The question of Rick Grimes' (Andrew Lincoln) fate never left The Walking Dead, even he hasn't been seen or heard of in the series' last few seasons. The moment Rick was escorted away by a mysterious helicopter in Season 9, Episode 5, "What Comes After," it was clear that The Walking Dead was building up to his inevitable return.
At first, Rick's return was believed to be a trilogy of movies with Danai Gurira returning as his lover, Michonne. But then years later, it was announced that Lincoln and Gurira would be coming back together as Rick and Michonne in a new television series, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
Joining Rick and Michonne on their journey to reunite are Terry O'Quinn as Major General Beale, Lesley-Ann Brandt as Pearl Thorne, and Craig Tate as Sergeant Donald Okafor. But they may not exactly be there to help Rick and Michonne see each other again.
As the general of the Civic Republic Military (CRM), Beale poses the largest threat to Rick, who's held captive by his armed forces. Thorne and Okafor, though, are still an enigma to Rick as he adjusts to his new, coerced situation. CBR sat down with O'Quinn, Brandt and Tate ahead of The Ones Who Live's premiere to talk about the upcoming series and their characters' ultimate agendas, which may or may not clash with Rick's.
CBR: Everyone has been anticipating this show for quite some time, so it's finally great to see it come to life. Lesley-Anne, I'll start with you because Thorne has a very interesting dynamic with Rick. They have come to know each other very well and are learning more about the CRM together. Can you talk more about them and how you perceive that relationship?
Lesley-Ann Brandt: I see two people who find themselves in a place that isn't where they expected to be. Both of them had been trying to get back to someone. The backstory for Thorne was that she had been plucked off this ship and Okafor told her she's an "A."
She had to choose between trying to survive and probably dying, or coming in and being a part of this new world. When she makes this decision, she's into accepting that the CRM's part of it. Whereas Rick is a wild stallion. He's sort of unpredictable.
Thorne really does empathize with him wanting to get back. She's trying to guide him into accepting their fate, which is, "We're here. We're a part of the 500-year plan. We're going to build this world together. Okafor is going to guide us. Let's just make the best of what we can in this. Let's live now." While she's surviving, he's trying to truly live. That includes Michonne and his family.
Terry, some of your past roles are similar to Beale in the sense that we don't exactly know what his ulterior motives are, but we know he's determined to achieve them no matter the cost. It makes it very interesting to learn about Beale over the course of the series. Were there any influences that inspired your portrayal of Beale, whether it were your past roles or some outside sources?
Terry O'Quinn: Yeah, I call on things that I've summoned before. I believe we have all the colors on our color wheel. Some stronger, some weaker. That always just seems to be on of the stronger colors on my wheel. I can call on that fairly easily. [Beale] is not unlike [John Locke] on Lost. He was driven and determined. He had decided that, I'm sure as Beale has, if there ever was a situation wherein the end justified the means, this is it. We're talking about the future of humanity. It's not easy, but I think that's where [Beale] comes from.
I think he's been a warrior all his life. He's been worrying all his life. He sees everybody as a tool or a friend, but more like that of a tool. He looks at what Rick does and thinks, "Here's a talented person." But the fact that Rick's tried to escape four times and did what he did to escape... That says a lot for Rick and a bit against him. So Beale tries to figure out where he can put Rick and how he can use him.
Lost and The Walking Dead -- especially The Ones Who Live -- are both very big shows that run off theories, mysteries and bigger issues that take time to unpack. How would you compare the reactions that you've seen so far from Walking Dead fans versus what you experienced with fans of Lost?
O'Quinn: I haven't had, honestly, that much interplay or interaction with fans of The Walking Dead. I get reactions that are like, "Oh, we're very excited that you're on it." But I haven't had a lot of interaction with it. The Lost reactions were so extended and so overwhelming that it's really no comparison. Although I expect the tidal wave for [The Ones Who Live] is coming.
Oh yeah, it's already here. People are already talking about this show so much.
The Ones Who Live showrunner Scott Gimple addresses the possibility of a second season for The Walking Dead spinoff series.
Craig, you have this really impressive one-on-one fight scene in the show. How did you prepare for the stunt work, and to get into the physical and mental aspects of playing this highly-skilled soldier of the CRM?
Craig Tate: I'm definitely going to bounce off of what Terry just said about having certain gadgets inside your tool bag already. I've been boxing for about 15 to 16 years, and about two to three competitively. I'm pretty active as it comes to all combat sports.
Doing a fight scene was one more day in the office. It also kind of felt like one more day in the gym with the heavy bag. I was just embodying the nature of Okafor. Much like Terry is saying, for some reason, I seem to have a proclivity for all these roles, right? I have no idea why. Maybe it might be due to my father.
He's a very militaristic man [with his] stature and interaction. Apples don't fall from the tree. If you were to meet my father, you would definitely see similarities in him. I would say I'm taking a deep self-dive, right? Finding what spaces of yourself truly resonate with these interactions and exchanges between your scene partners.
You all worked with Bert and Bertie, who directed the first two episodes of the series, and are just fantastic. They've done so much amazing work on other shows. What was all of your experiences working with them and seeing what they brought to the table?
Brandt: I had a great experience with Bert, who actually goes by Amber now, because I think they're not directing together anymore. I think this is one of their last projects. But we really bonded because Amber's South African. It felt like I had a shorthand with her as soon as I started. They were also in that first block, which was those first week of night shoots, which was pretty tough. It was 21 degrees with wind and chill in New Jersey.
You're wrangling walkers and actors. I haven't seen any of the series -- Terry, I know you've seen three episodes -- but I've seen nothing. From what I could tell on set, the shots they chose were cinematically beautiful. I'm really interested to see what that looks like, but I was just happy to have a fellow South African there with me.
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