Of all the TV shows coming to Comic-Con next week, the one people are most interested in is AMC’s The Walking Dead, premiering in October. And it’s not just because it’s based on Robert Kirkman’s long-running Image Comics book, although that might help. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist) is bringing the zombie-filled survival drama to the small screen (he directed the pilot episode, too), with Kirkman on board as an executive producer and Love Actually star Andrew Lincoln playing Rick Grimes, the small-town Kentucky cop who ventures to Atlanta to find his wife and son in a post-apocalyptic America full of the undead. Kirkman has been shuttling between his old Kentucky home and the Atlanta set of The Walking Dead, and I caught up with him before he heads to Comic-Con, where he, Darabont and cast will unveil some footage and other surprises at their panel next Friday morning. The show will have a huge presence at the con, from fans being able to “zombify” themselves to lots of posters, buttons and other neat stuff. Read below for a little bit of my conversation with Kirkman for a preview of what to expect with The Walking Dead.
Photos courtesy of AMC
Obviously you have a fan following from the comic book. Are you excited you’re going to reach more in the mainstream and maybe people who are usually watching the likes of Mad Men?
I have children to put through college, so yes, absolutely. This is a very cool thing. As far as reaching a wider audience, that’s definitely what you’re after when you’re trying to tell stories. You want to reach as many people as possible. Being able to have the television show out there and hopefully that’ll steer some people into trying the comic book, that’s always a good thing.
You’ve been on the Atlanta set. What’s the coolest scene you’ve seen?
I don’t want to ruin anything, but there’s a scene in the first issue where Morgan and Rick are talking. That was really cool because I got to see those two guys interact. They had really good banter between the two of them. It’s early on in the crisis so Rick’s like, “What’s going on?!” And Morgan’s explaining things to him. It’s really, really cool. There’s all kinds of cool zombie stuff that was really cool, too, but seeing those two guys interact on film was kind of a treat.
Did you have much of a say in casting?
I had a say in that I was there, they were asking my opinion, I got to see all the people reading and all that stuff. They’d say, “What do you think of this guy?” And some person they were asking me about – let’s say, Andrew Lincoln –I would say, “I think that person’s great.” And they would say, “We think he’s great, too.” We were always in agreement. I don’t think I had a hand in casting at all because everybody they picked was great, so I never had to assert myself to see how much power I had. I probably didn’t have very much power at all, but luckily everyone involved in this show is excellent and we’re doing great stuff. It’s the cast I hope I would have been qualified enough to get had I been in charge of that stuff.
One of your bad guys in the series, The Governor, was named one of the top comic book villains of all time. Where do you think Rick goes in the top heroes?
He’s No. 1 by far! Well above Spider-Man or anyone else.
He’s almost like Peter Parker, though, in the fact that he goes through some pretty bad stuff and keeps chugging along.
Peter Parker’s never lost a hand, has he?
Good point. But he has died a couple of times.
Well, that’s B.S. comic book superhero death! C’mon, get real here. [Laughs] If you’re making me rank my own character, I’m of course going to rank him at the top. How else can I do it? I do like Spider-Man as much as the next guy.
The first season is slated for six episodes. If there is a second season, would you want to direct an episode?
I’m an executive producer, I’m writing episodes, I’m working with the writers in the writers room – I’m about as involved as I can conceivably be. I don’t think I could be much more involved than I am now. The thing about directing is it sure does sound neat, but having been on set and watching Frank, it looks like work to me. And I didn’t get into this business to work. That’s the last thing I want to do. Six a.m. call times and dealing with people and having to interact with human beings and performing tasks on a daily basis that are important? Ehhh, no thanks. Then there’s the whole question of if I’m qualified to direct an episode, which we don’t even need to really get into. Having said all that, sure, I’d love to direct an episode!
