Josh McDermitt, Laila Robins, Teo Rapp-Olsson & Josh Hamilton – The Walking Dead

By starrymag | February 20, 2022

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

 

Q) So, specifically watching what’s going on with the Commonwealth and all of the characters involved, it seems like we’re seeing a very, very interesting representation of class warfare going on as well as history repeating itself in terms of groups that have their own specific troopers, as you will, and they are using their ability to pretty much inspire groups to rebel against them. I was curious what your take is on seeing this represented within “The Walking Dead” and how history repeats itself so often scenarios like this.

Teo Rapp-Olsson: I thought it’s really, really cool angle to take. I think it really kind of finds a nice niche between the comics and really creating its own universe, obviously, something “The Walking Dead” has done since season one. I think the fans are gonna be really, really into a lot of the different arcs that we’re doing this year. But I think especially when it comes to kind of talking about the cultural zeitgeist and political unrest, this is an amazing storyline and something that I think always horror and those kinds of genres can do really well is to tell a story that you know, might have ties to what’s going on or to things that we know in our own life but can tell it in different spin

Laila Robins: I mean, I think as supply, as, I mean, “The Walking Dead” is like a survival story. So as you know, supplies and food and water and such things become less and less, people become more and more greedy, to try to get what’s theirs or for their people – looking out for their own, which then kind of creates kind of a tribalism among people. And that’s indeed how history repeats itself. A sense of tribalism instead of All for one and one for all.

Josh Hamilton: It does seem like it’s sort of an evolution of communities that we’ve seen you know, starting off from you know, just like brute force or not as fully formed as community civilizations rebuilding themselves. The Commonwealth does seem to be – it’s a little more sophisticated in their wielding of power manipulation than some of the like human avatars are kind of more or more culty places that we’ve seen before. And in a way I find that more terrifying. It’s more about keeping the illusion of freedom and control. I find in some ways I find that Commonwealth scarier than anything else we’ve seen.

Laila Robins: Speaking as Pamela Milton, I think it’s a wonderful place to live.

Josh Hamilton: Oh, absolutely. Me too.

Laila Robins: We all get along just great. I mean, when was the last time you saw a cupcake

Josh Hamilton: We’re gonna make the Commonwealth great again. Yeah.

Q) Josh Hamilton, who were some of the people you look to for inspirations for your portrayal of your character?

Josh Hamilton: Oh, well. No specific individuals, but I did think Lance strikes me as someone who, he grew up working class very in proximity. His father was the driver for the Milton family. And so he grew up working class, but in proximity to this upper echelons of power and, and wealth. And I think it created this drive in him to want to achieve that. And I imagine him as someone who really strove to sort of do everything he can to reach what he saw. You know, it’s sort of it’s a little bit of a microcosm of the American dream, you know, I’ve had a picture of someone who’s having read, like, every sort of self-help book and like, How to Make Friends and Influence People and all those. Maybe watch like a lot of Tony Robbins in videos when there was still the internet.

I think he also dresses for success. It’s like he wants to be seen. It means a lot to him, because he didn’t have that growing up. And it wasn’t always like that growing up. So now he wants to sort of, yeah, he just wants to be part of the class that he has a hard time getting into, so he wants to. I modeled them after some used car salesman that I knew. I don’t know if you have you seen any of my outfits yet.

Q) Josh McDermitt, I just have all the scenes that has really been talked about since the season started. Eugene’s interrogation scene seems to be the one everyone keeps bringing up in the idea that the evolution Eugene’s taken seem to have all come together and played out at that table, where he showed himself to be both the victim as well as one controlling the situation, as well as somebody who can get to anger in a second. With the Commonwealth could be a good environment for Eugene to kind of get himself together? And what do you think of the idea that some people are saying is that the irony of Eugene becoming the Rick to the Commonwealth?

Josh McDermitt: Right, in the first couple episodes of the season eleven? Yeah, I think I think this version of Eugene in the Commonwealth could be a good fit. I think the version that we meet, when we meet Eugene at first, the Commonwealth might not be a good fit for him. He’s changed enough that he’ll be able to use the Commonwealth to kind of find his place and thrive in his own way. Whereas, if it was the Eugene that we first met, I mean, it might be hard for him in terms of like, not being his true, authentic self, I guess you could say. He was he was constantly hiding. And at this point in his life he’s not hiding as much, even though like in that interrogation scene he’s still lying. That’s always been his superpower. And he’s doing and saying what he has to do and say, to get what he wants, but I think there’s less of that in this point. And so coming into a place like the Commonwealth, I think that it’d be bad if he was keeping things hidden because I think people would recognize that and see that right away, and it just wouldn’t be a good thing for him. So, in terms of him being the the taking over the role of Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the comics, I don’t know about that. I mean, I don’t think anyone can take Rick’s place.

Q) This would be for the members of the Milton family and would be for I guess after 1110 airs. But with the familial references to Pamela’s father and I guess, the brother in the in the family can you both speak to how important the Milton family was before everything went to hell?

Laila Robins: Well, our family was almost sort of like old American royalty and a very powerful political family. So, there were a lot of minding your P’s and Q’s. And I can only imagine what that must be like to be a Liz Cheney or be Ivanka Trump – the sort of pressure that you live under as far as whether you agree with your parents or not agree with your parents and yet trying to uphold the name in some way because carrying on the legacy of that, of that family. I believe the Pamela is very altruistic about her goals – however intelligent or misguided they may be, she really believes them. And she cares about her people, and she thinks she’s doing the right thing. But that’s even more frightening when people can be delusional. But carrying that and what you hide as a human being what you’re exposed as a human being, can that kind of person really be vulnerable with anyone? Can they open up? Can they really be them to their true selves? I mean, I’ve figured out some backstory for myself as far as creating the inner tension, or inner friction or inner conflict, about human being and how they behave versus who they really are inside. What do you have to say, my little boy?

Teo Rapp-Olsson: Well, mom put it just so, so well. I mean, I think it’s that dynastic legacy, I mean, you know, imagine if, like, in the end times, the Kennedys were still very much running things. I mean, even that, per your example, is that there are strifes within families, and just different opinions, and that kind of routes, and especially since, wow, this is post previous civilization. It’s still close enough that we have the same generations from that other time. So, something like the Milton and family, as we’ve already seen, is a known name. And for them to then be in charge of what we’ve seen is one of the most powerful, in terms of just scale and size, communities is that per history repeating itself. I think you see a lot of that, and a lot of that comes through social class.

Laila Robins: I mean, we’ve just witnessed that with the with the British royalty as well, you know, with Megan, and Harry and how much you want to be a part of that family and how much you don’t, and yet your loyalty to them. And yet you’re butting up against them. And sometimes maybe you just want to rebel against them. There is this itch to kind of say, No, sometimes.

Teo Rapp-Olsson: I would never do that to you.

Laila Robins: I know, you’re such a good boy.

Q) Josh McDermitt, blindly assume that walkers and heavy metal core together. We heard you sing an Iron Maiden song in the last season. And there’s some Motorhead in this season. How did the show become more heavy metal so to speak?

Josh McDermitt: I mean… [laughs] There must have But there must be a metal head in the writers room all of a sudden.  I don’t know maybe Angela Kang is just like heading out to Megadeath concerts and stuff on her inner free time, which she obviously has none of. Yeah, I think I always liked that the show has explored different types of music and I always kind of felt like Eugene was a metal head. I listened to heavy metal to kind of get into a headspace with Eugene sometimes. So, the fact that we were able to bring that into the show is great. And then who did you say was an 1110? Not Radiohead, Motorhead. I mean, same thing. there’s great opportunity to put that kind of music in and if we just want to do some smooth jazz if we need to put some Dave Koz in there. I think the show has will take us to a place where we can kind of mellow out with some box wine and watch some people kill some walkers as entertainment.

Q) Were you familiar with the song when you were asked to sing it?

Josh McDermitt: I was not. No, I’m not a metal head myself. So, I had to listen to this. I mean, I knew who Iron Maiden was. But that was not in my “Eugene gets psyched to kill some walkers” playlist. I’ve since added it, but no, I wasn’t. I wasn’t familiar with that. I’m more of a Beyoncé, man. I’m kidding. I couldn’t name a Beyoncé song.

Q) Since the show has been running for so long, and it’s about the end of the world and it may be coming to an end in its run on screen, what is something that as it’s ending that you’re taking with you either personal or an actual physical item you may have swiped from set? But like what’s something that you’re taking with you that you may also want the fans to take with you as it’s starting to wrap up?

Josh McDermitt: I’m taking Norman Reedus’ social security number. You will soon find out when I’ve stolen his identity. No, I’m kidding. It’s always great talent jokes, and everybody’s on mute. So, you can’t hear laughter. The thing that I’m taking with me, honestly, is just the relationships that I’ve made here, with the cast and crew, the producers. These relationships are something I cherish. And they’ve made me a better person. And it’s really just that. I mean, it’s just kind of the culture that we’ve had around here. Because there’s a lot of good people here. And so I think that’s just something that we’re wanting I’m wanting to take with me and bring to the next project I do. And just really make it about the work and make it about the story and doing whatever we can to help set people up to do their best work. I mean that was really evident on day one when I when I got here that it was about to work and so I you know, I just kind of take that and take the relationships that I have. And it’s sad that you know, the show is coming to an end but thankfully the rest of those are not

Laila Robins: Yeah, I can’t even imagine what it must be like after 11 years to have been with a group of people and then move on. Being a newcomer, it’s always a little tricky when you’re jumping on a moving train. And this is a huge success this show and everyone’s sort of ensconced in their roles, and they live and breathe them. And you think how am I going to jump on that train and hit the right tone without disrupting things, so to speak. And everyone was so welcoming, and so kind and about, as Josh said, about the work, really just making it like the best environment for you to do your best work. And also, it being a horror genre, when we think oh, maybe it’s gonna be kind of rough or whatever. But it was almost the opposite. Almost the kindest, most welcoming setup I’ve been on.

Teo Rapp-Olsson: Yeah, I mean, to piggyback off about those, I do think it’s an adage that gets thrown around a lot of it feeling like a family or a very close-knit community. But I think that’s what keeps a show like this, on the air for so long is exactly that. I was lucky enough that…I’m sorry to embarrass him for a second, but that I got to work with Josh McDermitt in my first episode because from day one he was talking about, “We all try to lift each other up here. There’s no you know, dumb choices or anything.” And that was exactly the kind of tone that was set from day one and has been with us since.

Josh McDermitt: And I want to say that you have a great face for punching.

Teo Rapp-Olsson: Oh, thank you.

Josh McDermitt: It was an honor for me to work with you on your first episode, too, because I got to punch you in the face

Teo Rapp-Olsson: It’s crazy because my mom kept saying that to me, too. It was nuts. So, let’s see how that worked out with us. She keeps watching that episode. I don’t get it.

Josh McDermitt: Teo and I were sending each other gifs – those little moving pictures. We were texting those to each other of him getting punched. And that was fun. I mean, it’s fun that we can like make light of this, because there’s kind of no egos there. And that’s always great. You know, it’s a nice, it’s nice to share that with people.

Josh Hamilton: Oh, well, you guys have said everything. I was gonna try to come up with something funny. But the truth is I’ve never worked on a show where the with the cast was so supportive of each other and would even show up on days when they weren’t working to kind of to support and eleven years in that’s sort of shocking. I mean, I’ve worked on shows that have only been for a few years. Everyone’s like, “Oh my god, get me off here,” and everyone’s crabby. And this was just, yeah, it was by far like the most supportive, kindest bunch of actors I’ve ever worked with. So, I am going to take that and try to bring that with me. on everything I go to after if I ever work again.

Q) Laila, how did you prepare to join this complicated, intricate and a show that has had such a long time and also with such so many expectations and anticipation because of all the comic actors and the buildup that has been set for Pamela?

Laila Robins: Yeah, it was pretty challenging, because I hadn’t actually watched the show. I wasn’t a regular viewer. I think I saw an episode in season one and I found it so gruesome, like I couldn’t really handle it. But that that is got broken in the parking lot on the set one day when I saw my first Walker, and he was getting into another van and I was getting into one and suddenly he goes, “Oh, my cheek just fell off.” Like sitting on the tarmac in the parking lot. So, I thought, “Okay, I think I can handle it.” And they’re also lovely to all the people that are the walkers. They’re really nice people. I mean, horrifying to look at. I actually sort of started with Season 10 just to sort of see what the ramp up to where I was going to be because there’s so many seasons, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get through all of them before I began. And then now I’ve gone back to the very beginning to sort of see the origin of the piece and working my way through all of the seasons but As I said before, it’s tricky jumping on a moving train, especially when that’s so successful. And but also Pamela Milton, in some ways, doesn’t need to know everything about everyone because I’ve got my own world and in some ways kind of keeping it almost me being unaware of it is almost helpful because then I have no prejudgment. I don’t look at a character and go, “Oh, that’s a really special person on the show who does this and this and this.” I’m going into it blind. So, in some ways, as an actress going into it a bit blind is okay. Because I don’t know the people.

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*