The Walking Dead: Jeffrey Dean Morgan ready for hate mail
By Susie Graham
Jeffrey Dean Morgan knows what he’s getting into stepping into the role of comic book villain Negan on The Walking Dead.
I remember David Morrissey telling a story on Talking Dead about how he was in a bank or a store or somewhere in public and a woman pointed at him and said something like, “You! You! I hate you!” When you play someone like The Governor, I suppose those things are going to happen to you.
We could ask Michael Traynor or Andrew J. West or other villainous characters how people treat them at Comic Cons. Do they get crazy comments or hate mail? Sometimes it’s hard for people to separate the character from the actor.
Related Story: Who do our writers and readers think will die by Lucille?
Poor Seth Gilliam got boos at the fan premiere from some fans, and Seth is a great guy, but at that time people hated Father Gabriel. I wonder how people treat Lennie James now that some fans are on the outs with Morgan and his “all life is precious” mentality.
Of course, we know the actor is not the character, but that doesn’t stop people from expressing their hate for what a character did. Or telling an actor how much they hate the character that he or she plays.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan talked a bit with Entertainment Tonight. According to the actor, he’s ready. He’s ready as an actor and ready for everything that goes with this kind of role. He’s not so sure that the fans are as ready as he is though.
"“I don’t know if the fans are going to be ready for it, to be honest with you… I am fully prepped for hate mail and everything else. So bring it…. When you do what I do for a living, you want to do as many different things as possible and I love the challenge of this character. I think it is going to be a great challenge for me as an actor.”"
The fans are certainly terrified about what is going to happen when Negan arrives, but I think they are confident in Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s ability to do justice to the character. There hasn’t been backlash about the casting from what I’ve seen. It’s not a controversial casting like a Peeta in the first Hunger Games or Affleck as Batman.
At this point fans just want the wait to be over. We’ve heard his name now since the mid-season finale. We’ve killed some of his Saviors. Dwight killed Denise. We’ve seen his back with the leather jacket and red scarf . We’ve heard his voice. We can’t take any more waiting. Unfortunately, once this wait is over, the real wait begins.