“The Walking Dead’s” Jeffrey Dean Morgan gets so into his role as new villain Negan that he relishes needling co-star Andrew Lincoln during takes.
“I know I’m doing my job the more mad Andy Lincoln gets,” Morgan told Entertainment Weekly. “So if off-camera he’s screaming and swearing in between takes, I know me and Negan are doing our job and I’ve gotten him pretty riled up. And then of course we have to go and apologize and get back to being friends after takes, but it’s been intense. And that is fun.”
In fact, Morgan says he has all kinds of fun playing the barbed wire baseball bat-toting bad guy, who infamously killed two main characters in this season’s premiere.
“I’ve just never had more fun playing a character,” he said. “He’s really complicated and it’s a lot of work. A lot goes into what you will see on the screen with this character. But I go home every night thinking, ‘Oh my God, that is the most fun I’ve ever had.”
But Morgan readily admits that Negan is not the best person. “[He’s] horrible,” he said. “Negan does some horrible things, which I don’t necessarily feel great about while we’re doing it. But then again, reading the graphic novel and bringing him to life, it has been incredibly challenging. And I love that challenge of bringing him to life. And I love watching the cast reaction.”