The Walking Dead is one of the most watched shows on television. While that can be an amazing thing for any actor appearing in the series, it can also be an immense amount of pressure. Recently, Vulture interviewed Josh McDermitt about his acting style and how he gets into character. In the interview, McDermitt reveals that he concentrates on not knowing anything about the ending of the show to focus on his performance.
McDermitt explains that to get into character for an emotional scene you have to go to the “unhealthy portions” of your brain.
“It’s all boring actor talk. Basically that’s just stuff you rehearse and practice on your own. When it comes time to go to those emotional places, you go there. Unfortunately, it’s not a fun place for us to live, because nobody likes to live in the unhealthy portions of their brain, but that’s what we’re called upon to do at times. It never gets easier. The more you do it, it still never gets easier.”
Working on a TV show with so many plot twists McDermitt reveals that he doesn’t even know what happens next in the series.
“I’ve had to make decisions for myself because being an actor is all about making choices. So I had to make those choices and I’m going to keep them to myself because I don’t need to reveal all the tricks of the trade. But I did ask Scott Gimple, our showrunner, not to tell me what Eugene’s intentions are — if he’s Trojan horsing this thing or if he’s full-on Team Negan — because I don’t want to know. I love being surprised at certain parts of the show… I also think if I did know anything, I’d start playing that, and I don’t want that to happen.”
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