Thanks to a plot twist on The Walking Dead, Michael Rooker was able to accept James Gunn’s offer of a large role in Guardians of the Galaxy instead of a small one.

The actor’s work on Gunn’s 2006 film Slither had initially led the director to offer Rooker the part of Yondu in the Marvel space opera which opens on Friday, but there were big scheduling conflicts afoot.

Rooker told Hypable in an exclusive interview, “I knew he wrote this role for me, and we both realized that, oh no, I’m doing The Walking Dead. There’s no way they’re going to release me for that amount of time, because they decided [Guardians] is going to have to be shot between this date and this date – a total, total conflict.”

With the role of Yondu requiring too much time for the actor, Gunn decided to offer Rooker the smaller role of Korath (now played by Djimon Hounsou), who has a part at the beginning of the story.

Then, Rooker received a call from The Walking Dead’s Glen Mazzara who told him that Merle Dixon was about to be killed off. “First thought, literally first thought, was ‘Wow. I don’t have to wear this arm thing any more ever again, thank god,'” the actor told us, referring to the bayonet covering his character’s severed arm. “Second thought was, ‘Hey Gunn, what’s going on man!'”

Rooker was asked to keep the news of Merle’s death a secret, but he suffers from “the Irish gift of gab,” he says. “My need to actually pay the mortgage overcame that ‘don’t tell anyone’ request.”

Rooker immediately called Gunn to tell him about Merle’s death, but wanted to mess with him first. “I said, ‘Man, I can’t play this small role. I just can’t. I’m sorry… I’m a big star. I’m on the biggest TV show in the world.'”

Gunn understood, and said they could hopefully work together another time. “Then I let this silence sit and said, ‘Butttt, I will do the bigger role!’ And he’s like, ‘What are you talking about?!’ Then he said to me, ‘Oh, damn, now I have to convince Marvel.'”

Rooker Smash

Prior to even knowing about Guardians of the Galaxy’s existence, Rooker says he was a fan of a couple Marvel comics. “My favorite has always been the Hulk,” he told us. “I read the comics, I watched Lou Ferrigno on TV. And then I watched a couple of the other Hulk things, but I like that whole idea of – there’s this kind of scared thing in you that – when it’s awoken it becomes this mighty, uncontrollable thing. A lot of kids are like that growing up.”

On the movie side of the Marvel universe, Rooker is happy to cite Iron Man as one of his favorite movies. He’s also a fan of the Spider-Man universe. “I was just in Stan Lee’s office – I tweeted it yesterday. I was screwing around with Spidey,” he said proudly after confirming he “snuck in” because Lee wasn’t there. “Me and Spidey were taking on some intruders. I got tired, then took a nap.”

Making the ‘Guardians’ Work

Marvel head Kevin Feige says that Guardians of the Galaxy is the studio’s riskiest film since the original Iron Man. When we shared this with Rooker, he said he didn’t feel the same way. “It wasn’t even a concern. I’m getting to do a Marvel movie with my buddy directing and writing. It was a dream come true.”

And the best part was that it was for the Mouse House. “I got to work with Disney, finally! I don’t even sing and dance… what the hell!”

Why does the film work? In Rooker’s opinion it comes down to charisma. “You put together these entities. Zoe, Chris, Bautista, myself, and cool digital characters like Rocket Racoon and Groot. It’s like… come on! It’s the most rag tag, heroic group of good for nothin’ nobodies that you’d ever want to gather up.”

The relationship between the characters is one that Rooker saw in Merle’s connection with Daryl on his former zombie drama. “He’s willing to give his life for his brother. Same with these guys. They make that realization – they stand up for one another. ‘If you’re going to go, I’m going to go with you.'”

Sleeping Through Make-Up

Yondu is an all-blue character, and the skin tone isn’t a digital effect. Rooker tells us that he would sit in the make up chair for five hours every morning.

We asked him if that amount of daily prep time was almost a deal breaker. “For some people it really is,” but not for this actor. “I find it to be quite relaxing.”

The actor passes the extended amount of time in the make-up chair by doing a lot of thinking. “I’m a real heavy thinker,” he says as he starts verbalizing to us what’s going on in his head. “Think, think, think…. snore. Then they pick my head up. That’s what I do: I think until I fall asleep!”

Yondu’s Final Scene

The end of Guardians of the Galaxy depicts Star-Lord playing Yondu in order to keep his powerful artifact. The look on Yondu’s face is one of many emotions, but Rooker describes it as such: “‘That’s my boy! That’s my boy! He screwed me again, I love him so!'”

Turning more serious, Rooker says Yondu is having mixed emotions about what just happened between he and Star-Lord. “There’s this big grin, there’s a lot of things behind that grin. It’s like ‘Oh I love you so much [punch noises].’ I think Yondu is so proud that Star-Lord has gotten over on him. He’ll get him back another time.”

Marvel and Gunn have already confirmed that a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel is set for release in 2017, so Yondu will indeed have his chance to get back at Star-Lord.

Luckily for Rooker’s TV death, he gets to be the one to deliver the payback.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is now in theaters

Read our review of the film!