Last night’s premiere episode of The Walking Dead season 4 introduced a mysterious threat, and a new character played by Vincent Martella was the illness’ first victim.
Hypable spoke with the actor the day after his role opened and quickly closed about nabbing the gig, how he impressed showrunners, what life has been like at the prison for the survivors, and what came down on Patrick during the cliffhanger.
Getting the role
Like the show’s viewers, Martella has been a huge fan of The Walking Dead since the beginning. “There are only a handful of shows I feel as though I would lose my mind if I got to be a part of, but could never happen to me. The Walking Dead was definitely one of those shows,” he told us. “The genre is so much fun. It’s such a fantastic thing that you can only get with The Walking Dead. So if you get a chance to work on a show like that, it’s definitely a pleasure.”
The actor auditioned for the show originally with a fake script so that the producers could maintain secrecy around the season’s plot until he was hired. “Luckily they liked what I was doing with the character and it was the same view they were having, so they gave me a real script once I got to [the filming location in] Georgia.”
Better times at the prison
We asked Martella about the improved prison which was on display for the first time last night. Since we last saw the survivors, flowers and living areas have been added around the complex. In short, it looks like a home. “A lot of time has passed, the winter has come and gone, and they’re really establishing this place as a home now,” he explained.
“They’ve had enough time, without any trouble from other survivors that we know of – like The Governor – so their main mission has been, ‘Alright now, finally, is the time we can grow some food and go back to normal lives.’ They also have bedrooms and separate rooms, they’ve really tried to make it it’s own little community and it’s been working really well – so far [laughter].”
When we met Patrick we saw he was somewhat of a friend to Rick’s son Carl, and we were curious as to whether or not Patrick has been a positive influence on the troubled kid. “I don’t think Patrick himself was trying to influence Carl in any way,” Martella told us. “Even though Patrick is older than Carl, he’s at the same time younger than him. Carl’s had to do some pretty heavy things, and even though that’s true for a lot of people since the turn happened, he still has a lot in the sense that Carl doesn’t anymore. You can see that in the relationship – in the things like story time. I think Rick wants Patrick to influence Carl, but Patrick himself doesn’t want to influence anyone. I think he just wants to be accepted and liked.”
The infection
The big question of the premiere episode came at the very end: What has infected Martella’s character Patrick? While the actor couldn’t tell us much, he offered a couple of hints. “I got sick. I wasn’t feeling very well. Whatever it was caused me to die very quickly.”
Even though he has to keep the infection source a secret, he was able to tell us if there’s any hope for the humans in handling this new problem. “It’s a tough thing to deal with because he reacted pretty quickly and they’re not in a position to get immediate medical attention – especially on something of this nature,” he told us. “It’s not like putting a bandage over a wound, it’s much more serious than that. And you’re not sure how this thing spreads or where it came from or really how to get rid of it. You’re not sure of anything at this point. So it’s a very unique problem that I feel is extremely realistic to the situation. They’re living in an abandoned prison that doesn’t really bode well to stop the spread of disease. It’s a very interesting problem that I think reminds the audience as well as the survivors that there are a lot of other dangers in the world besides things that are living and that are walking dead.”
A quick beginning and ending
Although his character’s role is short lived, Martella’s spirits aren’t down. “There’s only so much disappointment I can have because I’m incredibly luckily to be a part of a show like this,” he explained.
The actor calls the one-episode gig a “bittersweet” opportunity because on one hand he would’ve loved to have been in all sixteen episodes and had a climactic ending, but on the other hand he had the unique opportunity to be a part of a big season premiere in which his character sets in motion a lot of bad events.
Huge ratings
We spoke with Martella just minutes after AMC announced that the show had record ratings – a whopping 16.1 million people tuned in last night to watch the premiere. Was is it about the show that has so many people interested? “It had the initial intrigue,” he told us. “Something that brings people in.. the fact that there are zombies in the show. I think that immediately intrigued everyone. They were like, ‘I want to see what this is on television every week. There are zombies appearing on TV?’ Beyond that, it’s not about the situation. It’s about the people. And that’s what good stories always come back to. How are people reacting? What’s changing them? What decisions, sacrifices, and consequences do they have to make?”
“It’s also a bonus that you have zombies falling through the roof, that was one of my favorite moments of the episode,” he added.
As for his other dream shows he’d love to appear on? Breaking Bad (“There’s not a place for me to be on that show. I would take the role of the waiter at the taco restaurant.”), Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and Louie.
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