Interviews
[Interview] Chad L. Coleman of “The Walking Dead” on Saying Goodbye, Syfy’s “The Expanse”, and the Legacy Tyreese Left Behind
From playing Cutty, the reformed criminal who now trains young boys to be boxers at the local gym in HBO’s “The Wire”, to representing the voice of reason in a group of stragglers who have resorted to violence to solve all of their problems in “The Walking Dead”, actor Chad L. Coleman has often found himself to be in challenging roles where he stands at the center of an emotional tornado, and calmly embodies the personification of justice in the swarming midst of chaos. When it came time to cast the man who would play one of the most impactful characters from the graphic novels, Tyreese, series creator and comic book writer Robert Kirkman apparently insisted that Chad L. Coleman was the man he wanted, and the only actor truly suitable for the job. Looking back over the course of the past few seasons, it’s easy to understand why Kirkman fought so valiantly to have Coleman in his show. His ability to embody a rough, weathered intimidating exterior, while still maintaining a deeply ingrained sense of humanity behind his hammer, makes Coleman the perfect balance to play such a layered character.
Sadly, despite the fact that season five introduced many exciting moments, it also brought viewers to the end of Coleman’s time on the program, as his character Tyreese fell prey to a member of the undead. Although it’s sad to see him leave, the rest Rick’s motley crew will carry on the legacy of Tyreese and all that he stood for throughout the course of their journey, as will the viewers, many to whom Tyreese became a personal favorite. I was lucky enough to chat with busy budding actor Coleman briefly about his upcoming roles, and pay tribute to his time as one of the most iconic characters of “The Walking Dead”, just in time for the Blu-ray release of arguably the show’s most prolific season to date.
In episode nine of the fifth season of “The Walking Dead”, aptly titled “What Happened and What’s Going On”, Tyreese, a character that has come to be as much of a leader to the group as their head honcho Rick, sadly and abruptly met his demise. A few episodes prior to the event, show runner Scott M. Gimple brought in Coleman to discuss his character’s leaving the show. “He called me in and he just said, ‘Hey, your time has come’ and I was like ‘Wow.’ I thought he was joking at first!” Comments Coleman, “But he began to explain exactly how my final episode was going to play out, and then I was excited, I was like, ‘Let’s do it, let’s go’, because I knew that it was going to be a very memorable episode. At the end of the day, only a few are going to hang around for so long, so to be able to do some memorable work, you know it makes the landing a little softer”.
Tyreese’s booming presence may have physically left the show, but the effects of his selflessness, his determination, and his never-ending attempts to hold on to his compassion in spite of all the terror around him will forever remain with the group, and reflect in the actions of those who must now carry on without him. “I think he was challenging everybody’s humanity, and challenging everybody to really check in with that part of themselves. You know, not like foot-on-the-gas violence, just kill, kill, kill — let’s hold on to a piece of ourselves, and remember who we were before this thing went down,” says actor Coleman of the wisdom his character has imparted onto the group. “So just hang on to that humanity, question, yourself, and really work on that aspect of yourself and see that as valuable, as opposed to weak”.
Part of the reason Coleman has always enjoyed playing Tyreese so much is because of his reliability, and even at times, his admiration for the character he portrays. “People think that just because you have size that you want or choose to be this threatening person” remarks the five-foot-eleven, broad-shouldered actor, “but it’s nice when you get to see him play this soft type.” Coleman goes on to explain how it was this inner sensitivity, guarded by an iron curtain of sour experiences and survival skills, was the type of complex challenge that caught his eye in the first place. “What I found in common with him was his heart. His care and concern for humanity, that was what was so captivating about him, as well as his strength and his willingness to take time to be good, but I guess I inspire to be who this man was”. In a role that started out as a complicated comic book character and eventually evolved into a well-rounded, fascinating member of the apocalypse, Coleman found that in the end, even has been affected by the legacy that Tyreese has left behind.
When it came time to talk about saying goodbye to “The Walking Dead”, Coleman had nothing but the kindest words to express about his former cast and crew mates: “It’s just like hanging with the cool kids” Coleman says sweetly, looking back on old times on set in Georgia. “It didn’t even feel like work because everyone got along so well. Everyone’s so fun and smart”. When asked if there was one person in particular that he had developed a stronger bond with over the course of the series, Coleman energetically replied, “Michael Satrazemis, the guy who directed [the episode] “The Grove”. Man, he’s just a ball of passion. You really couldn’t ask for a better DP or director”.
He may be bidding adieu to one television program, but fans of Chad L. Coleman will be overjoyed to learn that he has tons of upcoming projects ahead. First, he’ll star in a futuristic new show opposite Thomas Jane, called “The Expanse”, set to air on the Syfy channel this December. “I think it’s going to fill that void, you know, we don’t have that spaceship drama out there right now” speculates Coleman, who will be playing Colonel Frederick Lucius Johnson in a series based on the New York Times bestseller “Leviathan Wakes” novels. “You don’t know for sure where he’s coming from, but he’s placed in a very precarious situation and he’s got to find his way through it and seek his own kind of justice”. Coleman comments further, describing the role as putting you “in the mind of Colin Powell when he worked for the Bush Administration”. If anything, this comparison suggests that the character of Colonel Johnson will be a war vet, and an extremely decorated officer.
As far as other work on the horizon, Coleman will also be playing a key role along with Laurence Fishburne, in the re-imagining of “Roots”, the iconic mini-series from the 1970s based on author Alex Haley’s family tree. Eager to show his new development to all of his fans, which is set to air in 2016, Coleman proudly comments how “It’s great to revisit that for a new generation”, and how happy he is to be a part of it. A release date hasn’t been revealed yet, but Coleman is also signed on to be the executive producer of”Treadwater”, a transmedia interactive franchise adapted from a brand new graphic novel.
“The Walking Dead: The Complete Fifth Season” is available for purchase on August 25th, 2015 on Blu-ray, Digital HD, and DVD.
Interviews
George A. Romero’s ‘Day of the Dead’ Gets New Life After Search for Long-Lost Film Elements
“I was told that this couldn’t be found by some people that I worked with, and that just set a fire in me,” Scream Factory producer Jeff Roland says of the newly restored Day of the Dead in 4K from the seemingly long-lost original interpositive.
The four-disc release, loaded with special features and new interviews in addition to the restoration, arrives almost exactly three years after Roland began his long pursuit of the missing elements that he was warned were lost to time.
It’s a fitting journey for Day of the Dead, the third film in horror master George A. Romero‘s zombie series, considering the film’s long road to reappraisal after its initial failure at the box office in 1985. A huge departure from the popular Dawn of the Dead, the third film set its battle for humanity’s survival in an underground bunker, waged between a small group of scientists and ruthless soldiers.
It was underground where Roland began his pursuit of the missing interpositive elements, starting with the old-fashioned paper trail in Scream Factory’s basement, sorting through records from their 2013 Blu-ray release.
Scream Factory’s Years-Long Quest to Restore a Horror Classic
“So, there I was, going through boxes and boxes and boxes, trying to find this one specific invoice for a delivery company amongst thousands of pieces of paper,” Roland tells Bloody Disgusting. “That was the start. I was able to figure out the delivery service, and from there, it just went into a whirlwind of… drama? Yeah, there was some drama in there at one point; I thought it had been stolen by someone.”
The lengthy restoration process that also details Roland’s Indiana Jones-like journey, but he notes that “the short and sweet of it is, it took forever, I was trying to find leads. anything. I was seeing ridiculous things online, you know, like it was in a diamond mine in South Africa. I even followed up on that. I thought it would be hilarious if it were actually being kept in the Wampum mine. So I called them, and this poor woman who answered the phone sounded like she got this call every other day.”
Roland notes, “The records, for film vaults and such, aren’t the greatest. I’ll just say that. So, I think that’s, over time, that’s something that we definitely need to improve upon in this business.”
John Harrison Reflects on Day of the Dead‘s Surprising Legacy and Original Vision
While now considered another Romero zombie classic, critics and audiences rejected Day of the Dead at first, especially the Caribbean-style theme music from composer and first assistant director John Harrison.
Few are as surprised by the massive shift in the film’s reception as Harrison. The filmmaker and longtime Romero collaborator reflects, “Now, if you had asked any of us, and George included, that, ‘hey man, you know, in 45 years, this movie’s gonna be considered like a cinema classic.’ We all probably would have said, ‘Oh, we’re making a movie, man. We’re just having fun making a movie, and God, can you believe it, that people are paying us to do this?’ I don’t want to minimize it. I don’t want to say that we were just goofing around.”
Harrison continues, “All of us were really serious about our craft and about what we were trying to do. But I don’t think that any of us, maybe George, hopefully, had some feeling that his films would last for a while. I was a kid, you know? I just wanted to have fun, make movies, and be part of that whole scene. So, it was really disappointing when Day came out, because it was a bomb. I mean, let’s be truthful about it. It was a bomb. And people hated the score. So, 40-some years later, it’s become, for some people, the apogee of that first dead trilogy. The best of the three in its own way.”
Harrison also points out that Romero’s Land of the Dead would later face a similar reception and reappraisal, which was all the more fascinating considering early budget cuts caused Romero to drastically scale back Day of the Dead‘s story. A lot of what was excised was later revisited in Land of the Dead. “That was actually part of the original Day of the Dead concept,” Harrison explains of the 2005 film.
“Because of budget and schedule and so forth and so on, and ratings,” he tells BD. “George couldn’t do it, and that’s why we ended up with the more condensed version of Day of the Dead, which everybody now knows and loves. In a way, I’m kind of glad, because it has a real identity being trapped in those caves, and the end of the world, the two sides of society. Going at it, headbutting, to try and survive. But the whole Fiddler’s Green idea and all of that stuff that ended up in Land of the Dead was part of the original Day.”
George Romero Predicted Social Media and Modern Culture
Suzanne Romero, founder & president of the George A. Romero Foundation and the late filmmaker’s wife, breaks down the film’s trajectory even further. “The original Day of the Dead script, I think, at one point, it was written for a $12 million budget, and it was basically cut in half. And it’s a great script. But that’s what happens with filmmakers, and you gotta make do.
She continues, “But I really think that this film is really for the fans and people who love physical media. And in terms of the foundation, well, anytime George Romero is mentioned is good, because what we are doing is to provide a healthy legacy. We’re uplifting his legacy, we’re supporting the archive, and we’re also supporting the Horror Study Center. So, all of these three things are what the Foundation is striving to do. As far as I’m concerned, the more we say George Romero’s name, the better it is.”
The mention of Land of the Dead brings up one recurring theme of Romero’s work: the filmmaker’s ability to keep his pulse so thoroughly on the current social climate in a way that feels prescient.
Roland agrees, “I think one of the most amazing things that doesn’t get talked about enough is in 2007, he came out with Diary of the Dead. That pretty much predicted YouTube culture. I mean, we’re going through it right now, the exact things that were happening in Diary of the Dead. It’s incredible.”
“Well, that was intentional,” Harrison says, “because I was part of that and worked with Peter [Grunwald] and George on developing that whole script and production. And that was definitely intentional. There was nothing accidental or, ‘Great timing, guys!’ It was not like that at all. It was intentional.”
Romero agrees, “[George] was very wary of social media, but very wary of the internet. He was always very suspicious and thought that we ought to beware; we ought to be walking very carefully into this space.“
“Which we haven’t done, of course,” Harrison adds.
“No, of course not,” Romero responds. “And AI. I mean, he would be writing about AI right now and thinking, danger! What the fuck are you doing, people? But not only that, but he also did it in a layman’s way. You know, he really brought it to very familiar language, and people that spoke to each other, it was in a very natural way, and it was the way he developed characters. The way he evolved with how his women were more powerful, because he kind of regretted that in Night of the Living Dead, [Barbra] was weak. He always thought the women ought to be much stronger, and I think it started with Season of the Witch.”
Everyone Wanted to Be a Zombie in a Romero Movie
George A. Romero’s legacy certainly looms large over Scream Factory’s impressive new release, offering a comprehensive look at Day of the Dead through a dizzying number of new audio commentaries, featurettes, and interviews detailing everything from the “mine fever” that spread among the cast and crew to Ernest Dickerson‘s high-pressure day on set running the second unit camera.
That’s also reflected in Romero’s zombies themselves, dating back to 1968’s Night of the Living Dead.
“In Pittsburgh, it was a badge of honor to be a zombie in a George Romero movie,” Harrison recounts. “Everybody from the Dean of Students at Carnegie Mellon to the presidents of corporations. I had a story that came out of Dawn. I was pitching a commercial for my own little company, and I’d done a bit for George as ‘Screwdriver Zombie’ on Dawn. I didn’t get cleaned up enough, and I went to this meeting at the first thing in the morning. The vice president of this bank is looking at me, going, ‘Is there something wrong with you?’ I said, ‘No, no, that’s what I know? I’m fine.’ He said, ‘Well, you’re bleeding out of your ear.’ Okay, so then I had to tell them the whole story. And he listened to it, and I thought, well, this is gonna be ridiculous. I’m coming in talking about being a zombie in a movie, and I want to sell him this, like, multi-thousand-dollar commercial that the bank is gonna pay for. He listened very carefully to me, and he said, ‘Well, listen, we’ll talk about the commercial, but do you think I could be a zombie in one?”
That hasn’t changed in the present, either.
Romero confirms, “We’re producing George’s film, Twilight of the Dead, and we get requests, ‘Can I be a zombie in this film?’ So, even today, people are very interested, and yet it’s terrible. I mean, it’s hours and hours of makeup.”
Scream Factory’s Day of the Dead four-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray Collector’s Edition releases on June 16.
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