Skip to main content

Interview with ‘Walking Dead’ star Michael Cudlitz

‘Walking Dead’ star Michael Cudlitz on season 7, deadly catharsis, and more

Michael Cudlitz living dead
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“We want to remind people constantly that this world is not safe. That’s why we keep taking out the characters you fall in love with.”

If there’s one character on AMC’s megahit show The Walking Dead who truly embodies the concept of “taking one for the team,” it has to be Abraham Ford, the loyal soldier played with a certain focused intensity by Michael Cudlitz (Southland, Band of Brothers). (Warning: Spoilers abound below. If you’ve yet to finish The Walking Dead season 7, read on at your own risk!)

In the still-shocking opening episode of season 7 of TWD, Abraham was revealed to be the first one to succumb to the relentless barrage of deathblows enacted from the barbed-wired bat known as Lucille, as wielded by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the maniacally vengeful sociopathic leader of group known as The Saviors.

“Yes. Yes, I did take it,” Cudlitz admitted about the intent of his character’s ultimate sacrifice to Digital Trends. “I absolutely did.”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

That pivotal moment set the tone for the main thrust of the brutally intense season 7 of one of TV’s most watched show, which is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital formats via Lionsgate.

As we all eagerly await season 8’s October 22 premiere on AMC, the ever-humble TWD alumnus Cudlitz was gracious enough to get on the line with Digital Trends to discuss Abraham’s noble season 7 fate, how his character avoided going the full-on Punisher route, and why he had to have the reddest hair on TV.

Digital Trends: You were a fan of the comics and had read up on Abraham’s backstory before you started filming on The Walking Dead back in season 4, right?

Michael Cudlitz: I did, yeah. I was a fan.

We’re not really spoiling anything here for people who have read the comics or seen the show, so I have to ask: Did you know early on you were not going to get an arrow through your eye, like Abraham did in the comic series [issue 98]?

I did know early on I was not going to get an arrow through the head. (pauses) But, well, I didn’t really know for sure. All I knew was what everybody else knew — that [TWD co-creator] Robert Kirkman said in some interviews that he was not happy with the death he gave Abraham in the graphic novels, so I extrapolated that to figure it would be something else.[/internal-link]

I’ve been reading the comic for over a decade, so I actually like not knowing for sure what’s coming on the show. For you, it must have been satisfying to give Abraham some additional weight at the end than what he got in the comics.

Yes, yes. I think it was a much more fitting death — a much more fitting soldier’s death. It was a very selfless death, rather than being a passive death.

The Walking Dead: Season 7 Comic-Con 2016 Official Trailer

I think the best word to describe your death scene is “visceral.” Did you have any input on any of the related deathblow sounds, or how you wanted it to look onscreen?

No, we’re not involved in any of that. That’s all [co-executive producer and episode director] Greg Nicotero, and more specifically, [showrunner] Scott Gimple. The buck stops there, as it were. Scott is very particular about his music, and he’s very particular about his edits. Greg, the editors, and all of those guys will take creative input, but ultimately, it’s the showrunner who has the final say.

Have you been able to watch that scene with any perspective, now that some time has gone by since you shot it?

The last time I saw it was actually when we did the commentary [for the Blu-ray/DVD release], and that was back in the spring, sometime in February or March.

I think the scene itself really messes with time. The entire first part of the episode takes place over three or four minutes, and then the end of the episode goes back into real time. You keep jumping back and forth between what’s happening, what could be happening, and what did happen. Not a lot of time passes and then they’re running around, and at the end of it, they come back to the next morning.

From a linear storytelling perspective, it’s really, really interesting. I said to the guys, “To me, this is the closest time the show has been like an episode of Southland.” And by that, I mean — well, [executive producer] John Wells described that he wanted Southland to be a show that did not necessarily follow linear storytelling. We were not going to have the “crime of the week” every week. Certain things will be solved, but that’s not it. The show will be about having a visceral experience and, at the end of it, having some sort of emotional response. It was like a piece of music — less like storytelling, and more like a composition of music.

“You’re forced to feel a bunch of different emotions, and in the end, you’re going to have some sort of cathartic response.”

Right. It’s like being a conductor, but in this case, you were taking the viewer through different beats and tones — and even different time signatures, in a way.

You’re going to be forced to feel a bunch of different emotions, and in the end, you’re going to have some sort of cathartic response.

I think that’s what they did on The Walking Dead. I was sort of both horrified and delighted about it, but I knew it was going to get a really strong response, and I knew people were going to be highly affected by it — and ultimately, I thought it was awesome.

Since you brought up Southland, can I give you a quick scenario? What would happen if your Southland character John Cooper ever had a chance to meet Abraham Ford?

Hmmm. I think, in a lot of ways, they’re very similar. They’re very dedicated to their job, they’re very dedicated to the people around them, and they will ultimately stop at nothing to do what they feel is right.

I’ve got one other scenario for you: Your Southland compatriot Ben McKenzie is on Gotham as James Gordon. If they came to you with a villain offer, who would you want to play on the show? Your choice.

That’s a great question. I talk with Ben all the time, and we joke about us being able to work together again, because we enjoyed it so much the first time. (slight pause) I don’t know. I’d have to figure that out.

The Walking Dead Season 8 Official Comic-Con Trailer

Back to Abraham, who was always a very visual character who had no problem getting dirty or showing his injuries. Did that approach fuel your character portrayal in terms of, “let’s see all the blood and the gore, let’s see him get dirty, let’s see him do his job?”

Well, I would argue that’s true for all the characters in the show. It’s a very dirty world; it’s a very aggressive world. Look, we had a very heightened reality because we are from a graphic novel, but the only way that heightened reality works is if we ground it as much as possible in reality reality.

Do you have a personal favorite episode in the entire arc of your character, or a favorite scene of any of the physical actions you got to do?

There was a lot of fun stuff that I got to do, and, honestly, working with everybody was a blast. As a character, I do love season 5, episode 5 [Self Help], because we got to see Abraham’s backstory. That’s the moment everybody realized where he came from, and it just tempers everything you think you know about Abraham when you realize, “Holy shit — his entire family got murdered! OK, OK; I get it now.” Or you don’t, but either way, you have an explanation, and it’s your choice for what you want to do with that.

But I love the fact that, when you first meet the guy [in season 4, episode 10, Inmates], everybody goes, “Well, what the hell is this?” He wants to do his own thing, and he’s getting into conflict with Rick [Grimes]. Is he against the group? Is he a bad guy?”

“If this were to happen in real life everybody would be dealing with massive psychological issues in how they processed it all.”

You gave Abraham a three-dimensional portrayal over his entire arc. He could have gone the full-on Punisher route and just turned off all of his emotions in the aftermath of what happened to his family.

Yes, but he did when he dealt with the people who did that to his wife. Then he was brought back into reality with the mission phase with delivering Eugene, and he clicked back into society. You have a mission, and you have something you can do to help people go on, and he was up for that.

But if this were to happen in real life, obviously, everybody would be dealing with massive psychological issues in how they processed it all. I’m glad they showed him being a mess, because I think a lot of people would be complete messes.

You were probably one of the most famous redheads who had some of the most iconic facial hair on TV. How does your hair look today? Is it back to “normal”? What is the normal hair color for you these days?

It’s back to blond, just the way it was when I was on Southland.

I see. Is there anything you can say about whatever projects you’re working on next?

Nothing that I can talk about.

But you can say that you’re staying… employed?

Oh yeah, well, yes — let’s hope I still have work! (chuckles) It’s all good. This is what I do for a living. All is well.

That’s good to know. Last thought on Abraham before we go — it’s often been said no character is truly safe on The Walking Dead. As much as we got attached to Abraham, we always kind of knew he probably wouldn’t make it to the end.

Yeah, and Kirkman has always said that as well. He wanted to remind people constantly that this world is not safe. And that’s why, in the graphic novels, he keeps taking out the characters you fall in love with.

Mike Mettler
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mike Mettler is the music editor of Sound & Vision, where he also served as editor-in-chief for 7 years. His writing has…
Purdue vs. Michigan State: How to watch, results, and highlights
Michigan State basketball court from an aerial view.

Two of the Big Ten's best teams face off on Tuesday night. Braden Smith and the No. 13 Purdue Boilermakers (19-7) take on Jaden Akins and the No. 14 Michigan State on Tuesday night. After hot starts, both teams have dropped recent games. Purdue enters Tuesday's game on a two-game losing streak, with their most recent defeat coming at the hands of Wisconsin. Michigan State has lost three of their last five but picked up a crucial victory over Illinois this past Saturday.
After the departure of Zach Edey, Purdue had major questions in their frontcourt. Trey Kaufman-Renn has been better than advertised, as the junior forward leads the Boilermakers in points (19.4) and rebounds (6.3). Plus, Smith's veteran presence in the backcourt will pay dividends in March. It's a true team effort for Tom Izzo's Spartans, with five scorers between eight and 14 points per game. The x-factor is freshman Jase Richardson, who has scored over 10 points in three straight games, including a 29-point outburst in the win over Oregon.
With the regular season winding down, this game will go a long way when determining seeding for the Big Ten Tournament. Find out how to watch the game below, including the start time, channel, and streaming information. Read our NCAA men's basketball March to the Madness guide for more information.

Purdue vs. Michigan State: How to watch
Tom Izzo on getting most wins in Big Ten conference play: 'I'd trade it all for a banner'

Read more
If you have to watch one Hulu movie in February 2025, stream this one
Meg Ryan sits at a computer in You've Got Mail.

Unless you grew up during the internet's stone age, then you may have never heard the "You've got mail" voice that used to play when AOL users got an email. In its heyday, AOL was omnipresent on the web, and its catchphrase was the inspiration for the 1998 romantic comedy You've Got Mail, which is our pick for the one Hulu movie that you need to watch in February.

Valentine's Day is in the rear-view mirror, but a good rom-com is always seasonal. The late Nora Ephron -- who was one of the best female directors -- co-wrote You've Got Mail with her sister, Delia Ephron, while taking inspiration from the 1940 romance flick, The Shop Around the Corner.

Read more
25 years ago, Vin Diesel had the best day of his career
Vin Diesel looks cool in black goggles and a black tank top in a still from the movie Pitch Black.

Vin Diesel in Pitch Black USA Films
More than almost any other movie star working today, Vin Diesel seems to think only in franchises. Skim the last two decades of this muscle man’s filmography, and you’ll see almost nothing but sequels or movies designed (not always successfully) to spawn sequels. Once Vin got a taste of life in the fast lane, he never really looked back. Maybe he was always just destined to become a Hollywood action hero: When you’re built like a bullet and talk like a subwoofer, the Italian Stallion career path makes a lot more sense than anything else.
Of course, like Sly Stallone, Vin didn’t start out making multiplex cash grabs. Before he was Dominic Toretto, Xander Cage, and Groot, Diesel was a hungry young actor, more focused on honing his craft than bulging his biceps. In the ’90s, he even dabbled in writing and directing, penning his own gritty, calling-card starring vehicle; it was that indie drama, Strays, that caught Steven Spielberg’s attention and earned Diesel a breakout role in Saving Private Ryan. To watch him there or in the late Sidney Lumet’s swan song, Find Me Guilty, is to be reminded of a time when the big guy aspired to a little more than bankable machismo.
What’s wild is that you can pinpoint to the day the pinnacle of Diesel’s time as a dramatic performer as opposed to a box-office draw. Said day was 25 years ago tomorrow, when not one but two movies featuring the future star hit theaters nationwide. There he was as a likable off- Wall Street stock broker in the financial drama Boiler Room, and there he was again as a mythic outlaw in the deep-space creature feature Pitch Black. Diesel has never been better than he was in these two very different movies, which kind of makes February 18th, 2000 the best day of his career — and also the last moment before that career changed directions.
Boiler Room (2000) Official Trailer #1 - Vin Diesel Movie HD
Of the two films, Boiler Room is the more obvious acting showcase, though Vin has a much smaller part in it. Written and directed by Ben Younger, this Martin Scorsese-indebted procedural essentially fictionalizes the true story the actual Scorsese would later dramatize with The Wolf of Wall Street. Younger looks at the fraudulent practices of brokerage houses like Stratton Oakmont from the perspective of one of the cold callers, a Long Island entrepreneur played by Giovanni Ribisi. Maybe fourth or fifth booked in the cast is Diesel, who steps in as one of the more experienced brokers who takes Ribisi’s snake-oil salesman under his wing.
“He’s like gravity —everything gets pulled to him,” is how someone describes Diesel’s most famous character, Dominic Toretto, in the following year’s franchise-launching melodrama The Fast and the Furious. But he’s much more conventionally magnetic in Boiler Room as a slick but approachable young millionaire swindler. Vin’s first big scene in the movie puts his signature bravado to good use, as he gregariously coerces a doctor into buying a bunch of shares over the phone — a hard sell that he makes look effortless. It’s a kind of initiation, laying out the seductive thrill of how these chop-shop frat boys make their fortune. They’re really just actors, playing a part for the clients they unscrupulously exploit.
Diesel’s Chris Varick, like Toretto, is as much teddy bear as shark, though. Boiler Room positions him as a big brother for Ribisi— the warm alternative to Nicky Katt’s jealous, competitive bullpen prick. The script’s pages of shop talk (the kind of industry exposition that Scorsese waved off with a fourth-wall-breaking wink from Leo) go down smoother when delivered in Diesel’s low rumble and New York accent. And Chris becomes an unlikely figure of redemption at the ending, confronted by both the impending collapse of his livelihood and the opportunity to do one noble thing before it all comes crashing down. That makes Boiler Room the first in a long line of movies that find the conscience burning within Diesel’s bad-boy routine.
Pitch Black Official Trailer #1 - Vin Diesel Movie (2000) HD
A secret flicker of decency also defines Richard B. Riddick, the apprehended mercenary Diesel plays for the first time in Pitch Black. In terms of temperament and vocabulary, he’s a much different animal than Varick: a stony Western archetype unleashed onto the final frontier, like Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name airdropped into an Alien knockoff. Writer-director David Twohy builds Riddick up, establishing his fearsome bona fides by keeping him chained, shrouded in darkness, and silent for the first act, when the ship carting this dangerous fugitive crash-lands on a planet with three suns and some deadly nocturnal wildlife. Beyond the opening voice-over, Diesel doesn’t utter a word for the first 30 minutes of the movie.
More than Toretto, that marble-mouthed, messianic Robin Hood patriarch always mumbling about family, Riddick is the quintessential Vin Diesel character. Twohy leans on and inflates his comic-book physicality – the bulkiness that caught the actor bouncer gigs before he went Hollywood. And he streamlines that familiar Diesel braggadocio into a cucumber cool, the poise of a post-human bruiser in touch with his wild side. His performance in Pitch Black arguably comes closer to approximating the original conception of Wolverine than the one Hugh Jackman would deliver, for the first time, a few months later in the first X-Men movie. Diesel is so convincing here as an animalistic loner that his eventual, reluctant call to be a team-player, à la Logan, packs the desired punch.
Less blockbuster than glorified sci-fi programmer, Pitch Black didn’t make boatloads of money. But it was a successful proof of concept; what it sold the world was Diesel’s suitability for action-hero duty. Those who caught the movie in theaters, maybe even on a double bill with Boiler Room, could clearly see into his future as a post-millennial Rambo. But few of the big Hollywood projects that followed better capitalized on his rugged, monosyllabic qualities. No wonder Diesel returned to the film’s treacherous star system, reprising the role in two sequels — the goofier, more expansive Chronicles of Riddick and the back-to-basics Riddick — even after he had moved on to more lucrative multi-picture engagements.
Boiler Room Prospecting Scene - Vin Diesel Closing
In retrospect, 2000 was as much a last hurrah as it was a highpoint for Vin Diesel, the actor, not the brand. A year later, he’d buckle in for the comparably low-key first entry in a series he’d eventually makeover into a multi-billion-dollar vanity project. There was really no turning back from the road Fast & Furious put him on. It’s been basically all intellectual-property bids since, as Diesel has balanced his cash cow franchise with attempts to develop new ones. You have to strain to see any real artistic ambition in any of the work he’s done since the day the multiplex served up double, clashing doses of his cowboy swagger. Besides a supporting role in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, it’s been one star sleepwalk after another.
Maybe Diesel never had a character actor's range. As a performer, he mostly offers different shades of macho — brooding, sentimental, or arrogant as needed. But on one winter day at the start of a new century, he demonstrated that his particular steroidal charisma could be stretched a little, and applied to projects with wildly different aims. February 18 was a crossroads for this modern tough guy. He took the path to marquee immortality that Pitch Black opened up before him, while leaving us wondering how many Boiler Rooms he bypassed along the way.
Boiler Room and Pitch Black are both available to rent or purchase from the major digital services. For more of A.A. Dowd’s writing, visit his Authory page.

Read more