11x00 - The Making of the Final Season

[bunniefuu]

[soft piano music]

I didn't know it would last
this long. I had no idea.

It's been so freeing
to create this world

and to live in this world for this long.

♪

It's just a really
special bond that we have.

We didn't have nearly as
large of a cast back then,

so it was a much smaller
ragtag group of people

who were there all the time.

It was just us in the woods

as a family just kicking butt.

I wasn't really % sure

how the general public would take it.

We never dreamed that there would be

this kind of response to this show.

[cheers and applause]

million people a week watching
your show at the height of it.

I thought that I would
be fine, prepared.

I f*cking was not.

Because it was like
jumping on a moving train.

You will not be able to talk
about the history of television

without talking about
AMC's "The Walking Dead."

I love that I get to
be a part of something

that meant so much to people.

For all the skepticism

about whether a zombie
show could work on TV,

it kind of blew everyone away

as to what could be done with the genre.

It felt very special from the beginning.

How do you bring a story like this

to a conclusion that is worth the legacy

of what this show is?

What do we want to give people?

Why have they been with us this long?

And how do we honor that?

The goal from the beginning
was, make it as big

and make it as impressive
as we possibly can.

It's just gonna be crazy, man.

Have I thought about the end? Yeah.

Kind of breaks my heart, to be honest.

We're gonna see

a bit of the OG "Walking Dead" return.

Get ready. It's gonna be bloody.

[laughs]

♪

So we ready to roll?

I'll have you introduce yourself,

uh, and kind of tell me
what your job is on the show.

Hi. I'm Tom Luse.

I'm an executive producer
on "The Walking Dead"

and part of the producing team.

I'm Denise Huth, and I'm one

of the executive producers
on "The Walking Dead."

My name is Scott Gimple.

I am the chief content officer
of "The Walking Dead" universe.

My name is Angela Kang,

and I am the showrunner
of "The Walking Dead."

My name is Gregory Paul Nicotero,

March , ,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Yeah, I've been here
basically longer than anybody.

[laughing] So I know it all.

[dramatic music]

For any of us that started
on the show early enough,

I don't know that there were
very many people who were like,

"This could totally become a franchise."

We were just like,
"Well, this is the show,

and we're gonna make the
best version of this show

that we can for as long
as we're allowed to."

"The Walking Dead" has always been

the greatest summer camp on Earth.

That aspect of it,
of us being in Senoia,

this lovely little town,

just doing our thing
away from the world,

there was a purity to that.

The expectations at the beginning

were not that we were gonna
become what we have become.

It's been interesting.

I've done a lot of zombie movies.

I've never done a zombie school.

So I thought that it
was really good for me

to be able to go through
and kind of handpick

the people that I really liked.

For quite a while, we had talked

about the idea of doing some
sort of genre zombie show.

And then, of course,

"The Walking Dead" comes
along, the comic book.

We first got the rights to
the comic book way back in

and spent five years
trying to get it made.

And so AMC finally said yes,

and we were able to sh**t
that first season in .

Norman Reedus, take one.

There was so much care and thought

that went into that original casting.

You know, I remember being there

for when Andy came and did a screen test

and Bernthal and Sarah,

and it just felt very
special from the beginning.

It felt like this little
kernel of something

that could be amazing
and we wanted to protect.

I won't do it.

We can't just leave.

Carol, the group is split.

We're scattered and weak.

What if she comes back
and we're not here?

Could happen.

If Sophia found her way
back and we were gone,

that would be awful.

I came to be a part of the show

having done a film called "The Mist."

And I think it was three years later

and totally unexpected.

Got a phone call they had a role
for me in "The Walking Dead."

I had no idea what
"The Walking Dead" was.

I remember going to the comic store

to find out what it was,

and I opened the book,
just some random page.

And it was... [growls]

And I was like, "Oh, dear.
Oh, dear. Well, I don't know.

What am I getting myself into?"

I read the pilot.

It seemed super honest.

I didn't really read
zombies into the pilot.

I saw a man trying to find his family

and being confused and worried.

And it really struck with me.

♪

Dad!

Getting cast on the show was

pretty fast and really exciting.

They originally had said,
"We're gonna bring you out

for a screen test with Steven Yeun."

And then, like, a day later, they said,

"Actually, we're gonna
fly you to Georgia

and you're gonna start filming."

It was just sort of the
perfect work atmosphere.

And everybody was very excited

'cause we were going into an unknown.

There wasn't a show quite
like "The Walking Dead."

Nobody knew what was
going to become of it.

We were aware that this
would be a six-episode pilot.

We didn't know if we
would have another season.

There was no expectation
of a season two.

So it sort of felt like,
do whatever we gotta do

and just get through those six episodes.

Our production budget and
our crew size was modest.

We had very few resources
to make the show.

What we had were an
amazingly dedicated team

behind and in front of the camera.

A variety of different bloods.

This is, like, our zombie blood.

We have dark zombie
blood, dressing blood,

pumping blood, dark pumping blood,

mouth blood, zombie mouth blood.

I think six different kinds of blood?

Something like that, yeah.

We sh*t on millimeter film.

We did almost all of
our effects in camera

and kind of embraced an
old-school horror mentality

that got me very excited
about new ways of filmmaking.

Ooh. There we go.

You know, it felt like a
little feature, to be honest.

It felt like a movie.

Who are these people?

It was the first thing I'd
done with a group of actors

that were % behind you.

Everybody was in it to win it,

and it was a family.

That whole ensemble feel

was really laid down

really nicely by Andy Lincoln.

He was like a superb leader.

I want to make this
as real, as harrowing,

as raw, and as exciting
as I can possibly do.

I'm gonna give it my all.

Everybody really bonded like that.

You know, we were away from Hollywood,

away from our families.

We were out here in the woods.

It was just kind of our little bubble.

It's sort of the lure of the show,

how the cast in those
first few seasons...

you know, they never
went to their trailers.

They never weren't on set.

It's just they came
to set in the mornings,

and that's where they were.

This is a segment called Hugs for Free.

No, no, no.

It felt very... almost
student-film-ish in a way,

but we had a better budget than that.

[all exclaim]

I mean, not great, but better.

- Episode two in the can.
- Yay!

A lot of people initially were like,

"Oh, yeah, I don't really...

it's a zombie show. It's
not really my thing."

And then word of mouth came out,

and people would say,
"It's not a zombie show.

There are zombies in it,

but that's not what it's about.

This is a story about survival.

This is a story about
people banding together

to fight against a greater common enemy.

And that's how we fell
in love with Daryl,

you fell in love with Carol,
you fell in love with Maggie,

you fell in love with Rick.

And that's when the show began
to gain a lot of momentum.

It was pretty fascinating
what we were able to do.

The fact that we were changing
the rules of television

and changing the rules
of genre storytelling.

I really do feel that
"Walking Dead's" footprint

has been emulated in so
many shows since then,

because up to that point,

we'd never seen anything like it on TV.

I remember early on thinking,

"This is absolutely phenomenal."

Suddenly, people know who I am.

And you realize this
is kind of a big deal.

There was definitely a moment

when it felt a bit overwhelming
that it had gotten so popular,

and I remember Steven
and I talking about it

and kind of trying to find
a way to process that...

That you were that
interesting to people.

You know, the thing about the fandom

and the popularity of the show,

we didn't really feel it
till, like, season three

or four because we were out here.

We were so deep in it that we didn't

really see the outside world.

It's pretty incredible to be a part

of something that becomes
a worldwide phenomenon.

I feel so fortunate to have been

a part of putting something together

that resonated as much as this did.

[cheers and applause]

It wasn't like we went
to those fan events

and there was, like, people,

and then people, and , people.

We just went to them and
there was , people,

like, right off the bat.

And it was like that everywhere.

There were drones
being flown around here,

people trying to spy.

There were people hiding in the woods.

I've never had an experience
where I've gone somewhere

or somebody's noticed or said anything

when it hasn't been an
emotional connection with a fan.

And... and I just thought, "Yeah,

because that's how we
feel when we make it."

[dramatic music]

♪

The thing that's interesting right now

in terms of making people realize is,

is that, you know,
we're officially in prep

for the last episode.

It's not just an episode.

Walkers, everybody... stunt walkers,

everybody's gotta be full
performance every time.

No sleeping walkers.

Every time, it's gotta
be spot on, right?

So am I looking into...

You look at me.

Look at you? Great.

Well, they're also prescription.

- [laughs]
- Are they?

I can... I'll take
them off at some point.

How about that?

So how much of me can you see?

Waist up?

My white socks.

So you can see my socks?

- White socks.
- Hold on. Let's cut.

Yeah.

You should sit over
there, because that way,

if I say something bad, I can see Brandy

over your shoulder going...

Yeah, I feel like I should be...

I should be here, though.

I should be like, "I
can't believe it's over."

[dramatic music]

My name is Ross Marquand,
and I play Aaron.

Hi, I'm Seth Gilliam,
and I play Father Gabriel.

I'm Josh McDermitt. I play Eugene.

Hi. I'm Khary Payton.
I play King Ezekiel.

My name is Cailey Fleming,
and I play Judith Grimes.

Hi. I'm Lauren Ridloff.

I play Connie on "The Walking Dead."

♪

The experience getting cast on the show,

- for me, was life-changing.
- It was pretty surreal.

Fans came up to me and
said, "You should be Negan."

It was maybe the most exhilarating work

I think I'd ever done up to that point.

I was a bit intimidated coming here

with an ensemble cast
who had been doing this

and had made such a name for themselves.

Very intimidating coming
into a show that you love.

You don't want to be
the one who screws it up.

It was kind of like,
"Here's the script, dude.

Don't screw this up", you know?

But we'd all tell you the same thing.

We were welcomed right away.

You know, Andy gave
me some sh*t initially.

But it was very good-natured.

[giggling]

My first day on set,
I was just blown away

about how kind they were.

They were so welcoming
and accepting of me.

- Hi.
- I'm Andy. What's your name?

- Addie.
- Addie.

Andy Lincoln came on a
day off just to greet us.

Who's done that for
me before in my career?

Nobody.

Before I even got on a
plane to fly out to Georgia,

Steven Yeun was emailing me
saying, "Hey, here's my number.

Let's hang out, let's..."

you know, "Welcome to the show.

I'm excited to be working with you."

That really set the tone.

When you're coming into
such a crazy environment,

it's such a nice thing to do.

I want to do that for
people in my career.

[indistinct chatter]

♪

This was a really tricky year.

It's been a really tricky two
years for the entire world.

And our writers were
already well at work

in the room in January,
February, March of .

Our usual schedule, we start
the writers room in January.

And then, you know, we work
for a certain number of weeks,

and then we pitch AMC the...
our plans for the season,

and then we start writing,
and then we start sh**ting

somewhere around the end
of April, beginning of May.

We had actually just had a pitch,

what we thought was gonna be a
traditional season of episodes.

And then the pandemic hit.

At that time, we were
already in pre-prep.

Like, sets were being built,

department heads were
getting ready to travel,

like, all of that kind of stuff.

It became apparent that this wasn't,

like, gonna be a four-week thing,

where we pause and then
we got back up and running.

We were just starting to understand

it was going to be very hard to produce

the episodes that we
initially had planned

for the start of season .

But we were one of the early shows

that started producing again.

Really, not very many people were able

to get up and running
very quickly in

because there were all
these health protocols

that had to be figured out.

It was this huge learning curve.

- I got you.
- Thank you so much.

♪

I honestly thought this show
was gonna keep going for a while.

One, I think more than anything,

it was a shock.

I kind of had a wave of panic.

I was like, "Wait, wait, wait,

I'm never going back there again?

What are you talking about?"

I don't know. It's just... it's surreal.

I haven't really
accepted that it's over,

I don't think, to be honest.

And then we got this phone call saying,

"Hey, so we're gonna do episodes."

And of course, first
thing I thought about is,

"Holy sh*t, like, sh**ting
episodes almost kills us.

How are we gonna sh**t episodes?"

I mean, this is not a courtroom drama.

This show is hardcore.

It's like every episode, we approach it

like it's its own little indie movie.

I think for everybody, just the idea

of how do we produce this
in the time that we have

with the restrictions that we have?

How do you bring a story like this

to a conclusion that is worth
the legacy of what this show is?

This is a very widespread story

with literally dozens
of well-known characters

that we all have to...
you have to pay off.

And that is... that's a very difficult,

very difficult thing to do.

People are getting used to it.

What I'll say is that, like,

I know that every person in this room

was like, "Oh, sh*t, we
have to end the series.

- Like, let us not f*ck this up."
- Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Angela Kang and the
writers really had to,

you know, drop whole things
that they had been working on

to shift gears to do more episodes

to get us into the
episodes of season .

Oh, and by the way, you also
have to wrap up the whole show.

♪

This is the end of the series,

so we have to, like...

you've gotta raise those stakes in a way

that, like, elevates it to the point

where these are the rides
we're gonna take you on.

It's like a story of,
like, the gut, the heart.

You're dealing with, like,
almost, like, the bureaucracy

and the institution itself

as being the enemy of human progress

and, like, how people
with good intentions

can still build something evil.

I don't think the Commonwealth
thinks they're evil,

given what's happened all around them.

In all societies where
there's, like, a figurehead

and they have all the power,

ultimately that power will corrupt.

So how do you still ground that down

in the visceral sort of thing

that makes it "The Walking Dead"?

We know that there's still a contingent

of our people in Commonwealth
that are in imminent danger.

Well, the alternative is,
you go out into the wasteland

and you eat worms. The
alternative is literally hell.

Yeah.

It's teeing up what becomes
a do-or-die kind of situation.

[soft music]

♪

There's a big statement
being made this season.

It's not really what we're used to.

It's something we've fallen on.

And then the writers
themselves are telling a story

of equality and social justice.

I feel like through the apocalypse,

we rediscover what is
really important to us.

And then we have to reenter society.

And that is the Commonwealth.

And we face the thr*at

of losing ourselves once again.

So the battle is really about

[soft dramatic music]

You've fallen on hard times.

And that is where the Commonwealth

is more than willing to help.

If you remain, we can
provide labor and materials

to help you build back all you've lost.

However,

if any are interested,

I do have another,

potentially more
interesting choice to offer.

♪

This whole season feels like
an escalation across the board.

Now we're at a place where
we have multiple communities.

And we introduced
Commonwealth this year,

which is by far the
most advanced community

we've ever seen in the
history of the show.

You know, it's a
community of , people.

It's the closest thing to what
the world used to look like

that we've ever seen.

And that was a huge undertaking
for the production crew.

My name's Roger Scruggs.

I'm the construction coordinator.

Mike Sullivan, and
I'm the scenic charge.

I'm Gia Grosso. I'm the set decorator.

I'm Vera Chow.

I'm the costume designer of this
season of "The Walking Dead."

It's been huge.

We've had big builds

pretty much every episode this year.

It's been really ambitious.

Everything that's in
there in the square,

the Commonwealth square,
we built this year.

They'll design the set.

They'll come to me and say,

"This is the kind of
look that I'd like."

And then we just have to run with it.

The first big set that we
did was the Commonwealth.

We had no idea how
large it was going to be.

The Commonwealth is
the biggest community

that they've been in in the show,

and though it has a really
dark underbelly to it,

it's a community that...

that is successful.

This place,

compared to any other
place they've been,

is so shiny and nice and safe

that the place in and of itself

made our characters into aliens.

You kind of walk into it and
you're like, what is this?

Yeah, people in the
outfits walking around

eating cotton candy and stuff,

which is definitely different
than what we're used to.

You're like, where are we?

You're like, are we being
punked, like, you know?

And I think it plays on my
face in all the scenes there.

What I do in my department, my crew, is,

we handle all the set dressing.

For instance, this sofa
would be in our realm.

♪

We had a great time doing
the Commonwealth town

because it's a mix of found things.

And the little bit that
they do manufacture,

paper goods and you
see a lot of fabrics,

it was really fun to make the shops

using all of those elements.

There's a lot of weird
sh*t in those shops.

[laughs]

We've gone from "The Walking Dead"

back to the living people.

It's kind of like they're in a community

where they're not out
in the wild all the time.

They have running water.

They clean their hands every day.

I was aware of the introduction

of the Commonwealth,
like, brand-new villains.

So it was a chance to really
change things up and elevate it.

So we started thinking
about what kind of technology

would actually exist
in the Commonwealth.

And there's, like, no rules

in terms of what decade we're in.

It's not our actual present day.

So how has fashion evolved?

How has clothing and sewing evolved

in this little town of , people?

It's entirely up to me. So that was fun.

It's been such a massive transition.

And there's not been a
slow progression in that.

We really shove our characters

into quite drastic changes this season.

I think our group is too
smart to be fooled by it,

to be honest.

And so we're kind of
reluctantly pulled into it

because we want safety for our kids.

We want them to have a better life.

And then it sort of unravels around us.

There's a direct clash, I think,

for people on the outside
and people on the inside.

And there's an unrest inside
the Commonwealth as well,

and all of that is building up.

The leader is kind of a dictator,

and she's lying to everybody.

And they're just now opening
their eyes to it, I guess.

What's exciting is, Mercer
has finally come around

and was able to rescue Eugene.

And now we're gonna
see what comes of that.

After having had Hershel
kidnapped by Pamela,

[indistinct chatter]

The scale of what we're
trying to accomplish

for this finale and
building up to the finale

is remarkable.

And I think the scale of everything

is going to be a bit
bigger, a bit bolder,

and a bit more surprising.

All right, here we go, team.

Ready?

All right, let's see what happens.

We owe it to our fans

and the legacy of this show

to have a... lack of
a better way to say it,

a thrilling conclusion
to "The Walking Dead."

And we're gonna do that.

Mark.

I've never been on a show

that has this many enormous sets.

And just trying to get sets done

with the time frame
of a episodic TV show,

the challenge is what I really like.

[dramatic music]

When I read a script,
I do get really excited

when there is maybe a new scenario

we haven't done before.

I'd say one of the first
ones that interested me

was our subway tunnels.

To create an apocalyptic subway tunnel

was really a challenge
that we all really welcomed.

We just knew it was
going to be so fantastic.

One of the big highlights this season,

they built a , -gallon water t*nk,

and we filmed in it, and it was the
flooded basement of Aaron's house.

We have... Judith and
Gracie are trapped down there

being att*cked by walkers
who are in the water.

Aaron's jumping in and smashing
their heads in with his mace hand.

And it's just... it is wild
to sh**t in those conditions.

I'd never been able to
do anything like that.

Thank you.

We've had quite a few
sequences like that this year,

and they've kind of, you know,
taken up the scale of things

just a bit, those writers have.

Episode nine, we had the hwacha,

which just fires rocket arrows out

as, like, a ballistic m*ssile.

And they're f*ring into a herd,

and they're exploding and blowing up,

and the rockets hit the walker,

sh**ting out sparks,

and then they explode
into a million pieces.

And there were so many elements

we had to come up with.

I built a couple prototypes.

Effects built the working model,

because mine would have caught on fire.

[phone vibrating]

Excuse me.

I have to take this. Sorry.

Hello?

Everybody is at the top of their game

and experts in their field
in each and every department.

I'm talking greens.

I'm talking art department, crafty.

And sometimes when I don't
necessarily have to be on set,

I'll come on set just to watch them

because it's so impressive.

Just tell me your name and
what you do on the show.

Taylor Knight. I'm the
hair department head.

Brad Carey, and I'm
the key greens person.

Geoffrey January.

First assistant director.

I'm Jody Winslette.
I'm the transpo captain.

Bryan Carey. I'm the greens foreman.

Vincent Gideon. I am the key hair
department for "The Walking Dead."

[intense music]

♪

It's been a challenging
season, without a doubt.

But the only way that it has survived

is because the passion
of the crew and the cast.

- A couple more times.
- Is that good?

I need to see four more tests
before I'm comfortable with it.

sh**ting "The Walking
Dead" is like playing chess.

It's a very complicated show to make.

We have visual effects and
special effects and stunts.

[screaming]

The glamour of "The Walking Dead"?

There is no glamour
of "The Walking Dead"

while you're sh**ting "The
Walking Dead", you know?

It's like go, go, go!

Oh, it's hot? Well, yeah, it's hot.

Oh, there are mosquitoes?
There are ticks?

Yeah, there are mosquitoes and ticks.

Bug spray on the tracks.

And honestly, when
I'm away, I feel guilty

because I know that my crew
is out here busting their ass.

And I want to be out here,

you know, feeling it with them.

The truth is, we make
magic in eight days.

And if you do it with people you love,

it's actually worth it.

[dramatic music]

♪

This show makes you uncomfortable.

But I think it helps for what
you guys see on the screen.

You feel that uncomfortableness,

and that plays because we're
in the middle of an apocalypse.

Those of us that have been here
longer than a year are insane.

I've been in awe of the people

that I've collaborated
with over the last years

of making something that's been amazing.

And we continue that dedication

and that passion all the
way through to the last ring.

We are gonna work our
asses off until then,

and then we're gonna
have a lot of tequila.

[laughs]

[dramatic music]

Anything that happens from
the moment we sh**t it,

we'll take in , , hours
worth of material sometimes.

Once we take that footage in,

our assistant editors digitize
that footage for the editors,

put it into the machines,
kind of put it into order,

and get it ready to be worked on.

I'm Megan. I'm the VFX coordinator.

I'm Mike, the VFX editor.

I'm Alan Cody, and I'm the editor.

I am Ryan DeGard. I
am the post producer.

There's some fun stuff in post.

And I think a lot of
times, people think,

like, "Oh, like, it's done sh**ting."

Like, you must all be on a break."

And I'm like, "No,
production is on a break."

[walkers snarling]

There's an entire
post-production process

that's happening that goes on for months

and months and months.

I think that's one of the misconceptions

of, you know... just in general
with television and movies.

It's like, as soon as you've sh*t it,

why isn't it ready for us to watch it?

So it's like, you have to
go through these processes,

and they take a lot of time.

And the post process
consists of editing,

sound, visual effects, mixing.

And we kind of put that
whole thing together

in the post process and,
you know, condense that down

into something that we
put out to the public.

I'm Jamie. I'm the VFX producer.

Our show has a lot of
k*lling, especially of zombies.

And each actor has kind of
their own, like, hero w*apon.

And if we see that green
end when we're watching,

we know, "Okay, we're gonna need

to extend the length of it."

And then we'll kind of take

that second half that we're building

and be able to swing it
through the actor's head

and add the blood and
all of the fun stuff.

So all of those things happen.

There's an entire mix process.

And our post producer does
an incredible amount of work

with the people that
do ADR and loop group

and add all the background noises.

Let's do these three right here,

and then we'll move them in there.

Get down!

[grunting]

As far as sound goes, this show is,

you know, built on sound, really.

I mean, there's just a lot
of layers to what we do.

It is a zombie show.

We take a lot of pride in the artistry

that goes into the zombies.

We work really hard to
think about the zombies.

- Here we go.
- [all snarling]

There's just some incredible work

that they all do that's on screen.

The last music spot
on "The Walking Dead."

I know!

God, shed a tear, and here we go.

I love working with our composers.

Bear and Sam are just...

they are the best.

They are so story-driven.

They really, like,
are thinking it through

in terms of, like, what is
the story we're trying to tell?

Coming out of the previous episode,

it will have been emotional, I think.

To some degree, we can
just, like, carry that over.

I agree, but it's like...

I think what you're
suggesting is what I wanted,

which is to start that more noticeably

the instant [... ] passes out...

- Yeah.
- Right.

So that that's all part of the piece.

We talk about every scene

and we talk about the episode as a whole

and we talk about, like, what are themes

that we're trying to get across?

Like, what are the
emotions of this scene?

And once we have that conversation,

they go off and they play with it.

They imagine.

They come up with themes.

It really just adds to the experience.

Are we still planning on recording

the main title theme with
the live orchestra as well?

I would love to do that.

I mean, let me put it this way.

- That'd be rad.
- It doesn't need it.

It doesn't want it.

But we'll do it because
it will look awesome.

[laughter]

This idea of having Bear
and Sam use a live orchestra

had been kind of percolating
for a while for me.

And I'd been kind of thinking
about it in the background.

It's a big moment for the show.

And when you have a live orchestra,
it's big, right? It's epic.

So, like, the idea that Bear
and Sam are gonna deliver

this music in a way that
we've never experienced

really on this show, it's exciting.

Some of the stuff they're composing

that hasn't aired yet,
it's just... it's epic.

It's amazing.

Like, I think people
will really, really enjoy

the soundscape of these episodes.

- [flute playing]
- Welcome.

This particular episode, we
wanted to send out the show

on an even bigger note.

So everybody on the show is excited

to bring in the winds and the brass

and just do something
even bigger than normal.

So just really want to
say thank you to them

for letting us do this tonight.

And thank you all for being here.

Okay, bows up. Bar two.

["The Walking Dead" theme playing]

It's truly, truly a process

that hundreds of people from
start to finish are working on.

It's so fun to get to
be part of all of that.

But just the amount of
work that people put in

to, like, really craft every episode

I'm trying to get your kit pretty much

in the same direction of the lens.

So you're like...

All right, here we go. Let's try one.

Here we go. Let's roll, please.

The nature of the show

and being an actor on this show,

you always sort of feel like
the axe is about to drop on you

at any second.

sh**t yourself back just a tiny bit.

- By, like...
- Like that?

Yeah, perfect. Thank you.

I always answer the phone
to Angela the same way,

which is, "Is it... am I dead?

Is it now?" I don't even say hello.

All right, that's a series
wrap on Michael, guys.

[all cheering]

You know, on our show, we have wrap-outs

as people have their final series wraps.

And the final episode of somebody

who's been on the show
for a while is always

really emotional, you know.

And usually, in any given year,

you might have, like,
a handful of those.

Maggie nods her head.

And Duncan closes his eyes.

And she gently slides her blade
up into the back of his skull.

End of act three.

We have our traditions.

We always try to celebrate
when one of us, you know,

goes off into the world again.

- We love you.
- [chuckles]

We all had a sense that, you know,

time was very precious.

- I'm Michael Cudlitz.
- I'm Michael Cudlitz.

All: I'm Michael Cudlitz.

And we should invest
as much in each other

because you never knew when
you were gonna lose somebody.

This is great.

As time goes on, you
get used to people dying.

But we just find ways to make it

ridiculously celebratory and fun.

- Thank you.
- European.

Yeah, he's European.

It's special.

Take as many of these traditions
with us as we can, I think.

[soft music]

It's a beautiful way,
actually, to say goodbye

to somebody who's been a part
of the show for a long time.

♪

You know, everybody comes here to die.

When I meet somebody,
that's what I say to them.

Everybody comes here to die.

And some people would
be, like, horrified.

But that's what our show is about.

♪

The big departures, it's always like,

everybody's, like, a
little, like, choked up,

and it's touching.

But this time, we had
to wrap the entire cast,

because for everybody,
this was their last episode.

How are the cast and you
preparing for the end?

[laughs]

Um...

taking a lot of photos, I think.

It's going to be a mammoth
sea of emotion when it happens.

It's just crazy. Yeah.

But we've done something great here,

and we've got something
to be so proud of.

And...

dang, this has been...

it's one in a million.

♪

I went to the IMDb and just scrolled

on and on and on and on,

and there is almost pages here

of cast and crew over these seasons

that have come through these doors

to help make this show come to life.

It's amazing to me to think

that this is what I'm a part of.

[clears throat]

And...

we're a part of something
pretty darn incredible.

And I'm grateful.

♪

I know the product that we
put on screen is one thing,

and that's what connects
so much of the world

to "The Walking Dead", but for us,

it's these relationships that we share.

Pan over there. Over there.

- [engine revving]
- [laughs]

It's been a huge, massive
part of our everyday life.

And that will never happen again, ever.

That's what I'll miss.

I'm in denial. I'll be really honest.

You know, I'll look at
Norman, and he'll be like,

"It's gonna get sad."

It's very, um...

surreal to think that
it's all ending now.

I've definitely had moments
where I'm like, "Oh, wow,

this is the last time this
and that is gonna happen."

I'm nervous about saying goodbye.

I'm not gonna lie.

♪

I think I'm just gonna
make an Irish exit.

I haven't said goodbye
yet, and I don't plan to.

I'll just dip out.

It'll be too hard.

So I'm just gonna kind of walk away,

and then I know I'll
see everybody again,

and we'll just leave it at that.

Personally, I'm trying
to get as many moments

individually with people as I can.

I'm trying to not be
fearful about sharing

just how much I love them.

I hope it's not goodbye. [laughs]

These are my best friends.

That's a series wrap on Mr. JDM.

[cheers and applause]

That is a wrap on Khary.

[cheers and applause]

Series wrap on Josh.

[cheers and applause]

- Series wrap on Christian.
- [cheers and applause]

- Mr. Norman Reedus, Daryl.
- [cheers and applause]

Series wrap on Melissa.

[cheers and applause]

Love you guys a lot.

It was truly an honor
being here with you.

Thank you. It's really been

one of the best experiences of my life.

The one thing we have is that

we were all in the trenches together.

No one can ever take that away from us.

And I won't forget
you. I appreciate you.

We could lose our
friends, people we love.

It's not about us anymore.

It's about a future.

Do I want the fans to be happy
with the show? Yeah, of course.

The fans and the cast and the crew

and everybody else

has a real relationship
with the outside world

through the show.

You know, the number of
families that have come to me,

thanked me for playing the character,

how I play the character, and...

Daryl's tough, so it's
helped me get through stuff.

You know, things like that
have meant the world to me.

It just means so much to us

that people are able
to have that escape.

There are fans who tell our actors,

like, this show gave me

something to talk to my dad about

or it allowed me to
come out to my family.

I know for me, I am eternally grateful

to have been a part of it.

That being said, there are
new things on the horizon.

We loved being on the show.

We loved making the show.

It's been us against
the world down here.

But outside of here, it's
just one big happy family.

♪

♪

♪