Culture Mob Interviews IronE Singleton

Culture Mob got a chance to sit down with IronE Singleton (who plays T-Dog) for yet another very lengthy interview which I also recommend reading.  The interview is really in-depth and pretty much covers everything from Singleton’s childhood, getting married, acting, and his role on The Walking Dead.

NOTE: If your reading what I’ve posted below “TBS” stands for the movie “The Blind Side” which he had a role in.

AH: That role obviously led to your role as T-Dog on TWD, but it’s hard to know the difference between Alton on TBS, and T-Dog -even though you have been in almost every episode of TWD, we haven’t really gotten to see who T-Dog is. Can you elaborate a little bit on who the character is and what you know about his background… [in episode 2 & 3] right now T-Dog is disenchanted as a member of the group. He’s talking about leaving.

IS: T-Dog is a passionate guy – and overtly compassionate. It’s noticeable with him by how he connects with his allies; But as T-Dog – when I do my character work – I go as far back as I can go in my real life and bring it up to the present moment, and closely as I can to the present date. So that I won’t have to do so much homework in devising my character. So T-Dog grew up just like I did, in the inner-city, and ended up going to school, and receiving a football and academic scholarship and after that T-Dog veers off into another direction. So everything that I experienced all the way up until the age of 22, that is who T-Dog is. He’s a blue collar/white collar type of person. He’s the everyman, anybody – he’s similar to anybody that you would see at your neighborhood grocery store, bank, or local Starbucks.

He’s a good guy, and totally unlike the guy from TBS.

AH: Back to Season One, when you have the confrontation with Merle, your character has an opportunity to rip him up as he was handcuffed to the pipe, and your character backs down… that goes along with your description of him being an everyday guy. Now, we are in Season Two, and T-Dog has been through a lot, how are we going to see T-Dog grow, and change from that guy in episode two, to season two?

IS: Although the fans haven’t seen it yet, T-Dog is on a spiritual journey of self discovery. He wants to figure out how can he make it through this situation and keep his humanity, his dignity, intact? Because there are so many characters, particularly the series regulars, I spoke to Glen Mazzara, and he told me that eventually they will get to the point where they will start to develop T-Dog’s story arc, which is sort of difficult because we have so many series regulars on this show and they are focusing on them at the moment. But of present time, the fans can’t see it, but like I said T-Dog is on a serious journey of self discovery. The fans will soon find out that side of T-Dog when the writers shift focus on him.

AH: This season they are going to do 13 episodes rather than last year’s 6, and you had Frank Darabont executive producing 8 episodes, and now of course he’s gone. Also, last year some said that the shooting schedule was fast and furious, and others said it was painstakingly slow and meticulous – along the lines of a feature film shoot rather than a TV show. Tell me what some of the changes have been for you this year, and with Frank now gone?

IS: I would have to agree with the latter, that the show was slow and very meticulous this season. We knew from the first season, episode two that we were coming back. So production, the crew, had lots of time to prepare for it… and to really focus on what the fans like, telling a great story, and developing great story arc. So we have the time this season and I think everybody is really going to be impressed. If people loved season one episode one, then they are going to love what’s coming up this season.

To read the entire interview (which again I highly recommend) click here!

-Dane
Gotham Knights Online: Your One Stop Shop For Everything Batman!

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