half the people” they’re currently with.

On what Glenn’s ideal life situation would be from here on out:

Given the torture Glenn went through at the hands of the Governor — and that Maggie was drawn into that disaster, too — it’s not surprising that Steven Yeun (Glenn) envisions that what his character really wants going forward is fairly simple: “In his perfect world, the Governor would be dead, and [Glenn] would be happy with Maggie in a field full of food.”

On the cast’s ritual dinner parties for the show’s latest casualty:

THE WALKING DEAD cast has lost their fair share of people during the show’s run, so whenever another cast member has to say goodbye, the group goes out to a restaurant to celebrate/mourn. But because they’ve been going to the same location, it has caused some problems.

“I think we might need to find a new venue, though, because every time we go, we get a cake and say it’s so-and-so’s birthday, and we all come out sobbing,” Laurie Holden (Andrea) laughed. “Every time! I don’t know that’s normal behavior for birthday parties; we gotta get a new venue!”

On Andrea’s likeability:

Andrea may have made some…questionable…choices lately, and Holden is not unaware of some of the fan disdain that is out there.

“Yes, I get it daily,” she said. “I get it at the gas station, I get it walking down the street, I get it in the airport security, I get it all day. I am protective of Andrea because I have been playing the character for three years…we’re all flawed. Andrea has not chosen the best men. But she is kind; she is doing the best she can.”

On the possibility of a Carol and Daryl romantic relationship:

Fans have sensed chemistry between Carol and Daryl, and Reedus seemed to support a potential coupling between the two.

“I like that these two damaged people gravitated towards each other,” Reedus said. “If it happens, I don’t want to make the first move…I don’t think he has a lot of game.”

On deleted scenes:

“There was a great scene with Emily and Chandler [Riggs (Carl)] in episode five where they’re talking about Lori’s death [that we had to cut,]” said executive producer Greg Nicotero. “In the same episode, there were a couple of deleted scenes there. It’s challenging, because you want to get everything on screen, but you can’t get them all in.”

“There was a scene that was supposed to be in last week’s episode where Carol…said to Merle, if you screw with [your] brother, I’m going to cut your throat,” continued Nicotero. “It was a really great moment where Carol, basically, threatens Merle, saying, don’t mess with Daryl. It’s a really good scene, but what ended up happening is she ended up saying something similar to Andrea, so it didn’t balance in the delivery…so we wanted to make sure it was balanced right.”

Moment of the night:

An audience member asked the cast what their thoughts were on becoming internet “memes,” which thoroughly confused Andrew Lincoln (Rick), who had never heard the term before.

And the line of the night:

“I ain’t no bitch!” – Yeun, on whether working with the zombies gave him nightmares.

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THE WALKING DEAD airs Sundays at 9 PM on AMC.

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