TWD's Josh McDermitt Based Eugene's Voice On His Brother (Which Made Him Mad)
Josh McDermitt's Eugene Porter makes his "Walking Dead" introduction during Season 4's "Inmates," and he immediately stands out from the pack. He's not a rugged, street-smart survivalist like many of his contemporaries. Rather, he's a timid goof who's pretty much helpless when it comes to defending himself. Visually, he sticks out like a sore thumb, too, with his cargo shorts, combat boots, and bold mullet. Not to mention, he's not much of a talker, and when he does speak, he strikes a very flat, dull tone — a creative choice McDermitt made based on his real-life brother, Zach.
In an "Ask Me Anything" thread over on Reddit, McDermitt explained why he used his sibling as the basis for Eugene's monotone voice. "He speaks with such a flat, even affect, that he was like the perfect model for what Eugene sounds like," he wrote, noting that Zach tends to get a bit upset when he shares that information. Given Eugene's limited emotional spectrum, especially early in his "Walking Dead" tenure, McDermitt figured Zach was overall the perfect person to inform how he'd approach each performance.
Building on the framework inadvertently provided by Zach, McDermitt turns Eugene into one of the strongest characters on "The Walking Dead." He survives to the end of the hit AMC series, though some were led to believe that he could've left the spotlight far sooner.
Some were duped into believing Negan would cut McDermitt's time with Eugene short
Who could forget the introduction of Negan Smith (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his barbed wire bat Lucille? The duo terrorizes the "Walking Dead" scene for some time, notably taking out two fan-favorite characters. In the opening moments of the Season 7 premiere, titled "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be," Negan uses Lucille to kill Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) in brutal fashion. However, did you know that a scene was shot featuring Eugene on the wrong end of Negan's signature weapon?
Josh McDermitt revealed in a December 2016 interview for the BUILD speaker series that the "Walking Dead" team filmed multiple death scenes for the infamous episode, with one focused on Eugene himself. The idea was to throw people off so no one truly knew who would end up on the chopping block in the final episode. In truth, it was always the plan for Abraham and Glenn to be killed off, but that didn't stop Jeffrey Dean Morgan from bringing his improv A-game. "I don't really ever crack up or break in a scene when I'm doing Eugene...I was so close with this guy," McDermitt recalled, joking that he was getting frustrated with Morgan because his improvised lines were so funny, yet he couldn't laugh.
Luckily, Eugene evades Negan's wrath, allowing McDermitt to continue bringing the character to life until the conclusion of Season 11 and develop him into far more than a funny impression of his brother.