The Walking Dead: ‘Would you rather?’ with walker Stephen Vining
By Susie Graham
Stephen Vining was a guest on The Grindhouse Radio this week to discuss being a walker on The Walking Dead and play a game of “Would you rather?” with the hosts.
Stephen joins the show reminding the audience that he has portrayed about 25-26 walkers over 2 seasons. His first day was the first day of season 5–the escape from the train car at Terminus.
If you’re not familiar with some of Stephen’s most recognizable walkers, he played the bowling ball head melted walker at Grady Memorial hospital, which he said was one of the grossest days on set. He was the Cherokee rose walker, the tree intestines walker, one of the food pantry water walkers, a red rover walker and many more.
The hosts asked an interesting question about a way fans can tell if it’s him when they are watching. They wondered if Stephen was able to wear something or do something “signature” so we can say, “that’s him!” But that’s not the case. The walkers have specific looks and they aren’t allowed to give them any of their own touches.
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Check out Stephen’s interview here, if you don’t believe that walkers really do talk:
(Stephen joins the conversation at about 38:29)
A couple very interesting tidbits came out of the conversation. One was about the most recent walkers, the red rover chain gang. An article came out recently that one of the walkers was Ashton Kutcher’s sister. The walkers on set didn’t know that until they read the article. They knew the other walkers in the chain and were wondering who she was.
Related Story: Memorable Walkers
It’s interesting that the walkers don’t find out what they are doing until they show up. Stephen said that when he got to work the day of the intestines walker he had no idea what a fun day it would be. They told him he’d have pounds of intestines and he’d be nailed to a tree and be biting somebody. He also got killed by Rick. Great day for an actor.
Let’s play “Would you rather?” They asked Stephen if he’d rather be turned into a walker by Daryl or take out Daryl. If he’d rather live in Woodbury, Hilltop or Alexandria, not considering their outcomes. And if he’d rather bite Maggie, Michonne, Glenn or Rick.
Stephen chose to be turned into a walker by Daryl so he could be a human for a while and not have the wrath of the fans. He chose Woodbury because of its security. And he chose Rick because he really likes working with Andrew Lincoln as an actor.
Next: Watch Stephen's many walkers!
Stephen is a great person to follow on Twitter or Facebook. He is sweet and humble. He shares great pictures from the show. Be sure to check out his fantastic demo reel in the next post link to see some of his memorable walkers.