AMC’s The Walking Dead is hands down, my favorite new show of 2010 and as luck would have it, several cast members of the show’s fourth episode, “Vatos,” were here at Dallas Comic-Con to spread the infection… er… I mean awareness of this television adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s comic of the same name. Neil Brown, Jr. (Battle: Los Angeles), Anthony Guajardo (The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lavagirl), and James Gonzaba were on hand to discuss the show and season two.
Before we jump into this, let me preface this piece by saying that I had a fantastic time chatting with these guys. They kept me laughing the whole interview! They are the most hilarious and most loveable zombie-killing survivors I’ve ever met. There was a lot of cross talk in this interview, so I’ve cleaned it up to hit the high points. I fear transcribing this doesn’t do these guys’ sense of humor justice, but at least you’ll catch the drift of what we talked about! Check out our conversation below.
[Above: A scene from “Vatos”]
SciFi Mafia: Will we be seeing your characters again in season two of AMC’s The Walking Dead?
Neil Brown, Jr.: We can neither confirm nor deny that.
SFM: Oh, dang it!
Neil Brown, Jr: I just know that it will be awesome!
SFM: I’m really hoping to see you guys again.
Neil Brown, Jr: Thank you!
SFM: Your group was the only group of survivors that actually cared enough to take care of the elderly. They are easy pickings for the zombies.
Neil Brown, Jr: Yup.
SFM: And we didn’t meet many survivors in the first place, but do you guys think that it is because of the cultural background of your characters that they took the elderly under their wing?
Neil Brown, Jr.: That’s a good question…
SFM: In the Hispanic culture, there’s much more of an emphasis on respecting your elders and caring for other generations.
James Gonzabo: We were talking about that earlier. Being Latino… wait hold on, Neil’s not Latino.
SFM: Oh!
Neil Brown, Jr.: I’m the only one.
James Gonzaba: But he looks [Latino].
Neil Brown, Jr.: I’m Sicilian and black.
Anthony Guajardo: And I’m Spanish.
[Above: Anthony Guajardo, Neil Brown, Jr. and James Gonzaba]
James Gonzaba: What I mean is that as well as he played the character on the show, he understands our background is all about family.
Neil Brown, Jr.: (shouts) Familia!
James Gonzaba: We take care of our elderly. Like, that’s respect. I’m sure it runs in an Italian family.
Neil Brown, Jr.: It runs in a black family, too.
James Gonzaba: Any type of family, hopefully.
Neil Brown, Jr.: My grandmother raised me. Just before we started filming, she passed away.
SFM: Oh, I’m sorry.
Neil Brown, Jr.: So when I went in there and saw all those grandmothers. So that last scene, I had to step away every few minutes because I was in a room bawling. I couldn’t hold it together.
SFM: Oh my gosh…
Neil Brown, Jr.: And all the grandmas, the extras, they would walk up to you and say, ‘Are you ok, baby?’ ‘No, I’m not!’ you know what I’m sayin’? And I wasn’t. My grandmother took care of me.
[Above: Scene with Abeula in “Vatos”]
Anthony Guajardo: Gina was so sweet.
Neil Brown, Jr.: Yeah, Gina Morelli. She played my Abeula. She was just a sweetheart. It’s all about family. I think that was the [main theme] in the show. Look at Rick. That’s why my character, Guillermo, and Rick had a nice contrast there because we were both taking care of family the best we could or the only way we knew how. And we knew how by being mean, but we were just pretending. What you talking about? I aint hurt nobody!
Anthony Guajardo: I was just being a pain in the ass.
Neil Brown, Jr.: He was just being himself.
SFM: Well, it’s all about survival, right? And along the zombie survival lines, what do you think the key to zombie survival is and how would you apply those lessons to everyday life?
Neil Brown, Jr.: The Zombie Survival Crew. That’s how you survive. Have to give a shout out to the ZSC!
ZSC: Love you, Neil!
Neil Brown, Jr.: (to the Zombie Survival Crew) Love you, too, sweetheart!
James Gonzaba: For me, limiting it just to the necessities.
Neil Brown, Jr.: Bring it down to the bare essentials. You got to realize what you can survive off of.
Anthony Guajardo: Jergens.
[laughter all around]
SFM: Family, bare essentials, and Jergens?
Neil Brown, Jr.: Yeah!
James Gonzaba: And your instincts. Rely on your good instincts. We meet these newcomers and need to relate to them. But yeah, your instincts and bare essentials.
Neil Brown, Jr.: …and a lot of guns.
SFM: Yes, a lot of guns!
Neil Brown, Jr.: And ammunition. Very important to have ammunition for those weapons.
SFM: Exactly!
Neil Brown, Jr.: Don’t forget that sh!t!
[laughter all around]
SFM: And along those lines of weapons, what is your personal favorite zombie killing tool?
Anthony Guajardo: Machete.
[crosstalk, joking around]
James Gonzaba: I use the bat in my scene so I’m gonna say bat.
Neil Brown, Jr.: Katana sword.
SFM: It’s a quick beheading.
Neil Brown, Jr.: I’ve studied Kenpō, I’ve studied tenjitsu(?), and kendo so I’m good with a sword. I’m good with the katana, and the wakizashi. The tanto blade sucks.
[crosstalk, joking around]
SFM: Did you have to do any kind of training for your roles?
Neil Brown, Jr.: Well, [Anthony] had to train how to be a dick (jokingly), but…
Anthony Guajardo: They had me do stunt work on how to look like you’re being hit.
James Gonzaba: It takes a lot out of you. Between what [Anthony] did and only the little part that I did, man, I had to drag one of our cast members (Steve Yeun) into a car like ten times. I’ve wrestled before and done boxing… but doing something you don’t do a lot in everyday life is … my knee was bruised up and I was aching in places. Man, I’m 26 years old. I’m not supposed to be feeling like this! There’s no training but it was about being prepared and being able to take a beating. You think acting isn’t [so physically involved] but it takes a toll on you.
SFM: There’s definitely a physical element to your craft.
James Gonzaba: Somewhat, yes.
SFM: Is there anything at all you can tell me about season two?
Neil Brown, Jr.: Absolutely nothing. Let me tell you something. They’ve done really smart things… From what I’ve heard, they’ve done interesting things with each episode to where it could go three different ways. I can neither confirm nor deny this. This is what I’ve heard. Purely speculation. Rumor.
SFM: That’s alongside with the plotline in the comics?
Neil Brown, Jr.: Yes! Yep, you’ve got the comics and another twelve episode season.
SFM: Well, twelve episodes *is* more than your six in season one.
Neil Brown, Jr.: Exactly.
SFM: I’m rooting for many more scenes with y’all.
Neil Brown, Jr.: Thank you! I appreciate it.
[Above: James Gonzaba, me, Neil Brown Jr, Anthony Guajardo]
A huge thank you to James Gonzaba, Anthony Guajardo, and Neil Brown, Jr. for taking to time to share their lunch break with me. These guys rock and we hope to see them soon on The Walking Dead and elsewhere!
Stay tuned to SciFi Mafia. We’ve got more from Dallas Comic-Con and the Zombie Survival Crew!
