The Walking Dead: A Zombie Interview

Take a minute to think about some qualities that describe Public Administrators. You know – political players, project managers, avid horror fans.

Wait, you didn’t immediately think avid horror fan? Well you’d be wrong. Dead wrong actually in the case of Mr. Scott McPherson.

CIO of the Florida House of Representatives by day and horror fanatic by night (a double life almost as cool as Batman’s) – McPherson was recently a zombie in AMC’s soon to be premiered “The Walking Dead” series, and we here at GoresTruly were lucky enough to have a chat with Scott McPherson about his experiences.

So how did you end up scoring a role in the series?

A friend of a friend, really.  My deputy director is close friends with a member of the crew.  She came into my office in May and told me her friend just got hired to work on something called “The Walking Dead.”  I said, “I have got to be a zombie!”  Two weeks later, the casting agency called with my call time and date.  As you might imagine, my deputy is now set for life.  Excuse me, I have to go wax her car right now.  I’ll be back, as the Governator said.

Were you a zombie fan or a series fan prior to being involved in The Walking Dead? Elaborate

I grew up with monsters.  I still have my old Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine collection!  But of all monsters, zombies (and Godzilla) are my favorite horror subjects.  Always have been.  I think the first zombie film I ever saw was the 1950s classic Creature With the Atom Brain.  Richard Denning, Nazi mad scientist, gangsters, undead detective!  Sam Kurtzman film, as I recall.  I actually saw Dawn of the Dead before I saw NOTLD.  Back in the late 70s, at FAU in Boca Raton, I actually got to chat with George Romero following a lecture.  Until I met Frank Darabont, it was my only brush with horror royalty.

Then there’s Shock Waves, shot in and around Miami, and still one of my all-time favorites.  Nothing like underwater Nazi zombies!  Then there’s the “virus-pathogen-chemical” films, like 28 Days/Weeks Later and both versions of The Crazies.  I loved Zombieland, in part because I live in Tallahassee and also because the film was shot in Georgia (as was The Crazies remake).  Cannot wait to see what these writers do with Deadpool!  However, I am generally NOT a fan of fast zombies!  Fast zombies defy physiological description.  OK, maybe the entire thought of reanimating the undead is not feasible.  But fast zombies give me the willies.  I mean, how can you get a shot off if they run fast?

Walking Dead is my favorite comic.  I started with the Compendium, which you can actually use to kill a zombie.  I am caught up all the way to #78, the current issue.  Damn that weapons fire!  They’ll roust The Herd!  No!! Too late!!!

Robert and Charlie do a great job of staying on schedule.  I appreciate Skybound/Image’s commitment to that.

How many hours of prosthetic/makeup did you endure?

It took me about a half-hour in makeup.  What happened was at first I was going to go without makeup, but my friend enabled me to get into the makeup line.  Just before my turn in the chair, though, a PA (production assistant) put me in the “mask” line.  That meant I got a mask and a lot of makeup applied and sprayed on my head, neck, arms and hands.  The way it worked out was awesome!  The mask fit so well, it might as well have been molded from my own face.  Hey, I did not mind the lack of prosthetic makeup!  I was just happy to be there.  It was actually better, when we took breaks and ate lunch.

Have you been involved in other television/movie productions before?

Never.  The closest I ever came to being in a movie was watching some exterior scenes being shot making Chuck Norris’ old movie, Invasion USA, which was shot in Miami (Vizcaya) and Coral Gables.  However, because of my different positions over the years in my “day jobs” within politics and government, most recently as an expert in pandemic preparedness (imagine that), I have appeared on television roughly a hundred times.  I have been on NBC News, CNN, Fox News, CBS, ABC, and too many local newscasts to even try to count.  That gave me an appreciation for what I was about to do.

How do you balance public image with horror (if that is a concern considering your public position)?

Nah, I never worry about that.  People know I am wired differently.  Recently, at a panel discussion of government CIOs here in the capital, a friend walked up to the mike during Q&A and asked if I was now prepared for a zombie apocalypse.  The audience laughed and approved warmly.  I try to never take myself too seriously, and I am proud as all get-out that I was a zombie! More people than you might suspect wish they, too, could walk with the undead.  My regret is that I got 8 callbacks and, for varying reasons, could not go back to Atlanta for more filming.  That is a situation which I will correct next season, provided AMC renews the series (which I am clearly hopeful they will do).

Any cool stories or anything else you’d care to share about your experience during the filming process?

Well, the entire experience was absolutely one of the top four experiences of my life.  Let me give you a metric for the readers: The other three are the night I was elected to the Legislature (I was 25 and it was 1980), the day I married my wife, and the day I flew a P-51D Mustang fighter.  So it is right up there with my most special moments.

I met some really great people, such as Gary Whitta, who wrote the Book of Eli.  You see a zombie in a bathrobe, think Gary.  I also got to spend a lot of time with Charlie Adlard, who you probably know was in full makeup for the Saturday shoot.  I also got to meet Robert Kirkland, who always amazes me with his ability to write with the eyes of a person much older then he actually is.  And I got to work with and be slathered with stage blood by Greg Nicotero, who is one of the nicest guys on the planet.  I was directed in a scene by Frank Darabont, and I also have become fast friends with another extremely talented fellow named Tim Daniel, who is in the comic book industry (another one of my oldest loves).  He is involved in design work on several projects, perhaps the best-known being the new smash Image Comic series named Morning Glories.  Morning Glories is an awesome book, and I encourage everyone to read it.

I also have made enduring friendships with some very special Atlanta-based actors and actresses (do we still use that term?).  Sonya Thompson is a local actress and is a “hero zombie” in several scenes.  Her personage is also featured by AMC in promo “baseball cards” for the series.  The face of The Walking Dead is Melissa Cowan, who is best known as “Bicycle Girl.”  She, like Sonya, is a wonderful person and we have a connection that will transcend this show and appear in another media in 2011.  Melissa is now red-hot on the comic convention circuit.  Ondie Daniel and Pamela Ashe-Smith and Steve Warren also befriended me on the set, are great actors and are great people as well.  Ondie also does makeup and directs side projects.  All these people are connected with “Netherworld,” Atlanta’s haunted house.  A secret:  Zombieland, The Crazies and The Walking Dead all mined Netherworld for actors, makeup and effects people, and other experts.  No wonder, then, that Netherworld is America’s Spookiest Haunt.

Jack Byrd is a retired Georgia state employee, and we became friends the first day, probably because we were the oldest guys on the set.  He started out as a “masked zombie” too.  Let me tell you a story:  the first day, I schooled Jack on all things Walking Dead, explaining the entire continuity of the comics series (well, up to a point).  I gave him the history of the comics, of Frank Darabont, and of Greg Nicotero.

The next morning, I cannot find my buddy Jack!  Remember – he’s retired, and it was hot Hot HOT, so I became worried he might have gotten sick from the previous day’s shooting.  Then we get onto the set, and – Jack is in FULL PROSTHETIC MAKEUP!  He looks awesome!  He proceeds to tell me that he had a 4:45 AM call time, and he is sitting around when Nicotero comes into the holding area, scans the room, and says, “You, you, you, and (looking at Jack) – YOU – come with me.”  They go outside and into the KNB trailer.  Jack sits in the last chair.  It is Nicotero’s makeup station.  Yes, Nicotero makes him up personally!  Jack says to Greg, “You know, there’s this older guy from Tallahassee, knows all about the Walking Dead, and says you are the best in the world at what you do.”

Now it is much later in the day – about 7:00 PM or so, Sunday evening – and we are still filming.  I know enough to realize we have to hurry or we’ll lose our light.  The BIG SCENE is about to be filmed, and the fans of the books know what I am talking about.  I am in a mask, and I am around a large, inanimate object’s rear end.  Darabont comes up and starts telling us what we need to do.  However, I am in a mask, and a close-up is required.  Greg comes up and starts pulling people without makeup, and people in masks, out of frame.  I look up and say, “Greg, do you need me out of the shot?”

He looks at me and, without hesitation, he says “No, because I know how important this is to you.  But keep your head up, because if I see the elastic, I will give you s—t.”

I decide then and there I will fall on a grenade for Greg Nicotero.  I will take any bullet of any caliber, anywhere on my person.

My deep appreciation for Greg Nicotero was confirmed as the zombie extras, about 150 of us, all lined up to turn in our wardrobe at the end of the day.  It’s about 8PM now, and I have a six-hour drive ahead of me.  But I am not tired in the least.  I am wondering what will happen when I stop for dinner on I-75 with my neck and arms looking like all the blood has pooled up in them.  Then I notice Nicotero at the head of the extras line, shaking every extra’s hand and thanking them personally for their work.  He stops at me and we talk, about what I have no clue because I am essentially speechless.   But I am wearing a Bubba Ho-Tep T-shirt, and then I remember he was the effects guy for Coscarelli’s picture. I am sure he appreciated that.

Frank Darabont is a sweetheart of a guy.  We all knew when we had a “take,” because he would yell “Cut!” from the video village, and then laugh manically.    At the end of the shoot, a handful of us are about ten feet from Darabont.  Frank says to us, “It was an honor to work with you.”

I looked right at him and said, “No, Mr. Darabont.  The honor was all ours!”  Darabont stands at attention and bows his head slightly, in appreciation.  No wonder this guy is one of the best directors of our time.

When we were all in the wardrobe line, we hear a commotion coming from the street.  We turn and see a small rental car, one of those ridiculously small subcompact cars.  A large man in a Hawaiian shirt is literally leaning out of the car, yelling “Hey!  Great job, guys, great job!  Thank you so much!”

It is Frank Darabont. OK, I can take two grenades.

The entire production was incredible, and they did a great job of feeding us, keeping us hydrated, and keeping us focused.  Anyone who wants to work in project management should visit a movie or television set.  The level of professionalism and dedication to excellence is an incredibly rewarding experience.  I credit both Darabont and Gale Ann Hurd for that.

We’d like to thank Mr. McPherson for his willingness to share his awesome story with us – and state that for the record, the fact that he owns a Bubba Ho-tep  shirt officially makes him the coolest cat in the State Government.

We look forward to seeing him and hoards of other zombies in the October 31st premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead“.

Photo credits: All images © AMC.

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