Original subtitles

Gurira: It was probably one of the most exhilarating things

I've ever gone through -- to be cast in this show.

[Grunts]

♪

Man: Action!

Lincoln: So, we all thought the only way we're gonna do this

is by linking arms, looking each other square in the eyes,

and going, "Let's give it everything we've got."

Man: It's a family drama set in hell.

[Gunfire]

-We are all one big family. -Family.

-Family. -"The Walking Dead" family.

[Choir vocalizing]

All: "The Walking Dead" super fans!

I received a severed finger.

[Laughter]

[Laughing] Not a real severed finger. A fake severed finger.

100 episodes. That's rarified air.

[Groans]

[Growling]

Huth: We're so unbelievably fortunate

that the show caught on with audiences.

[Growling]

If anybody told you they thought

we would be here 100 episodes later,

they're absolutely lying to you,

because we really didn't know if we'd even get a second season.

Cover your ears. [Weapon cocks]

Kirkman: The process of getting "The Walking Dead" to television

was a very long process,

with a lot of starts and stops

and a lot of getting close and then falling apart.

When this was first brought around

to the different networks, it was rejected,

it was accepted and developed, and then it was rejected again.

And I think it took a young, hungry cable company, like AMC,

to see the value

and take the risk of doing a zombie television show.

Given that horror on television back then

was kind of the ugly stepchild of drama,

we were just hoping we'd get renewed.

Is that a real vein or is that...?

-No, that's put in. -Ohh.

Kirkman: To be completely honest, I didn't really know

anything about the television business.

You know, we would be reviewing scripts,

and I'd be like, "This thing is never gonna get made."

And then I'd be, you know, watching auditions,

and I'd be like, "Enh. This is never gonna get made."

And then I was on set, and I was there, filming it,

and I was like, "This thing is never gonna make it to air."

And then, you know, suddenly, it's on TV, and I'm like,

"This thing's gonna get canceled.

This thing is never gonna last."

Uh, I guess I'm a really negative person.

-Go! -Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

-[Growling] -[Grunting]

Luse: The amazing thing for "The Walking Dead"

is that we have this great blueprint

given to us by Robert Kirkman.

It's a gift because

to make that transition from page to screen,

we can always go back to our source material.

Kirkman: One of the things that makes "The Walking Dead" cool,

one of the things that I think has built the fan base,

is the fact that when you sit down to read

an issue of the comic, you never know what's gonna happen.

And so, being able to pay tribute

to what comes in the comic but also maintain

that aspect of you never know what's gonna happen

I think is really important,

even though they've been reading the comic

for, you know, over a decade.

[Sighs] So, what happens now?

Glenn: We bury her.

♪

[Smooches]

And cut. Very nice.

Hurd: You can have a great script.

If you don't have the right actors, you don't have a show.

Four men, four rounds. What are the odds, huh?

Let's just hope that, uh --

Let's just hope that four is your lucky number, okay?

The most interesting thing

is that we did not cast the role of Rick Grimes first.

We actually cast the -- the role of Shane.

At that point, we didn't even know that he was out there.

♪

Lincoln: This script sort of came through from my agent

called "The Walking Dead."

And it said "Zombie" -- No, no. Wait a minute.

It said "Walking Dead."

And I thought, "That's a really cool name.

Is it a war story?"

Underneath, it just said "zombie survival horror."

And I was -- And I started to salivate.

Little girl?

I'm a policeman.

Little girl?

Lincoln: So, we all thought the only way we're gonna do this

is by linking arms, looking each other square in the eyes,

and going, "Let's give it everything we've got,

and let's have fun."

♪

McBride: Well, it's -- it's based on a comic book.

And I remember driving home,

and I went by -- by the bookstore.

And I went in and asked where

"The Walking Dead" comic book was.

I opened it up,

and there was a woman getting her neck torn out, bit out.

Very, very different from what I was used to.

So I was like, "Oh, yeah, this is gonna be a lot of fun.

Yeah, this is great."

Morgan: Hey, mister! What's that bandage for?

W-What? What?

You tell me...

or I will kill you.

James: You have to remember, when we first started,

everything was vampires.

It was "Vampire Diaries" and "Twilight"

and "True Blood" and stuff,

so the notion of doing a zombie show --

Everybody said that we were crazy.

[Crow caws]

Bialy: There's a fun story about Rick's audition.

We Skyped with him.

And I remember he said,

"Oh, I just had a baby. I just can't do it."

He was incredibly sleepless. He was exhausted.

And I said, "You didn't have a baby. Your wife had a baby.

Could you just get somebody

to read with you off-camera instead of your wife?"

And he called a friend of his who said,

"Well, you're never gonna get this job.

I got 10 minutes. Let's just do it." Mm-hmm.

And so, I go to a buddy of mine, Sam Hazeldine, who's a very --

a very accomplished actor, but a terrible cameraman.

And I think he filmed me sort of --

It's either my nose up -- I think it was like that --

or my nose down.

And I sort of sent that to the casting director,

and they just went, "What are you doing? You idiot."

And that's the tape that he sent that was so strong

that the producers flew him out for a screen test.

[Horse neighs, hoofbeats]

Hurd: The idea now of anyone other than Andy Lincoln

bringing that role to life, playing Rick Grimes,

is just...inconceivable.

[Clicking]

Oh, God.

Come on, people. What the hell?

[Crossbow fires]

Bialy: Norman has a fun story.

I just remember, when he first came in to audition,

and he walked in the room and said, "I suck at auditions.

I've never gotten a job off an audition. I'm terrible."

And so, I read it, and I left,

and then I went back to New York.

And I remember, when he left, my note was,

"He's not right for this role, but he is fascinating,

and we have to find something for him."

And then when the -- And the producers agreed.

And they agreed. Yeah.

He made -- made such an impression on us

that we brought him back in a role

that isn't from the comic books, of Daryl Dixon.

And then I got a call as I was walking through Chinatown,

saying, "Hey, they wrote a -- wrote a part for you."

And I was like, "Yay!" Morning.

Huth: Someone who actually never had to audition is Melissa McBride.

-You washed my clothes? -Well, best we could.

Scrubbing on a washboard ain't half as good

as my old Maytag back home.

That's very kind. Thank you.

Huth: I produced a film called "Stephen King's The Mist,"

and she had one very important, critical scene in that movie.

And she was breathtaking.

It was about three years after "The Mist" had shot,

and I -- I was called by the local casting director.

Little did she know all these conversations had gone on,

that she got a call that, "We're doing a television series

in the zombie apocalypse in Atlanta,

and you've been cast in the role of Carol."

[Crying] Please, Lord.

Punish me however you want.

But show mercy on her.

When in doubt, put the camera on Melissa,

because she is absolutely phenomenal.

Casting of Michonne was very exciting for us.

It was a fan favorite.

This place is not what they say it is.

It was probably one of the most exhilarating things

I've ever gone through -- to be cast in this show.

[Growling]

To actually be handed something this extraordinary,

a character this original,

was something I'd never -- I'd never come across, really.

-[Walkers groan] -[Grunts]

Bialy: You know, you're casting a brilliant woman,

not just a brilliant actress,

which I think has served her well.

-And badass. Just badass. -And a badass. Yeah.

-Yeah. -Really badass.

-And marker. -Need a mark? Scene.

Huth: A lot of times in television, you shoot a pilot,

and then you go away for months and, you know,

wait to hear whether you're gonna get picked up.

For us, our -- our kind of whole pilot was the first season.

All right, everybody, step back if you're not in the rehearsal.

All right, here we go! Picture's up!

And mark!

Satrazemis: We knew that we were in a -- in a place,

a highly creative place, and we had all the right people.

No, no! Oh, no! No, no!

God! God! No, no! God!

McBride: The performances are just so compelling to watch,

and I was like, "I don't think

I've ever seen anything like this on television."

Help me!

[Walkers growling]

No!

[Walkers growling]

Rooker: Something happened.

It was the right time,

the right creative individuals,

the right cast.

♪

No! No!

Rooker: When the casting director told me about the character,

that was one of the things

that really turned me on about the role. No!

This role is just -- is written for you, Rooker.

I mean, the guy is such an ass-kicking Southern redneck.

He, like, cuts his own hands off to --

I'm like, "What? What? What? W-Wait. Hold on. He does what?"

Daryl: No! No!

Rooker: I've never experienced anything like that --

anything like "The Walking Dead."

And I said, "Okay, I'll do it."

♪

James: You know, at the airport, when you land,

they say, "Welcome to Hotlanta."

But until you experience it, you don't really know it --

I mean, you know, temperatures over 100 degrees

with 100% humidity.

Huth: Georgia is absolutely critical to the show.

I kind of feel like it's a character on the show --

the heat and the bugs --

you know, it makes the show harder,

and it absolutely makes the show better.

August in Georgia is a special time.

[Sizzling]

It is hot.

Michonne: Rick! Walkers!

Payne: We film a lot in the woods,

where there's all manner of bugs and creepy-crawlies

that want to bite you and give you various diseases.

McIntosh: The weather really doesn't bother me,

and especially when you see people in walker costumes,

who are much hotter than I ever would be.

Had a bad day.

They'll turn me into a walker next week, and then we'll see.

[Laughs]

Gurira: I had lived in New York a long time,

so I was used to heat and humidity,

but, you know, Georgia takes it up a notch.

[Wind blowing]

Morgan: There is no place on Earth

that is hotter than Atlanta in August.

That being said,

is a zombie ever gonna get my leather jacket off me?

-[Growls] -[Grunts]

Hell no.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Rick: What's your name?

My friends used to call me "Jesus."

Payne: I have as many clothes on as possible

and as much facial hair and hair on my head as possible

to make me a big, sweaty mess at the end of every day.

[Insects buzzing] We like to be miserable.

Huth: If we're not miserable, we're not making "The Walking Dead."

It's -- It's just part of it.

If we happen to shoot indoors and there's air-conditioning,

it just -- it doesn't feel right to me.

James: It's an equalizer,

and everybody has to work in it, not least our crew.

A lot of it is about making sure they can make it through,

and if they can make it through, we sure as hell can.

[Grunts]

The fact that, for six months a year,

we're all together outside of Atlanta

bonds us more closely

than anything I've ever worked on before.

Lincoln: The crew are the heart of the show now

because they have so many other people who've come and gone,

and there's a sort of unity and a real strength.

And I realize that I make the show for them just as much as myself.

Huth: We get a script, and we're like, "Okay, this one's impossible.

We're not gonna make it." And somehow we do.

This is a little bit different. The camera's going to pan.

And that's really a credit to the crew, because they --

they don't just show up to work.

They're very, very proud to be the crew of "The Walking Dead,"

and it shows.

The first day I came on the set,

this guy came up to me and said,

"Hi. I'm Rick Brown. I'm a key grip."

I believe I said, "Hi. I love you, and I'm glad you're here."

That's exactly what he said.

Toughest thing about the job -- we're in the woods a lot,

so maneuvering into the deep forest

and not having a paved road to get to it

is probably our toughest thing.

-Go home. -Let go!

Just leave!

[Panting]

[Walker growling]

[Women scream]

We definitely have the best crew.

This is the probably the best job ever.

There. Got it.

Do I love working on it? I'm still here.

"The Walking Dead" crew.

My job involves all the effects of nature --

wind, rain, snow,

anything to do with steam or smoke or explosions.

McBride: They genuinely have the best attitude.

Some of them have to drive 40 minutes

to get home to go to sleep.

They really are like superheroes.

Never give up. You keep going.

McIntosh: It's a very fast-moving set.

There's always excitement around the corner.

Just walking over here for this interview,

I almost walked into a herd...

[Laughing] coming at me, of walkers.

Wouldn't you like to eat with the zombies?

Wasner: We got 30 zombies in makeup. We got a dog.

We're gonna have him take a dog leg, rip it off.

We got brisket stuff stuffed in there.

And, anyways, she's gonna get this girl biting and eating it

and hopefully digesting some dog.

Sometimes we have night shoots,

and we start, you know, at 6:00 in the evening

and work until the sun comes up, but it's all fun.

This is the family that we really like to work with.

People really love making this show.

It is the greatest summer camp on Earth.

Mark.

The flow is real easy.

[Panting]

Lori, there's two walkers after my baby!

Everybody does their job,

and everything comes together when we call "action."

Action!

Kang: I get excited about exploring the different sets.

It always gives all of us writers ideas

about, you know, "Oh, here's this really cool part of the set

that hasn't been seen yet,"

or, "Here's something that's underutilized."

It always sparks idea.

It's just really different from seeing blueprints or photos.

Gives you a sense of the living space.

Huth: Every department -- props, hair, makeup, wardrobe --

everybody that has go to into figuring out how we're gonna

have these characters interacting with zombies

and all these things we have to figure out --

it's -- it's an incredible process.

We make magic in eight days.

-I appreciate you, man. -I appreciate you, too.

That says it all. That says it all.

I'm gonna bust out crying.

♪

♪

-Thank you, Your Majesty. -For what?

For being such a cool dude.

There's nothing like heat, humidity, mud,

and fake zombie guts to glue you all together.

-[Growls] -[Screams]

Breckenridge: These characters are constantly fighting

for survival every day,

and so you become very close to them in that way,

because you're really fighting for your lives together.

-[Grunts] -[Man laughs]

I've never experienced anything like that.

People started, like, fighting, pulling on hair.

"Oh, your family doesn't do that?"

Get on your feet, before I have to kick your teeth in.

That's my family.

It was unlike a family in that everybody was really cool.

James: It's a bond that we're about a commitment to the work.

And it's effortless, and it's genuine,

and it goes from the top down.

-We're staying. -Just the three of us?

Satrazemis: I think it's tough watching so many actors

being brought into the show

and the level that the other actors are operating on.

And they first kind of have walked in, settled down,

looked around, and went, "Is this (bleep) real?

Is somebody gonna hit me?"

Dad!

What started as excitement became abject terror

by the time I landed in Atlanta...

-Help me! Help my boy! -Inside.

...because I became such a fan of the show.

I need my full kit.

As soon as I arrived in Georgia, I was so welcomed,

and I knew I was sort of in the bosom of family.

I'm responsible.

I ain't gonna sit here while this fella takes this on alone.

We'll see you out there, brother.

Marquand: It was intimidating at first,

but that stress kind of dissipated as soon as I met Andy.

"I am dead" and "We're assholes."

That's so smart. Who did this?

All the fear just kind of went away like that. [Snaps fingers]

You need anything, you call me.

I don't -- [Sighs] We don't have phones.

I-I meant -- I'm four houses down.

Thank you.

In my first shot, we were wrangling pigs.

[Pigs snorting]

Hah! Come on! Come on! Come on!

Payton: I looked over at Lennie.

I said, "Lennie, it's my first shot, man."

And he said, "Welcome to the family."

And we were off and running.

[Pigs snorting and squealing]

Been running ever since.

[Snorting and squealing stops] Well done, Richard.

We say that it's "TWD" family, and we mean it in truth.

[Indistinct conversations, growling]

Sasha, honey, what's your favorite meal?

And a lot of it has to do with Andrew Lincoln.

That man is an example of a leader,

if there ever was one.

Together. Keep moving. Come on.

Lincoln: We were very fortunate in that first season,

and I think we set the tone there in that ensemble

of this attitude of, "Even if you're off-camera,

you work harder for the other actor."

-[Growls] -[Screams]

[Grunting]

♪

The hardest part about being on that show

is -- is seeing people leave.

Gimple: So, it's a fictional program,

but there are these real-world consequences.

Liar.

-No! -Aah!

No!

Ultimately, up to me, and so I have to take responsibility

for those creative choices

and have difficult conversations with people.

Good. Get rid of them all. It's more lunch for me.

No. Uh... It -- It's -- It's rough.

I mean, I've always said it's like real life.

You always feel like you have more time with people.

Down. Now.

McIntosh: There's nothing like this show.

There's nothing like knowing

that you can get killed off at any time.

We can make another deal.

Aah! [Groaning]

But it just keeps you in the present, like life, you know?

I did not want to be killed off of that show.

I really didn't.

[Screams]

we can all relate to -- to that kind of struggle.

Sometimes, you don't get to choose family anymore.

And that can be painful, and it can be beautiful,

but it's -- it's a process and it's raw.

It sucks. Profoundly.

Negan: Anybody says anything,

cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father...

Huth: Everybody shows up knowing

they're gonna get killed off this show.

[Screams]

You know, it's just part of the way it works.

-Back to it. -[Grunts]

Gurira: To lose so many cast members that you get to see every day --

You know, like, they were right there next to you every day.

No exceptions! [Grunts]

[Panting]

Morgan: Some people -- (bleep) Let's kill them.

But, you know, someone like Sonequa --

you hate leaving them,

hate not having them on the show.

You're not gonna believe this crap.

[Growling] Holy goddamn!

♪

[Gunfire]

Huth: We all bargain. There's a little bit of bargaining

that goes on for everybody of like,

"Why? Wouldn't this make sense? And what about this?"

And, you know, Andy is notorious for that.

I think Andy has tried to save every single actor

that has ever been on this show.

It's most beautiful job. It's the most painful job.

You're all already dead.

The bonus is, I get to meet most

of the Screen Actors Guild of America doing this job.

The sad thing is I'm still here.

[Chuckling] You know, they get to --

It's a catch-and-release program,

but I'm apparently the guy catching and releasing.

They're here! Huth: We always have to

remind ourselves, like, "Nobody's actually dying."

They're fine. They're going on to the next thing,

but our -- our little bubble shifts and changes.

And it sucks.

-[Crying] -Just look at the flowers.

There is no way to prepare

for the loss of a cast member,

although we try to prepare

by having our death dinner.

Suppose any time a large number

of cast members walked into a restaurant in Atlanta,

they were saying, "Which one of them died?"

[Laughs]

The thing that I don't like is that --

that the cast is completely non-supportive

about the situation that's going on here.

Rooker: I did have -- I-I had a death dinner.

-[Growling] -[Grunting]

To be perfectly honest, it was very boring.

I thought we were gonna have shots.

I thought we were gonna really do a good fare-thee-well.

Martin-Green: Of course, the death dinner

that is nearest and dearest to my heart is my own.

The love that was exchanged

and the words that were spoken --

I'll carry them with me forever.

McIntosh: And we all get together and celebrate that person

and send them off on their way to new adventures.

Lincoln: We're all going out the same way, I'm afraid.

And to see friends and loved ones

and people you care about go is agony,

but it is a part of life -- death.

Are we celebrating the show?

Because I'm bringing the show right down here.

♪

You and Daryl -- that's your big plan?

Lincoln: See, I'm working a lot more with Norman this year,

which the fans, I suppose, will be happy about,

but it means I have to work twice as hard,

'cause I have to learn his lines for him.

You know, Andy's become like my best buddy.

Like, I love that guy.

Everything he does is really annoying, actually.

He's always been the "actor's quarterback."

He's always been the one that gets everybody going.

His hair. His beautiful hair.

He's just a super-generous guy.

And his little twirly -- little --

only a little bit of sort of a goatee that he can grow --

It's taken him eight years, and that's all he's come up with.

All the success that's happened to him --

he couldn't have -- it couldn't have happened

to a -- a better guy, you know?

I hope they kill him off this year.

Actually, he's an asshole. [Chuckles]

[Indistinct conversations]

He does all this weird stuff all the time,

like, you know, gets all serious.

He's like, "Da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da."

He does all this weird crap. I don't know what he's doing.

[Indistinct conversations]

I love their friendship. It's so funny. It's great stuff.

And JDM is all up in there, too, now. It's very, very funny.

So I'm looking forward to seeing what they do to each other next.

The three of us have a --

I'm very lucky to have come into this show so late

and be embraced and loved

by the likes of -- of Andy and Norman the way I have.

[Laughter]

I've known Jeff for like 20 years.

I-I've known him from way before we did this show.

Clean that up.

So, he and I are really good friends,

and we ride motorcycles everywhere,

and we talk on the phone all the time.

I can talk to them every night about whatever is going on

in my personal life or the show.

And so to have that kind of friendship...

with guys that didn't necessarily have to bring me

into the fold is a pretty special deal.

Reedus: And it's the same with Andy, and Andy's and I friendship

started on this show and grew this way.

The amount of crazy stuff that happens on a daily basis

around this show -- I just kind of giggle.

I haven't been pranked yet, but I know it's probably coming.

I know the last time Andy tried to get at Norman

was last year at Comic-Con with -- with the glitter bombs.

[Beep] [Laughter]

The prank war is --

It's sort of become

sort of a matter of honor and -- and pride.

I think it's more of an American thing,

because Andy's a bit too British.

I-It's just not in our nature to -- to do that kind of --

Like, we, like, play jokes and, like, you know, wordplay --

like, clever British humor and all that kind of stuff.

I don't know. It started in Japan.

-We're big fans of Japan. -Yeah.

Thank you very much.

Do you want to practice your lines I taught you?

-[Speaking Japanese] -Cheers.

It's great to be here.

Can I just -- Can I tell you something?

That doesn't mean what you think.

Oh, you son of a (bleep)

And it ended with glitter bouncing in his own face.

-It's still going, dude. -[Laughs]

How much did you (bleep) put in here?

Stuck so much in there.

It's an intricate game they're playing.

I sometimes have thought of jumping in,

but I'm like, "I don't think I could hang, you know?"

I think I'd -- I'd call "uncle" real fast, you know?

I'd be like, "Have mercy on me."

I would never do it. I'm too scared to get involved

because I would just end up with egg on my face, so...

-Great. -What does it mean?

-What does it mean? -It means, "Where's the toilet?"

-[Laughs] You son of a (bleep)

So I think after that, he just --

He's just waving the white towel at this point.

Woman: He keeps saying that to the waiter, like...

[Laughter]

Ohh! [Groaning]

Carl!

Carl!

James: There is a drinking game, which is basically

every time Andy says "Carl," you have to take a drink.

And in some episodes,

I'd imagine people get really, really drunk.

Carl. Carl! Carl!!

Payton: It's got to start with a shake of a head.

"Carl."

"Carl!"

"Coral! Coral!"

"Carl!"

"Carl?" Is that how he says it?

-Carl! -"Coral."

-"Curl! Curl!" -"Coral."

"We're gonna fight this thing together!

Everybody! Corl! You, too, Corl!"

-Dad! -Carl!

McIntosh: It's so awful.

I mean, Andy says "Coral"

just the way that anyone else would say "Coral."

He's gotten better about it,

but in Season 4, that's when it was really bad.

He had all these, like, crazy prosthetics on.

-Carl! Carl! -[Crying]

The funny thing is, he's very protective of it.

Like, he gets very, like,

"Don't be messing with me about how I say 'Coral.'"

It's terrible.

It's like a bad impression of a man

doing a bad impression of an American accent.

I have too much fun when he does it his way.

I mean, it's one of the enjoy-- one of the --

one of the many enjoyments that we have here on set

is when he yells, "Coral!"

Carl, go.

[Gravelly voice] "Carl. Carl."

"Carl."

"Carl!"

"Coral."

I'm not gonna do it. [Laughs]

"Carl."

"Coral!"

[Gasping] C-Carl.

W-Where's Carl?

A-After eight years, you'd think he'd try to work on it,

but I think he's just, like -- he's given up.

Sometimes his accent will slip a little bit...

Carl's gonna be all right.

...and there will be, like,

a little British thing to it,

and then, sometimes, he makes these faces where he's like --

he's like -- he looks like he's confused,

which I really like.

To save Carl's life, I would've done anything -- anything.

For the record, C-a-r-l. [Chuckles]

That's 'cause, for every other character, it's "Carl."

[Laughter]

If they could have called him "Jason,"

it would have been ideal.

Why did they (bleep) call him "Carl"?

[Gasping] Carl...keep walking.

"Robert" would have been perfect, yeah.

"Bobby," yeah.

Thanks, Kirkman.

Carl!

♪

♪

[Dramatic music plays]

[Walkers growling]

♪

[Music intensifies]

All: "The Walking Dead"!

[All cheer]

Breckenridge: "The Walking Dead" fans

are so very passionate in the most awesome ways,

and then, sometimes, in the most frightening [chuckles] of ways.

Ohh! Ohh! [Groaning]

Ohh! Ohh!

We wouldn't have this show if it wasn't for the fans.

[Crowd screaming]

Are they passionate? Yeah, they're passionate.

I've been bitten.

People's pets are named after me.

This girl showed me a picture

of her baby that was just born and named it "Reedus."

Little ass-kicker.

[Walker growling]

Gilliam: Mostly, what I get a lot of

are crocheted little Father Gabriel dolls,

and I'm not sure why.

[Squishes] [Grunts]

[Growling]

Dolls here and there of -- of Carl,

Carl merchandise, a lot of pudding -- get a lot of pudding.

Breckenridge: I received a severed finger.

[Laughing] Not a real severed finger -- a fake severed finger.

[Cheers and applause]

Melinda: I'm Melinda Gray, and I'm a super fan.

I make a few items, "Walking Dead"-related --

the "Bite me" grease rags,

like the ones that Daryl carries in his pocket.

You can't see yourself. We can.

Then we do the Lucilles

that have the bullet in them, and they're real wood.

This is Lucille, and she is awesome.

I never thought I would be making bats

with blood on them, no.

The creativity of the fans is amazing.

I think it's my favorite -- when I see what they have done,

what they've built, what they've created.

I was a huge fan of "The Walking Dead,"

and I just wanted to paint something like a zombie

or a-a character of the show or something.

The strangest ones are tattoos.

People scarring their bodies, um [Laughing] for the show

is, uh -- is a new thing.

♪

A woman came up to me the day before my first episode.

I am King Ezekiel. Welcome.

She pulled up her pant leg.

[Growls]

My entire body sitting on that throne all over her thigh.

Darling, I hope I haven't disappointed you.

[Growls] They are our guests.

You know, the doctor was about to put me under,

and he's like, "So, who dies?"

[Growls]

Don't hurt my little girl.

And I, like, totally told him off.

I'm like, "Not the time. Not the time."

No!

Scott: My name is Robert Scott.

I am Dr. Eugene Porter of the Human Genome Project.

[Bell dings] Eugene brings the sex, right?

[Laughs] Yeah. [Laughs]

Chris Twellmann.

People know me as "German Abraham."

[Bell dings]

A few years ago, I've quit my job in Germany,

moved to the States, and here I am.

I live my [chuckles] dream.

Melissa Coppage.

I'm the manager of The Woodbury Shoppe,

where they film "The Walking Dead."

"Walking Dead" fans are like no other.

It is a family.

Ben's my brother, and Nicole is my wife,

and interesting enough, we actually met

through the love of "The Walking Dead."

She saw me at a convention, dressed as The Governor.

And she had come down from Canada with her ex at the time,

and, uh, that's -- that's how we met.

Yes, I did. [Laughter]

Downstairs, we have a museum,

and we have some relics from the show --

Daryl's bike, the chair --

the dentist's chair that Andrea met her demise in.

[Growling]

And the cast have all signed the walls,

and they've all weathered pretty well, except for maybe Norman's.

We're suspecting, possibly, people are licking it.

I don't know. But it's fading, and it's the only one.

I should get, like, flavored ink pens, if that's the case.

Payne: One of the best things about being on the show

is that you can make people smile

by meeting them and just saying "hi"

and shaking their hand or giving them a hug and stuff.

That's such an amazing thing.

[Cheers and applause]

The fan experience is gratifying because the show is so big,

but the experiences feel so personal.

I'm really glad that, sometimes, the show can offer that.

Fan mail that I get from Carol fans is so inspiring

because I get stories of men and women...

I just have the car.

...who survived abusive relationships,

and Carol, uh, inspired them to...leave.

[Voice breaking] It doesn't have to be this way.

You can turn back, and you can go home.

Nobody has to get hurt.

It's looking like someone's gotta get hurt.

And it inspires me to -- to get even closer to who Carol is.

[Crying] Don't, please!

[Gunfire]

[Gunfire stops]

[Clicking]

I'm okay.

Marquand: More often than not, just, you know, it's an acting gig,

and you go and you do your job as best you can,

but when young men and women come to me and say,

"You helped me come out to my parents.

You are the reason why

I was able to fully, uh, embrace my sexuality."

You were worried, weren't you?

Yeah.

I don't think I've ever had that sort of satisfaction

as an actor, ever in my life.

Well, that's -- it -- that's what it is.

It's -- It's just a really special relationship

between the show and the fans.

♪

♪

You're okay? I'm okay.

The baby's okay --

all of us.

♪

Huth: Almost none of them knew each other in the beginning,

and yet, they are family.

They have this closeness and this will to survive that,

I think, back then -- you look at some of those characters

and think, "Oh, they're never gonna make it."

Negrete: You know, looking back from episode 1 until episode 100,

just to see how different the show is

and how the characters that are still around have changed --

it really feels like it's been a remarkable journey.

[Grunts]

You know, I think Daryl's had a crazy evolution

of -- of how he started out and who he was in the beginning

and -- and who he is now.

You got something you want to tell me?

Your brother was a danger to us all,

so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal.

And you left him there?!

Reedus: I played, you know, the first, you know, four seasons

with this chip on my shoulder

and wouldn't really, like, look at people and...

[Grunts]

God. Are you all right?

Just leave me be!

He wasn't proud of who he was. Stupid bitch.

He wasn't proud of where he came from.

He wasn't proud of his big brother.

Where you going? Back where I belong!

♪

He basically was gonna be his big brother at the end,

and, uh -- and through the course of playing on the show,

his dynamic changed within the group

and his character changed on the show.

People started to rely on him, and he kind of became a man.

♪

How are you feeling?

♪

About as good as I look.

♪

I brought you some dinner. You must be starving.

Gurira: You get to see characters evolve

in really clear, distinct, powerful, human ways.

And you get to see your colleagues,

uh, get to explore that.

You did more for my little girl today

than her own daddy ever did in his whole life.

♪

Huth: Carol, most definitely, I think,

has probably had one of the biggest

of who she was in the beginning and who she is now.

Yeah, I told Albert I want the kid's hat after they bleed him out.

You keep your finger off the button and drop it.

McBride: I am proud of the role that I'm playing.

I'm proud of the role that the writers have written for Carol.

The men they pulled from that train car -- where are they?

♪

[Screaming]

Where are they?! [Groans]

[Chuckles]

Huth: I don't think there's a single character

that you can go back to the beginning and say,

"Oh, you're the same person."

You know, they would all react differently now

to situations they had back then.

Negan: Rick, I want you to take your ax...

cut your son's left arm off, right on that line.

Now, I know.

You're gonna have to process that for a second.

That makes sense.

Still, though, I'm gonna need you to do it,

or all these people are gonna die.

Morgan: Last year was about Negan

kind of pulling the rug out from underneath Rick

and -- and showing him who the boss was.

1. [Sobbing]

[Sobs]

Dad... just do it.

[Sobbing]

Rick. Rick.

[Breathing heavily]

Rick. Rick. Rick.

You answer to me. You belong to me.

Lincoln: You've got to go somewhere to get somewhere.

You needed to see that this person be demolished

in order to sort of work out how he rebuilds.

Put it down! Put the gun down!

He started as the visible embodiment of law and order.

Negan: Jee-hee-sus!

Is that you, Rick, underneath all that man-bush?

They're dead so my family... I would not have messed with that guy.

He's been beaten and bent out of shape by pain...

But that's not you anymore...

is it?

...and the horrors of this, uh, new landscape.

Please, take it.

And I think that the show was always intended

to be about change and how human beings are infinitely adaptable.

[Grunts] [Gunshot]

But they adapt to environments,

and, sometimes, those adaptations

are cruel and calcifying...

[Crying]

...and ugly, uh, and brutal.

[Grunts]

Aah!

No!

The thing that I love about the show is that there's still hope.

I told you already --

I'm gonna kill you.

All of you.

♪

You're all already dead.

I think the end of 7, we saw Rick kind of...

become Rick again, and now, in Season 8,

it is -- it's balls to the wall.

♪

[Weapon cocks]

♪

[Growls]

[Growling]

This day, we begin to reshape this world.

The damned are upon us!

[Growls]

It's mayhem.

[Gunfire] I don't die.

♪

Ohh, Season 8 is bananas.

[Growls]

[Growls]

[Gunfire]

It's what the audience, I think, deserves.

♪

Fighting and falling.

[Grunting]

Maggie: I've been fighting since the farm.

Can't stop now.

♪

Doing a lot of gunfire [chuckling] and a lot of,

you know, just craziness.

♪

It's just so much action.

You know, obviously, we're going into war with Negan.

It's pretty amazing.

I-I just want to acknowledge that it's taken 100 episodes

for Rick Grimes to come up with a good plan.

Ladies and gentlemen, he has one.

♪

We need a win.

[Engine revs]

♪

Kirkman: You know, it means the world to me

to see it get to 100 episodes,

because it is a -- it's a really personal story for me,

and it's something that I really love doing

and something that I really care about.

And to get to 100 episodes,

it means that the audience loves it as much as I do

and cares about it as much as I do.

So, to get that kind of overwhelming support

from the fan base that has allowed it to last

for as many years as it's lasted to reach this milestone

is -- is a really big deal.

♪