Robert Kirkman is the creator of the hit AMC drama series, The Walking Dead. As a result, it would make sense for the show’s cast to go to Kirkman for some advice regarding their characters. But the thing is, Kirkman himself has admitted that he tends to forget things about the characters that he created for his version of the zombie apocalypse. In fact, he admits to lying to the characters when the actors consult with him, and he’s not ashamed to do it.
During his latest appearance at Late Night with Seth Meyers, Kirkman was asked how it felt when actors ask him in-depth questions regarding the characters he wrote for his comic book series. It was here that Kirkman confessed to not knowing everything there is to know about his own show, saying the actors have a better understanding of Rick Grimes and Negan than he does.
“I’ve written this comic book for 170 issues, so you would think I know every character, I know the ins and outs of every character — I don’t. And when you’re an actor, you get cast as a character, you want to read their back story, you want to know every little thing about them, and they actually know all of these characters way better than I ever could.”
Kirkman has been writing for The Walking Dead since the very first issue, so it makes sense for someone to assume that he knows everything about the series and each character’s motivations. As it turns out, the opposite is true, Kirkman admitted to forgetting certain things and events he conceived in previous issues.
“So they’ll come up to me on set and they’ll say, ‘Hey, so, I know the comics and the show are different, but I was reading issue 39 and on page 14 I say this thing, what did you mean when you had my character say that?’ And I just make stuff up. ‘Cause I never remember the scene they were talking about. ‘Oh, you know, you were really worried about this other character.’ Because you don’t want them to know that you’ve forgotten, seems rude.”
Meanwhile, George R.R. Martin, the creator of Game of Thrones, has an extensive knowledge about every character they brought to life with their imaginations. For example, Martin one what made Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) tick even before HBO turned his fantasy into a hit TV series.
“I was living with these characters and this world for 16 years before we even started working on the show. They’re pretty fixed in my mind and I’m not going to change anything because of the show, or reaction to the show, or what fans think. I’m just still writing the story that I set out to write in the early 1990s.”
That said, given The Walking Dead TV series is slightly different from the comic book series, Kirkman’s spotty recollection of either story’s event and smaller details is understandable.
