THE WALKING DEAD: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Talks About 'Lucille', Glenn And More

After the reveal that Glenn (Steven Yeun) was still alive in The Walking Dead and that Darryl (Norman Reedus), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) found themselves meeting a group of Negan's men, the season has been slowly building up to the debut of The Walking Dead's greatest antagonist. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jefferey Dean Morgan spoke about how excited he was to play Negan and how familiar he was with the TV show, the character, and the comics. "I’m really f—ing excited. I was familiar. I watched the show, one. But two, I’ve always had a foot in the comic book world. I grew up with my uncle’s comic books at my grandma’s house, so I’ve always loved my comic book reading. And then that took on a whole new level when I did Watchmen. I go to Comic-Con every year, generally with some project of some sort. So a couple of years ago people started saying, “Hey, man, you should be Negan in The Walking Dead.” So I started reading the comic books just because I’m a fan and I love what Kirkman is doing and so I was very aware of Negan and had read quite a bit of the comic books. So my agent and manager were on the phone and said, “The Walking Dead have offered you this thing,” but they didn’t have any information. They didn’t know the character’s name. It was all a big secret. And they sort of got halfway through the sentence saying “We don’t know the character’s name, he’s the new big bad…” and I knew immediately who they were talking about. They just got halfway through and I knew immediately who it was. It was no question. I was like, “Absolutely. We’re going to f—ing do it!” And that was it. And literally a week later I was in Atlanta talking with the cast and hanging out." I don't know about you but his excitement to play Negan helps me believe that he will own the role and that people will be talking about his portrayal of Negan for a long time.

If you've seen Zack Snyder's Watchmen, then you've seen a glimpse as to what Jefferey Dean Morgan would be like as Negan. In his role as The Comedian, Jefferey Dean Morgan had to play a similar sadistic character that of Negan. He was asked about how similar Negan is to The Comedian and about his research for The Walking Dead role. "Yeah, there is. There’s definitely some similarities. Negan is special in a lot of ways and the more kind of digging I do into Negan, the more excited I get. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve been this giddy about doing a role. I think what’s there in the comic books and the graphic novels is this foundation of this man and the complexities of who he is. Every time I look at the graphic novel — which in the past few weeks next to my bedside I’ve just had stacks of Walking Dead stuff; and so when I’m not memorizing my Good Wife lines and trying to figure that out I’ll just grab one of these things and look at it — and I will read and reread and see something different in it each time. Kind of the excitement level of bringing this guy to life is at such a peak right now, I don’t know how I’m going to survive till April [when the show goes back into production]." From the sound of this the man has certainly done his research on the show and comics. Knowledge is power, right?

Just as any comic book to screen adaptation, producers and directors tend to shy away from the source material in order to give fans something new and unexpected. When asked about how close to the comic his portrayal of the character would be, he had this to say, "The character itself is going to be as close as humanly possible." Morgan also revealed that he has had the opportunity of already meeting Steven Yeun (Glenn). "I met everybody. I got a chance to say hello to everybody down there. That being said, I don’t know what’s going to happen yet. [Laughs]"

Now, this final portion of the interview focuses on Negan's baby, his weapon of choice, Lucille.

EW: Have you seen your lucille yet?
"I have."

EW: And?
"She is gorgeous. She is a beautiful girl."  

EW: You practice your swing a bit?
"I don’t need to practice my swing. I grew up with a bat in my hands."

Here is the full audio interview if you want to listen for yourself.

What do you think? Do you think Jefferey Dean Morgan is the right actor to take on the role of Negan in The Walking Dead?