Fear character would meet sudden end
LENNIE JAMES was filled with dread after being summoned to the house of Scott M. Gimple, the showrunner of The Walking Dead, several months ago. As he drove, he wondered if he would get out alive.
Actually, the actor was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be physically harmed during the visit with Gimple. But he was tremendously worried about the fate of Morgan Jones, the stickwielding warrior he plays on the zombie apocalypse drama. James knew that even the most beloved Walking Dead characters can meet a sudden and violent end.
‘‘I walked into the house feeling like the hangman was behind me,’’ James (52) said.
But instead of joining the ranks of
The Walking Dead casualties, Gimple gave James surprising news of a different sort: Morgan, one of the most popular characters on the series, was indeed leaving The
Walking Dead. But instead of dying, Morgan would join the show’s spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead.
The character crossover — the first for the franchise — occurred last night when the eighth season finale of The Walking Dead aired. It continues tonight with the fourth season opener of Fear the Walking
Dead on SoHo.
‘‘I drove home after talking to
Scott and gradually let it settle in,’’ James said. ‘‘And it seems like it made perfect sense.’’
Morgan’s departure and arrival were engineered by Gimple, who left his showrunner post on The Walking
Dead for the newly created post of ‘‘chief content officer’’ for TV’s The
Walking Dead universe, overseeing the original series, the spinoff and future related projects.
While sad to leave The Walking
Dead, James said he was creatively inspired by going to another series that will explore many of the same elements as the original while giving him the opportunity to further develop Morgan.
‘‘I’m very protective of Morgan as a character, and I’m very interested to see where this is going to take him,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m buoyed by the things he will get to explore, and I’m excited as an actor.’’
And naturally, he will be taking his everpresent weapon with him.
‘‘Have stick, will travel,’’ he quipped, referencing the formidable wooden stick Morgan wields with skill as he fights off adversaries, both human and nonhuman.
James and his onscreen alterego have been central to The Walking
Dead for most of the show’s run. He was introduced in the drama’s
premiere as the survivor who tells sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), newly awakened from a coma, that an apocalypse has wiped out the population — and that flesheating zombies roam the earth.
Fans have embraced Morgan because of his philosophy of favouring nonviolence in a violent world.
‘‘Morgan is a lot braver that me. He’s got this zeal, this determination,’’ James said.
In the early days of the series, Morgan lost his wife and child. After almost going insane, he becomes more grounded with his growing attachment to the group of survivors headed by Grimes. But in the past few seasons, the relentless brutality, the violent loss of loved ones and other forces have pushed him to the brink, steering him towards madness. Consumed by darkness, he has become increasingly alienated from his comrades.
‘‘He’s already lost his wife and child, so the darkness is inevitable,’’ James said. ‘‘But he’s been to his rock bottom. He knows he has to do something about that.’’
Fear the Walking Dead is centred primarily on Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) and her family, who had to flee Los Angeles when the undead began to take over the metropolis. The new season of the spinoff takes place in Texas. (The Walking Dead is set in Atlanta.)
Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, the showrunners of the spinoff, said that many of the themes the series addressed this season — isolation, loss, grief and survival — fit in perfectly with Morgan’s journey.
‘‘Scott told us that the space where Morgan is fits in perfectly with where we’re going,’’ said Chambliss. ‘‘It became inevitable that we would be coming together. Morgan is the perfect character to take this family further.’’
Before departing The Walking
Dead, James was the guest of honour at one of the show’s infamous ‘‘death dinners’’, held whenever a cast member leaves the series. ‘‘I thought I would get through it with dry eyes,’’ he said. ‘‘That didn’t happen.’’
Now he’s looking forwards to Morgan’s new adventures.
‘‘I’m really happy with what I’ve done on the show,’’ said James, ‘‘and I have such enthusiasm for where Morgan is going. He’s got a new lease on life. It will be interesting to see what he does with it.’’ — TCA
The fourth season of Fear The Walking Dead premieres tonight at 9.30pm on SoHo. It is also available to stream on Neon.