Back from the Dead

March 6th, 2013

David Schulberg the 3rd

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Date: March 6, 2013 – 11:58AM

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Giles Hardie

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Our exclusive interview with The Walking Dead hero who has returned after three seasons.

EXCLUSIVE

Rick wasn't always on the other end of the radio ... The Walking Dead

Rick wasn’t always on the other end of the radio … The Walking Dead

NOTE: This story contains spoilers for the episode Clear, which aired on FX on Tuesday night.

British actor Lennie James is hot property right now, he’s starred in the hit UK series Line of Fire after a successful stint in Los Angeles. No matter what he’s appeared in in the last three years however, the first question he’s always asked is “when will you return to The Walking Dead?”

His response was always vague. “I am not under contract but there is still the possibility that I might return,” he repeated to Fairfax. “That’s as much as I can say at the moment. I don’t know when that might happen.”

Writing's on the wall ... Morgan (Lennie James) returns a little unhinged in season three of The Walking Dead

Writing’s on the wall … Morgan (Lennie James) returns a little unhinged in season three of The Walking Dead

James was always surprised at the regularity of the question, as he had only appeared in the one episode. “It’s really kind of surprising really because it was right at the beginning and at the point nobody had an idea whether it was going to work and whether it was going to be successful, so it’s slightly turned into something nobody expected.”

James appeared in the zombie series’ pilot as Morgan Jones, the man who, along with his son Duane, saved the show’s hero Rick, albeit after knocking him out with a shovel. Rick left town at the end of the episode, and Morgan remained and that was the last we saw of him.

On Tuesday night Rick’s son Carl returned the favour of the shovel incident with interest. Carl shot a helmeted man firing a gun at his father as they returned to their home town on a mission to secure some firearms. Once the helmet was removed, it was revealed to be their long lost hero and it was left to Rick to save him and discover what had happened to Morgan and Duane.

Should have taken the shot ... Morgan (Lennie James) unable to shoot his zombie wife in season one of The Walking Dead

Should have taken the shot … Morgan (Lennie James) unable to shoot his zombie wife in season one of The Walking Dead

So what prompted the return of Morgan? “A lot of its got to do with my availability and I think after the impact of [the pilot] and my character in that episode they don’t want to bring me back unless it moves that impact on. They don’t want to bring me back just for the sake of bringing me back because that would be a waste of all our times.”

The decision wasn’t a hard one for James though. “I’m more than willing to do it because I had a really good time doing it the first time around and working with Andy and being down there on that crazy, crazy set with half dead people walking around.

“It’s a part that I really enjoyed playing and I got to work with Frank Darabont who was somebody that I’d always wanted to work with and has directed one of my favourite films of all time in Shawshank Redemption and I got to see how he does it and for that I would have walked across coals and I didn’t have to I just had to shoot zombies in the head.”

One zombie Morgan couldn’t shoot back in the pilot was his on-screen wife, and on Tuesday we learnt that reluctance had had dire consequences as she had bitten and turned their son Duane. That has induced a madness in Morgan that gave James that impact he was seeking. He told The Hollywood Reporter he relished “having the opportunity to bring that all back in one episode and tell the journey he’s been on with finally killing his wife after the loss of his son – all of those things you have to bring to bear and the mindset that he’s in.

“Morgan is a shell of the man that he once was, and it’s like a mirror to Rick’s story. Bringing that to the screen was one of the things that really attracted me and one of the things I most enjoyed.”

James is vague about the future for his character, who is once again left behind in the town at the end of the episode, though he is expected to appear again before the series ends. Exactly how is unclear, with James circumspect about his character’s ability to join the characters inhabiting the prison.

“If Morgan arrived there, he probably wouldn’t be of any use for any length of time because I think he’s a bit like Howling Mad Murdoch from The A-Team: Every now and then he has to go and be locked in a padded room on his own just to reboot. I can’t see that it’s an easy road back for Morgan to be able to, either in battle or in peace, be able to settle long enough because he just wants things done. There’s life and death and there’s very little in between and that doesn’t necessarily make him a good guy to be around in quiet moments.”

He hints at an involvement in the looming battle between Rick’s crew and the Governor. “They leave Morgan on his own, in this spiral and he may well need Rick needing him to really snap him out of it because he’s lost all the people that need him. You realise that this guy’s in a really dark place and it’s not just going to take one visit from Rick to snap him back but maybe circumstance and their paths crossing again. Rick may well do the job but it’s going to need to be something really intense.”

James is happy to tease viewers about his return though, hinting just as strongly at another long wait. “I hope there’s a way back for Morgan. Maybe in three years when Morgan comes back for a third instalment he’s in a different place. Either that further down the road [to madness] or if it’s on his way back. Either of those would be very interesting.”

His success as an actor away from the show may prove an obstacle. “I’m about to film a new series for AMC called Low Winter Sun and I’m very excited about that. All things are possible but all things are equally not always possible. I’ve liked being there so the rest is up to the gods of television.”

Whether he’ll be part of it or not, he’s certainly confident the show will be going that long. “At the moment the show is staggeringly successful and they can milk it for as long as they like because they’re on to a winner.”