Matt Mangum – The Walking Dead

By starrymag | November 25, 2018

By: Kelly Kearney

 

 

Q) How did the part of D.J. come to you and what was your audition process like?

A) The part came to me after reading for several other parts on the show, actually. I auditioned for some parts in Season 6 and 7, including Gavin and Jared. It was one of those things where I knew the casting director liked what I was doing and kept giving me opportunities to audition for different parts. The funny thing about auditioning for The Walking Dead is that you really have no clue what you’re auditioning for. You know that it’s for The Walking Dead, but the sides are bogus, and the character names are usually bogus. I think the audition for D.J. was a guy in prison and the security guard gives him a which-which for lunch. So, I knew right off the bat that those weren’t the correct sides. The audition process for me is that I end up shooting about 99% of my auditions on my own because that’s just kind how the audition world works these days. I take time with the sides and I have an actor buddy that will come over and we’ll shoot auditions in my basement or his, depending on who’s part it is. So, I laid down this guy getting a which-which and, actually, my audition happened the beginning of Season 8 late April-early May, and I have so many auditions that I just lay down and walk away from them and not dwelling like, “Are they gonna call me? Did I get it?” Then, in late July, I get a voicemail from my agent asking about my availability for a TV show booking. I thought, “What crap TV show is this, that’s booking me direct without an audition?” I hadn’t had any auditions around that time. I called my agent and she said she had to check my availability for The Walking Dead and I was like, “Oh, when did I read for that?” She said they were booking me from my audition three months ago. I was like, “Oh yeah, I think I can make some availability for that!” [laughing] I felt like the casting director liked my stuff. I mean, you can tell when they’re trying to find a place for you and that’s certainly how I felt. The stuff I did in Season 6 and 7 were solid auditions, but I also had this very clean cut, no beard, undercut, fancy hairstyle that I don’t think necessarily plays on the show. My agent and manager said, “Let’s take this another way. Grow your hair and beard and don’t stop. Let’s see what happens.” By the time I laid down the audition for Season 8 I looked borderline homeless and I think that probably helped a lot in me getting that part.

Q) The midseason finale is coming up. Can you talk a little bit about what role D.J. will play in the finale as well as the back half of Season 9?

Matt: I think we’ve seen the transition of D.J. going from Season 8, sitting at the table with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and helping take Simon (Steven Ogg) out and then fast forward seven and a half years later and he’s sort of playing a similar role with Michonne (Danai Gurira) in Alexandria, which was surprising since, I mean, we get a little bit of heads up about what’s coming but when I read 9×06 and I see D.J. coming out of Alexandria with the security team to greet these newcomers… I think I went back and reread it a few times because that is quite a character change for him. It was something that Danai and I talked about, that initial scene where she rides in and sees the newcomers there, the first person she addresses is D.J. and she asks, “Do you want to tell me what this is about?” So, just in that line and the way she approached him tells me they built some kind of history over the years. I think that will be the role D.J. will play in the midseason finale and from here on out. He is by no means a protector of Michonne because I think we all know she can handle herself pretty well, but there is some sot of loyalty that he has to her. I think we will continue to see that play out as he hopefully arrives at Hilltop for the finale.

Q) Angela Kang has replaced Scott Gimple at the helm and she’s tackled some tough obstacles – time jumps, the loss of Rick Grimes and feuds with Maggie. How have things changed on set and in the story now that you have a female show runner?

Matt: Oh, man. [laughing] Well, I think on set things have relatively stayed the same. I’m sure everyone who knows The Walking Dead knows about the #TWDFamily and I think that there isn’t a better way to put that set into perspective than that. With the cast and the crew, everyone said this a million times, but that all started day one with Andrew Lincoln. He set that tone and he is the leader of the show, so everyone has followed through with that. Even with his departure, you’re talking about 8 ½ years of a legacy that he’s built so as far as on set, it’s still that very tight knit cohesive group. I guess you could say it’s like a tightknit family where the patriarch has died and moved on, but that’s not going to break up the family or that great cohesion and respect for everyone. As far as Angela, there are some subtle differences. It feels like the reigns have been loosened up as far as we are concerned as actors, having a little bit more freedom to explore the script, where as with Scott it was generally pretty tight, regimented and all the script to the T. So, that’s one of the things that have changed.

Q) You mentioned Andrew and many have said that he was the glue that held the cast and crew together and he really set the tone on set. Was that your experience? How have things changed since Andrew Lincoln left?

Matt: Outside of not having him, his presence there, the tone really has not changed. A lot of the guys, like Norman [Reedus] you know, have taken over that patriarch role and there are a lot of days where I pull up to shoot and Norman’s car is there, and he might not be shooting that day, but he’s kind of taken on that role that Andy is leaving behind. But it’s not just him. It is a group effort because I think even Norman would tell you, he could not fill Andy’s shoes, nor would he want to try to because they’re just different people. It really had become a group and family effort. Like the last week before we wrapped, Khary [Payton] came out and Josh McDermitt came out and those guys weren’t working that day, but they came out to support the other actors when they’re working and come see scenes they wanted to see. That’s the type of stuff that Andy did. Whereas a lot of sets I’ve been on, if an actor isn’t working they don’t show up. So, from the get-go with me on The Walking Dead it was very different to see that. Like Andy in the make-up trailer and me asking, “Oh, what are you shooting today?” and he would be like, “Oh, I’m not shooting anything. I’m just here to see everyone.” I mean that’s a very different tone from any film or TV set I’ve been on.

Q) Is there someone you haven’t worked with that you would like to in the future?

A) If you would have asked me this question at the end of last season, I could have listed off at least ten people. Ninety-five percent of last season I was with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Austin Amelio and Simon Ogg and it was us huddling in the Sanctuary and that was the extent of my scenes with the other actors. This season, I’ve been fortunate enough to have scenes with pretty much everyone else. I had a great scene with Norman in 9×03 where D.J. kind of challenges him across the crowd of people and later in that same episode where D.J. and Jed (Rhys Coiro) try and take Carol (Melissa McBride) captive and Rick shows up. I had a great scene with Melissa and Andy and now have a lot of stuff with Danai, Ross Marquand, Josh McDermitt, Christian [Serratos] all of Alexandria really and now all the new people. I mean we spent two weeks on this journey from Alexandria to Hilltop in a horse carriage and there are times I’m driving the horse carriage and times we are being pulled by a golf cart, but it’s given me an opportunity to do scenes with almost everybody this season. It’s been fantastic and broadened my perspective on the show. It has been really great to work with all those other guys. It’s given me a grand scope of the cast and how everybody is.

Q) You mentioned your intense scene with Melissa. What do you think D.J.’s reaction would be to the news that Carol barbequed his former Savior friends, Jed and Regina?

Matt: [nervously laughs] Well… umm… I think we see that D.J. and even Laura, (Lindsley Register) who is on the Alexandria council, took very different paths than Jed and Regina (Traci Dinwiddie). I think it’s up to us to fill in some of that story ourselves but, obviously, D.J. and Laura made the conscious choice to leave that group for one reason or another. There’s a line in there where Jed is taking the stuff from Carol and it’s mentioned that the Sanctuary fell so obviously things at the Sanctuary did not last. Now, you have these groups of people that chose a certain path and integrated into the other communities and then you have the Marauders who are just trying to survive on their own. Although, D.J. had a relationship with Jed and was right behind him in all his mischief and with Regina I think it’s similar to real life. Anyone we know in our past that takes a different path than us, if something happens to them, our hearts always go out to them but at the same time you think, “Man, if they only made this decision better.” I think D.J. has a heart for the living in this world, which they all should, and I think he knows that’s the path they chose and there wasn’t a better ending for them than that. They weren’t living long lives and dying of old age with the choices they made. I mean, even in 9×03 when Jed takes Carol by knife, that whole scene where they wanted guns for their protection, D.J. was like, “Woah, this is getting out of hand pretty quick,” and not what he wanted. I think D.J. was already on that path, to not just survive but to make things work. I think that’s why he didn’t wind up with Jed and Regina and the Marauders.

Q) Will we ever see D.J. run into Negan again?

Matt: I would imagine there has been some run ins with D.J. and Negan. Negan is not the same Negan we all knew from last season. I think that was pretty apparent when Maggie (Lauren Cohan) went to visit him. I think any condescending notion on Negan’s part is completely gone. I think he might be seeing the world for what it is no, and not holding any contempt with his former Saviors who have peacefully integrated into these new communities. As far as will they meet again? That would require everyone to arrive at Hilltop safely and make it home to Alexandria. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

Q) Fans love stories from the set. Do you have any fun behind the scenes stories you could share?

Q) Oh man, well something I took the brunt of for quite a while. In 9×07, I think it was a conversation where Siddiq (Avi Nash) tells Michonne that Maggie is no longer at Hilltop and a line was cut where he’s trying to convince her to go to there and he says, “Please don’t leave me with D.J… All he does is talk about horses.” That was the strangest line for me as I’m slowly building my own D.J. backstory and it’s like, was he a car guy and now that there’s no cars he’s into horses or was this guy from a farm? What is with this D.J. loves horses? It’s kind of become this running joke like Forrest Gump with Bubba naming all the different types of shrimp. We kind of started picturing these cuts of D.J. saying, “Ya got Arabian horses, ya got Mustangs, Stallions….” I was super disappointed that single line didn’t make it. Then, we were shooting another scene that Vivian Tse wrote that episode and she goes, “Oh my gosh! I love horses so much!” I thought, “That’s where that line came from!”

Q) What has been the most challenging aspect of your work on The Walking Dead? What is the most enjoyable?

Q) The most challenging is just shooting in Georgia and the weather. The scene we just had in 9×07, where we just came out of the warehouse and see that horde of walkers and the new cast is clamoring for their weapons, that whole scene is maybe a minute and a half on TV, but it was a twelve-hour shoot day. It was so intricate with us coming out and with the walkers and the stunts and it was over a hundred degrees that day and the scene is sprinting though this walker herd for twelve hours. The beginning of the day we are all fresh out of the make-up trailer and everyone looks great, but after twelve hours running in that heat, we all looked completely haggard and miserable. Fast-forward to generally around the last week of shooting and it’s forty degrees and a windshield of thirty-five, but with continuity were just in a t-shirt because that’s what we were wearing in the episode before when it was 80 degrees. It’s that constant ebb and flow of Georgia weather. Honesty, I don’t even mind it because, for me, it adds this sense of realism in a world where we don’t have air conditioning or heat anymore. So, I kind of like the scenario to be like what I’m playing. If I’m playing James Bond in a tuxedo running in 105-degree temperatures all day, I might have some complaints but it’s definitely challenging but also rewarding. For me, it’s personally rewarding to be on a show this size, when as an actor, I have this list of things I want to do and accomplish, a recurring character on The Walking Dead is at the top of my list. To actually be able to get that and have an incredible journey in the last season and a half, getting to work with all these great actors… I’ve been a fan of the show since day one, so I know the story of all of them and where the story has come from and gone. To then meet all these actors and build relationships with all of them and hang out with them after shooting and just be a part of the project and it’s grand scale is terribly rewarding.

Q) Were you surprised about the news that The Walking Dead will revisit Rick’s story in three future films? Will D.J. make an appearance in these films?

A) I was surprised, although I had heard tiny rumors of it early on in the season. As a fan, I could not be more ecstatic because I love Rick Grimes. I love his story. There’s a part of me that felt like Rick really had one of the most epic stories you could ever have on a TV show and part of me enjoyed that. There’s a part of me that thought his exit was good and fitting and there’s a pat of me that’s looking forward to the movies. As far as D.J. being a part of them, I honestly don’t know. I don’t know the concept of the movies, we can all speculate and assume it will pick up from the helicopter and beyond, but D.J. is in the world that he’s in right now and I don’t necessarily see him hopping onto a helicopter to join up with Rick. But for all I know, crazier things have happened in The Walking Dead I think he likes where he is and he’s in the community that he wants to be in at the moment.

Q) What do you think it is about The Walking Dead that continues to make it such a fan favorite?

A) I think it’s the relationships that they’ve formed with these characters. I’ve never been a horror film, zombie type of person as far as finding enjoyment in that. I remember watching the first two episodes of The Walking Dead by myself because I knew my wife would not watch it with me. I stopped after the second episode and said, “You have got to watch this show with me,” and we’ve been fans since then. I think for me and for the fans, we are so immediately drawn in and connected to Rick and his story of finding his family, and at the same time, finding out what happened to the world. It was so great that we discovered it with him. I think that intrigue and heart and great character buildup from the beginning is what has kept people in and it only intensifies with new characters. So, maybe you’re not a fan of these five characters? Here’s three brand new characters that people can identify with. There is also that fear factor because you don’t know what the show is going to do. I mean, if they can take out Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz)…I mean, nobody thought they would do that and as much as people don’t want to see their favorites go, that’s definitely a part of what keeps them coming back. It is a very unpredictable show and I think that’s what people want in any film or TV show. The relationships and the unpredictability that keeps people in love with the show, for sure. Putting the movies aside for the moment, with the show we’ve seen this complete journey with Rick Grimes and we saw the complete journey of Glenn. And the fact that we are getting to the end of the journey with some of these characters that we started off with is really a testament for how well the show has done and how long it’s been on, as well as its fanbase. As much as we hate to see them go in some terrible fashion, it’s a bit gratifying to kind of see their stories from the beginning to end.

Q) Are you working on any other projects besides The Walking Dead that the fans can keep an eye out for?

A) It’s really hard with The Walking Dead I just did an episode in season two of Cobra Kai that will be coming out in. I think May. Jon [Hurwitz] and Hayden [Schlossberg], the two guys who created that show, I worked with them on American Reunion. I watched season one of Cobra Kai and pretty much sent John a message after every episode like, “Oh my God dude, this is so amazing! I can’t believe you pulled this off!” When they started coming around to filming Season 2, it was close to where we were about to hit the six-year time jump in The Walking Dead and I told him, “There’s no way D.J. is going to make this time jump so you guys have to make room for me on Cobra Kai. I need to come do that.” When I found out D.J. survived the six-year time jump I told them, “I’m still here, but maybe I can still do something?” I ended up doing a really cool guest star on one of the episodes of Cobra Kai when I had a couple episodes off from The Walking Dead. To be part of The Walking Dead and The Karate Kid universe is incredible! So, that’s coming out and now that we have officially wrapped in Georgia, I’ve got about six months where I’ll be looking for work. I’ve been auditioning for different things, something for the DC Universe, but I can’t say much more than that. But Ill be around, keep a look out for me.