The Walking Dead: The Kingdom, Saviors talk with Brains Gone Bad

The latest episode of the Brains Gone Bad podcast reunites cast members from The Kingdom and its assigned group of Saviors on The Walking Dead.

Where can you find cast interviews, in-depth episode analysis, fan interaction, and book club all in one place? The Brains Gone Bad podcast with Kim and Lizzie offers all of the above and more.

Just this week, Brains Gone Bad brought fans together with several cast members from The Walking Dead for a seriously fun Q&A session. The Kingdom was represented by Karl Makinen (Richard), Cooper Andrews (Jerry), and Carlos Navarro (Alvaro). Jayson Warner Smith (Gavin) and Josh Mikel (Jared) were on hand to represent the Saviors outpost assigned to the Kingdom.

After a roll (or should it be “role” – wink, wink) call, Kim offered the gentlemen an opportunity to speculate on the upcoming season 8 plot lines. Sworn to secrecy and kept in the dark, the actors had fun joking about some outrageous theories. Carlos suggested that Rick was a robot and Jayson claimed the whole thing is actually a bad sushi dream.

The camaraderie among the actors was palpable. They really seemed to enjoy being on the call together, a reunion of sorts, where they could poke fun and relive memories from set. Questions were posed to each actor covering a wide range of topics.

When called upon to ask Cooper a question, I asked him to reveal who he would be closest to had he ended up in Alexandria instead of The Kingdom.

With his character being known for his love of cobbler, Cooper shared that Jerry would probably hang out with Carol for her cookies and visit with Aaron and Eric for spaghetti night. But he ended up concluding that Jerry would get along well with everyone, to which I strongly agreed.

Listener Jessica asked Karl Makinen what he knew about Richard’s life before the zombie apocalypse. He revealed that Scott Gimple informed him that Richard was a school vice principal that also coached wrestling and basketball. The rest of the actors had fun ribbing Karl about getting a back story from Mr. Gimple wishing they could have received one from him, too.

But they all chimed in with their own presumed backgrounds:

• Jayson on Gavin – probably a construction foreman
• Carlos on Alvaro – probably a car mechanic from Miami
• Cooper on Jerry – guessed Jerry was pee wee league football coach who also ran a food truck
• Josh on Jared – suspects he was from a wealthy family but carried some resentment about it

All were very interesting theories that help them approach their roles.

Another question remains outstanding. Jayson Warner Smith shared that he emailed Mr. Gimple to inquire as to why Gavin had not given troublemaker Jared a beating yet. But he’s still waiting to find out. Not all can be revealed at will.

Fan Jessica also posed a question to Josh asking him if Jared found out what happened to Richard after Gavin sent him walking back to the outpost. Josh shared that he doesn’t know if or how Jared finds out but that he would love to see his response to finding out that someone else eliminated his nemesis Richard.

We learned from Carlos that while he did not have horseback riding experience prior to booking his role on The Walking Dead, he has years of experience working in radio. Carlos currently hosts the The Monsters in the Morning show on Real Radio 104.1 in Orlando.

Tune in to the full podcast episode for the full Q&A, lots of laughs, and fascinating details about The Walking Dead. Brains Gone Bad will also be podcasting about Fear The Walking Dead this summer.

Next: Exclusive cast Q&A with The Kingdom, Saviors at 7.13 viewing party

They will also be hosting an upcoming book club episode on May 9th with Josh Mikel to discuss The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

There is a little something for everyone available at Brains Gone Bad. Be sure to check them out!