Tyreese (Chad Coleman) had a problem. A huge problem, even taking into account the fact that he lives in the zombie-infested world of “The Walking Dead.” The hammer-wielding badass, when season five began, had lost his nerve. Though it’s a world based on violence, the group was facing down cannibals (as well as the living dead), he was unable to kill anyone himself.
But by the end of the season premiere, Tyreese was driven to beat one of the denizens of the human-flesh hungry “sanctuary” of Terminus to death… Or at least, that’s what he told Carol (Melissa McBride) when the whole group reunited at the train tracks.
Except, that’s not exactly what happened.
When we talked to Coleman at the MTV studios in New York, the actor told us that through some creative editing, Tyreese’s choice may not be as clear as it seemed at the end of episode one… And coming up, things continue to be a murky grey for his character.
In fact, as we found out, Tyreese seems to be stuck clearly in the middle of the group of survivors, not quite on one side or another. When we asked Coleman what his role would going forward, he was at first hesitant to elaborate.
“I have to be careful, because they will chop off my head if I give anything away,” Coleman said laughing – and referencing the fact that his character does in fact get his head chopped off in the comics. Don’t worry, that event – and place in ‘Walking Dead” history – was taken by Hershel Greene (Scott Glenn) halfway through season four, so as far as we know, Tyreese is as safe as anyone can be on the death-happy show.
Still, despite his protesting, Coleman opened up about where Tyreese is going, as well as his surprising inspiration.
Colin Douglas Gray for MTV
“He’s finding his place in the group,” Coleman continued. “It’s in direct relationship to his non-violent as possible approach. I know it sounds absurd, but true. He would be sort of like Barack Obama when you think about it. Pragmatic, desperately trying to save as many lives as possible. Not too much hubris.
“You’ll find him playing notes to get the group to, ‘come on guys, let’s just pause and think through this 22 times. And then on the 23rd time, we’ll make a decision we can all look back on and be proud of, I think.’ So you’ll find his voice is very much the voice of reason, the voice of a healthy compromise… And we’ll see where it gets him.”
Unfortunately, if history is any indicator, being reasonable gets you an early grave on “The Walking Dead.” Here’s hoping baby Judith’s protector is around for a lot longer than his paper counterpart.
Alex Zalben
Writer/Editor at MTV News. You can follow him on Twitter, but not in real life because that would be weird.
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