Jay Huguley – The Walking Dead

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What was a day of filming like on “The Walking Dead” for you?

A) Hot. Running through the woods in the Georgia summer heat all day and carrying a shotgun is not nothing. You are also acutely aware as an actor, as far as the job goes, that it doesn’t get much better than this.

Q) How has it been interacting with fans and getting instant fan feedback through social media?

A) Honestly, it’s been a thrill ride. To be a part of something that people are so invested in and care so deeply about is amazing. This has never happened to me on this level. People who don’t watch the show think it’s about zombies, but for me it’s about family, community and the “what would you do” of it all. The lights go out and you have a flashlight and your family and a dog. What would you do? I think anyone can relate to that fear.

Q) How long was the makeup process for “The Walking Dead” and what was that like?

A) For me, most days were really quick and easy. There was very little makeup. I was able to be around the special effects people and watch what they do and its humbling. They are the best of the best. Masters!

Q) What did you take away from your  experience working on “The Walking Dead?”

A) When everyone involved treats the story with great respect and care, you are going to make something great.

Q) Will your character’s death have a lasting serving purpose for this season?

A) That question goes swiftly into the file “Things I Can’t Tell You.”

Q) Is there anyone you didn’t have many scene with that you wished you had gotten to work with more?

A) Michonne (Danai Gurira). I had a few with her, but I wanted more. I love that character and I love that actor. She’s a playwright, you know. She has a play in New York at The Public right now starring Lupita Nyong’o and it’s moving to Broadway. She’s brilliant, generous and an actor’s dream to work with. Also, she chops the heads off zombies. I mean…come on! She’s amazing.

Q) Is there anything you added to the role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I think I may have played him with more stoicism than was originally written. David had given up. He had lost everything and then had one more shot at life. So, when he gets bit, he knows…He’s ready. That broke my heart. The idea of someone who knows he is going to die and has one final wish: to make it home.

Q) What can you tell us about your upcoming project Abbatoir and what made you want to be a part of it?

A) Abbatoir was one of the scariest scripts I’ve ever read and the first thing I’ve ever worked on in that genre that was actually scary to make. We shot a lot in the attic of a very old house in New Orleans. This film is going to be a shocker and I think incredibly terrifying. Abattoir is a French word for “slaughterhouse.” I think that says a lot.

Q) What are you most looking forward to when it comes to working with director Darren Lynn Bousman?

A) I think Darren is a genius, honestly. He has such a unique, specific idea of what scares us. He really makes us care about the characters before things go awry. No one is safe in this film. When I first started reading the script the first time, I looked in the dictionary for all the different definitions of “slaughterhouse” or “abattoir” just to get a sense of the world I was going into. The first one that came up always stuck with me – “a place where butchery happens.”