The Walking Dead: Exclusive interview with Josh McDermitt

Losing Beth during season 5 was a hugely emotional moment for fans.  Any chance that Eugene take over her duties by dying his hair blonde, picking up a guitar, and singing?

"“[laughs]  I don’t know, man.”"

Can’t you picture Eugene by the campfire singing and strumming a guitar?

"“Beth did such a great job at singing that I don’t think Eugene needs to step into that arena.  But who knows?  With Jessie in Alexandria being a hair stylist, you never know what kind of crazy haircuts we can get.”"

That’s true.  Have you had a chance to check out ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ yet? 

"“I’ve seen the first two episodes.  I’m not current on the third.  The moment I sit down to watch a show, I fall asleep even if I’m into it because I’ve stopped moving and I fall asleep. But I love it.  It’s great.  I love that we’re exploring the inception of this world.  Kirkman, Nicotero, Gale Anne Hurd, and all the other producers involved in that have done such a great job with it and the result is fantastic.”"

I kind of see Tobias as being the Eugene type character on that show.  I can’t wait to see where Tobias goes and if he follows a similar arc to Eugene’s being smarter about things rather than being reactive.

"“He certainly saw it coming, didn’t he?”"

Yeah he did.  He was scouring social media, hitting up all the message boards and doing the stuff you’d think Eugene would do.

"“I like that Tobias kid.  He’s pretty great.”"

I do have a weird question for you though.  I’ve heard that you have the nickname “Cocko”, which I personally find hilarious because I have the mind of a teenage boy.  Is that true?  And if so, how did you earn it?  Cockfights?  Ex-Girlfriend? Your hair?  Or what?

"“[laughs] Yeah!  Well, the name Cocko was a name I’d use when prank calling radio stations.  That was just a nickname my friends and I had given each other.  One of our friends was Mexican and was trying to teach us Spanish.  Of course, as a kid, you only want to learn the curse words.  One of our friends couldn’t say ‘Caca’, which means ‘poop’ in Spanish.  He could only say Cocko.  So, we just started making fun of him and calling him Cocko.  Then we started calling each other Cocko.  So, it’s almost like another word for ‘hey, bro’ to us.  And that’s where it came from.  It’s a bit ridiculous.”"

Ridiculous, but fun.  My friends had similarly dirty nicknames for each other.

"“Nobody calls me Cocko anymore.  And I’m a little disappointed.”"

Hopefully, it’ll start back up.

Next: More with The Walking Dead's Josh McDermitt