Jeffrey Dean Morgan discusses playing The Walking Dead’s Negan

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Eagerly anticipated by many and dreaded by others who fear what he might do once he reaches the airwaves, a major villain from The Walking Dead comic book series will be making his way to TV screens near the end of season six of AMC's The Walking Dead. Sometime before the end credits roll on the season finale, Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be stepping onto the screen as a man named Negan, who carries a baseball bat that is wrapped in barbed wire and called Lucille.

The casting of Morgan was announced last month, and yesterday morning the actor stopped by the Entertainment Weekly Radio show to discuss what's going on in his career – including the approach he'll be taking to playing Negan.

During the interview, Morgan revealed that he was already familiar with the character before the chance to play him arose, having started reading The Walking Dead a couple years ago at the urging of fans who had told him he should play Negan once the character made it onto the TV show. When his agent and manager called him with the offer, he accepted the job immediately.

When asked how close the show's version of the character will be to the Negan on the page, and if his frequent use of foul language would be an issue, Morgan had this to say: 

We’re going to push AMC — the plan is to push them as far as they can because it’s who Negan is. He uses some colorful language. And I use some colorful language. And reading the comic, it’s important. So we’ll see where that lands. It’s our intention that this character is going to leap off the pages of the comic book. It’s very important that that’s who it is. Some of the characters there’s much more leeway, but Negan is a guy that you want to keep as true as possible, and that would be how I want to play him as well."

Morgan went on to confirm that he has met all of the cast regulars, and has seen his Lucille, which he called "gorgeous. She is a beautiful girl."

Has he been practicing his swing?

I don’t need to practice my swing. I grew up with a bat in my hands."

We'll be seeing Negan soon, and Morgan is looking forward to playing a lot more Negan scenes when production on The Walking Dead season seven begins in April.