INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

‘The Walking Dead’: Greg Nicotero Calls Season 7 Premiere ‘The Most Emotional Episode Ever Aired’ [Spoilers]

By Chrissie Williams
Published on: 07:05 PST, Oct 3, 2016

The Walking Dead Season 7 is set to premiere on Sunday, October 23 and everyone is feeling very anxious about who Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) killed. It’s been months and The Walking Dead viewers still on the edge of their seats waiting to see if fan-favorite, Glenn (Steven Yeun) was Negan’s victim.

The cast and crew said that the Season 6 finale was extremely difficult to film because it was so emotional. In fact, Andrew Lincoln said that it was the first time he was late to arrive on the set because the scenes had taken an emotional toll on him. Lauren Cohan stated that it was so emotional on the set that she didn’t want to go to work. If the finale was so difficult to film, you’d think it was nearly impossible to tape the Season 7 opening scenes?

Jeffrey Dean Morgan revealed filming the Season 7 premiere was intense. The Walking Dead director, Greg Nicotero, agreed with Morgan stating that it was “the most emotional scenes he’s ever shot.” Greg sat down with Entertainment Weekly to weigh in about the emotional scenes for Season 6 and 7.

The Walking Dead spoilers tease that the wait to find out who Negan’s victim will be worth it. The showrunner, Scott Gimple, told the production team that they had to “deliver the goods” and make sure the scenes in the cliffhanger Season 6 finale and opening Season 7 were flawless. They had to be intense and emotional. The viewers need to feel what the characters were feeling at the time. It had to be full of real, raw emotion.

“Well, I can tell you from the position of the director’s chair, it was by far the most emotional episode that I’ve ever shot. Where we left these characters at the end of season 6 is, they’ve been broken. Their world has literally become smaller and smaller and trapped them, and now they’re in a situation that they’ve never been in before where the cavalry is not coming over the hill.”

Greg explained that watching the actors do two, three, and four takes of a few of the scenes was not a pleasant experience as a director. The scenes demanded so much from the actors as they had to put themselves in the place of their characters.

Nicotero explained that when they started to film The Walking Dead Season 6, they knew that the series was going to temporarily turn into a dark and cold place. They knew getting the actors to tell the story wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience but kept their eyes on the result—-an action-packed, emotional cliffhanger for Season 6.

The Walking Dead actors knew going into Season 7 that it was going to be difficult to film, MovieFone reports. Someone close was going to die, and it was going to be heartbreaking to play it out for the viewers.

“The first couple episodes are a bit relentless in that sort of dark place that they really don’t want to go, but we’re going to take you there.”

Greg explained that The Walking Dead Season 7 would go much more into detail than the comic did. In the comic, the identity of Negan’s victim ended abruptly. In Season 7, they chose to make it the focal point and the fallout will be discussed in great detail.

“Without giving too much away, it’s even more than the comic book, because in the comic book it’s kind of abrupt, and it’s over, and there’s a little, “Okay, I’ll see you guys in a week. We’ll be by to get half our share.” There’s more to it.”

In a little less than three weeks, the mystery surrounding who Negan killed will be over. Greg Nicotero urges the viewers to grab a box of Kleenex before watching Season 7 premiere because it is going to be intense, raw, and emotional.

The Walking Dead Season 7 premieres on Sunday, October 23 on AMC.

[Featured Image by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for AMC]

Share this article: ‘The Walking Dead’: Greg Nicotero Calls Season 7 Premiere ‘The Most Emotional Episode Ever Aired’ [Spoilers]
tv the walking dead
More from Inquisitr