The fifth season of The Walking Dead premieres this Sunday and we can’t wait! We were lucky enough to actor Josh McDermitt, who plays Dr. Eugene Porter on the show, and he spilled major secrets about the upcoming season.
Josh was recently upgraded to series regular, so fans will be seeing more of his character! In the interview, Josh told us what to expect from the new season. Plus, Josh also revealed to us that he’d like to work with actor Seth Rogen in the future! Get all of the details in the interview below!
Celebuzz: What can we expect from the upcoming season?
Josh McDermitt: Well, I mean I look at it from a fan standpoint, just because I was a huge fan of the show before I even came on. Probably the exciting thing with all of that is that I get to read all of the scripts before any other fan, it’s like a special present for me. But, this season is going to be so intense and so just wild. From a fan’s perspective I think it’s going to be the best season yet. The cool thing is, they’re doing a tone within the show that hasn’t been done before, and they’re just kind of pushing it. They’re pushing it and doing knew things. That’s the great thing about Robert Kirkman (Executive Producer) and Scott Gimple (Executive Producer) and the rest of the producing team, they’re not just kind of sitting back and going, “Well this works, let’s just keep doing that.” Like they’re constantly looking for ways to outdo themselves and I think it’s really reflective in this season and it’s really exciting.
CB: You’re going to be a series regular this season. Were you excited when you found out that news? Did you foresee that happening?
JM: No, I didn’t foresee it happening and I don’t foresee myself being around any set period of time. I think that’s just kind of the beauty of this show is everyone is just really nice and friendly and stuff like that because they don’t want to give the producers a reason to get their character off (laughs). They tend to be super nice, and I don’t want to expect anything. I don’t want expect to be around for any length or certain period of time. So I just take it one episode at a time and I think that’s when the best work gets done, when you can just kind of focus on that instead of like, “Oh my gosh, they might kill me.”
CB: If it were us, we’d get the script and flip to the end to see if we were still in it.
JM: Oh yeah. I mean, it can be stressful. It’s such a great environment to be working in, I mean despite the heat and humidity and snakes and bugs and all of that kind of stuff (laughs). The people in Georgia (where the show films) are awesome, they’re so welcoming and friendly. Everywhere we go we’re treated like rockstars. It’s just like one giant family on the crew and within the community where we’re shooting. I think the big thing is we just don’t want to let that go. And so, just the people that I’ve talked to from past seasons that have been killed off are just like, “Yeah I just miss working with that crew and those people because we’re just one big giant family.” And I think that that would be the most disappointing part of getting killed off, because there’s going to be other jobs, but unfortunately it’s just not going to be this one.
(Photos: Isaac Sterling)
CB: Before you even joined the show, because it has such a big following, is that something that intimidated you or is that something that made you excited about joining?
JM: I think it was a mix of both. You know, I’ve been on other shows that you definitely have to explain what the show is or explain what network it’s on. And we’re sitting there creating this great TV show that nobody ever watched and that’s disappointing. So, to step into something that’s already a juggernaut, that’s already a hit show, it’s exciting. It was intimidating, just because the fans are so rabid. They hang out after we get done filming on set and they’ve all been there 18 hours just waiting and they’re just going nuts, foaming at the mouth, (laughs) in a good way you know! They just want to meet someone, and they know the crew members. They get excited and they’re just really into it. So it’s intimidating coming into that going, “What if they don’t like me?” Playing a well-known character within the comic books, what if they don’t like the character? Or, what if the comic book fans hate my portrayal of it? That stuff definitely runs through my mind, and I know the other actors have thought about that as well. But, the thing is the fans have been so welcoming with it. From the moment you hear someone go, “Oh my gosh, I love Eugene.” Or, “You sound exactly the way I pictured in my head.” That means the world to me, that totally means the world to me. I love hearing that kind of stuff.
CB: You’re a comedian as well. Are you still doing any stand-up?
JM: You know I have an open invitation to perform at some of the clubs in Atlanta, I’ve just been so busy with the show that I haven’t been able to unfortunately. It’s something I’m not really going on the road with, I’m not touring right now, but it’s something I’d like to get back to. You know, Steven Yeun who plays Glenn, has a comedy background as well, and we keep talking about going on stage and doing some improv comedy. Or, going and doing a stand-up set at an open mic or something, just dropping in and not really telling people we’re coming. That way we can just go have some fun without there being the pressure of, “Oh those are the guys from The Walking Dead.” I think we’ll get to that at some point, but right now we just have to find a moment to get caught up on some sleep.
CB: You’ve worked with a lot of great actors so far in your career, but is there on actor or comedian you’d like to work with in the future?
JM: My answer for this, because people have asked me this before, my answer was Philip Seymour Hoffman. Unfortunately, he’s left us.
CB: Did you ever get to meet him?
JM: I did not. I was going to be his, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen me with long hair but a lot of people say I look like him. And I had met with his publicist the Monday after he died, and I had blonde hair at the time, and she walked in and you know obviously she was dealing with all of this stuff, and she looked at me and just said, “Uh um, oh my God I’m sorry that’s just weird.” And I was like, “Oh what?” I forget that’s what it is and it totally escaped me that she might think that I look like him. She was like, “I can’t believe how much you look like him.” I was going to be a stand-in for him on one of his movies called The Savages, that ended up not working out but that would’ve been fun. I didn’t get to meet him. But, directors I’d love to work with, Judd Apatow, I’m a huge Wes Anderson. In terms of actors, I’m a huge fan of Seth Rogen. I’m trying to get the word out that I’d love to play his brother.
That would be awesome! We think Josh and Seth in a Judd Apatow movie would be amazing!
What do you think about Josh’s interview? Are you excited for the new season of The Walking Dead? Sound off in the comments!
Watch The Walking Dead when it returns this Sunday, Oct. 12 at 9/8c on AMC!
