Fans of The Walking Dead comic book know that The Governor is not a character to be messed with – a man who’s managed to amass quite a group of followers and created a new society in the midst of a world overrun by zombies.
Cast as the character on AMC’s hit Walking Dead TV series this season, English actor David Morrissey is not what one would expect, physically, from The Governor – and clips and photos already show they are not giving him The Governor’s much mangier and hostile look.
But The Governor will still make a quick impact on the series, when he’s introduced on Sunday night’s episode – showing that there are different ways to exert power. I spoke to Morrissey about joining The Walking Dead and what it’s like taking on this coveted role in the series.
IGN TV: How did the possibility of you joining this show come up?
David Morrissey: I came to the show as a fan. I’d watched it and loved it, and I’ve known Andrew Lincoln for a long time. I also knew Lennie James from the pilot, he’s a great friend of mine. So when it was on in the UK, I really tuned in, and I loved it. I thought it was like a movie, that pilot. It was so great. I was hooked from then on. So I came to the show from TV. I knew nothing about the graphic novels. I came to LA to visit my friend Ian Hart, who had moved here with his family. So while I was there, my manager said, “These casting directors would like to see you. They do The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad.” I was like, “God, I love both of those shows.” So they said there was a character -- they were quite cagey about it -- in The Walking Dead. I said, “Well, I’m just such a fan of The Walking Dead.”
David Morrissey as The Governor in The Walking Dead.
Then I met Glen Mazzara, and again there was talk of a substantial character, but they wouldn’t say who it was -- and because I didn’t know about the graphic novels, I had no idea. Then it emerged, what this character was, and it sounded great. I had a big chat with Glen about the character itself. But yeah, it happened very quickly from then on. Even then, once they offered me the role, I didn’t read the graphic novels. What I read was Robert Kirkman’s book Rise of the Governor, which I think is a great book. That book really gave me a lot of insight into the characterization of this man. So that was it.
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IGN: Obviously, at some point you would have seen, just physically, how he looks in the comic. Did they make that pretty clear before you got to the set, that they weren’t going to go with that physical look?
Morrissey: There was a bit of that, yeah. Again, it came a little from me as well in the sense that I wanted to make him my own. And I think what I like about the Governor and the TV series is, in the graphic novel we meet him and he is fully formed, he’s absolutely at the end of his psychological journey. He’s out there, and he’s got this town. He’s a real badass character, right off the bat. In the TV show I think we meet him much earlier in his personal journey, and I like that because it gives me more colors to play with. And as soon as you say, “Well, look, let’s play this man differently from in the book, introduce him to our main characters earlier in their lives,” then you can have more fun with it, I think.
IGN: I imagine it must have been very helpful then to have read that book because you could kind of pull from aspects of that.
Morrissey: That’s the backstory, really. What Robert did in that book, which I thought was wonderful, was it gave you this great characterization of this man who’s living in this terrible world with his family and people he loved. I think that’s a really interesting journey for this man.
IGN: He also has to be this charismatic guy that would be able to have people follow him. What do you think it is that has some people inspired by him?
Morrissey: I think it’s because he provides a very secure place to live. In a very volatile world, he says, “If you live here and stay within the confines of my say and my town and abide by the rules, you will be safe.” And that is true, people have seen that that’s true. In Woodbury, he’s created a fortress-like community, which has very strict rules that are all security based; they’re for reasons of security. But your kids can run out onto the street. You can ride your bike down the street. You can do whatever you want -- in those confines -- because he has worked hard to create this security. That security comes at a cost, and the cost is that you do as you’re told. But that is it.
He is able to give you the illusion of freedom very well, as long as you abide by the very strict rules that he lays down. And in this world, that is an amazing place. So that’s where he delivers. As far as his populace is concerned, looking at their leader, he can deliver. And if you don’t like it, you can go out into that world and see how long you survive. That’s the real trump card he has: if you don’t like it here, off you go. And nobody wants to go out there on their own. So he delivers. I think that’s the real reason people follow him like they do. I think like all leaders, they are inspired by him, they’re a little bit scared of him, and he keeps them in a state of flux in a very clever way. He’s very good at manipulating their sense of gratitude to him, and also their fear of the outside. That’s very important.
IGN: Is there an element of danger to him from the get-go when we meet him? Do you feel like he’s a guy who’s keeping something in check, or is it a guy who’s been making the choices he thinks are right, but could have things go wrong pretty quickly?
Morrissey: Yeah, I think what is good about what we’ve done is that the characters that interact with the Governor -- different characters have different knowledge of him. Different characters have different relationships with him. Also, the audience has a whole other relationship with him. They’ll get to see him in his private moments, and that is a really good insight into the man. Whether that is an insight into a darkness of him or a lightness of him, that’s for the audience to decide. But they have a personal relationship with him. And you’ll have to wait and see, I think. The main thing about him is he’s -- I hope -- much more complex than good or bad. And I certainly hope he’s more complex than in the graphic novel. I think an audience would have to decide that, if they were living in this world that is so volatile and dangerous, what choices would they make. I think it’s very easy for us to make choices in our world. But if you put yourself in that world, your choices will be different. And I think that’s important before you condemn him and think he’s good, bad or evil or whatever. You have to realize what the survival instincts of these people are. That’s what I would say. And you know, good people do very, very bad things sometimes. That’s the complicated world we live in.
IGN: The show has already showed some interesting conflicts regarding “What is the right way to lead?” with Rick and Shane. Anything you can say about what Rick and The Governor make of one another?
Morrissey: Yeah, that’s the big question of the series, I think. How do these two men lead these two groups of people? How do they work it out? That is the story of Season 3.
IGN: Having known Andrew before, what was it like working with him here, and was it also just kind of funny to find yourself both so far from home playing these characters?
Morrissey: Andrew has helped me immensely since joining the show. From a professional point of view, just the fact that he is -- and I think all the other actors would say this -- he’s the most professional actor I’ve worked with. He’s so brilliant on the show -- obviously as an actor, but he’s also the first guy on set, he’s the last guy to leave. He makes sure everybody is all right. He really leads from the front, and his commitment and passion for the show is infectious to everybody else. But for me, he’s also been invaluable in the sense that moving to Atlanta, finding somewhere to live, the best restaurants and places to go -- he’s been invaluable in that way as well. Both personally and professionally, I couldn’t have done it without him.
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IGN: Merle will be reintroduced as part of The Governor's community. That seemed like a character that would be the last person to be a team player or cooperative, and yet it seems the Governor has found a way with him…?
Morrissey: I think when the Governor discovered Merle, he was in a terrible place. The Governor saved his life, and I think there’s some sort of loyalty in that. But also, he knows how to work with people and manipulate people. He knows when to flatter people and when to beat them with a stick. He’s very much that sort of coach-like person who knows people well enough to get the best out of them -- or the worst out of them in some cases -- and Merle really responds to that. I think he has people in his community who can do certain jobs for him, and Merle is very good at doing certain jobs.
David Morrissey makes his debut on the October 28th episode of The Walking Dead.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on on Twitter at @EricIGN and IGN at ericgoldman-ign.
Source : ign[dot]com
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