Skybound
Welcome to Skybound Insiders, the free VIP group for lovers of comics and entertainment!

Forgot Password?
Or
Fb Connect
Welcome to Skybound Insiders, the free VIP group for lovers of comics and entertainment!

Login
Creating an account means you're okay with Skybound's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy
 
Skybound
Welcome to Skybound Insiders, the free VIP group for lovers of comics and entertainment!

Or
Cancel
Fb Connect
Creating an account means you're okay with Skybound's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy
 
Skybound
Almost complete! You will now receive a confirmation email for your registration, please click the link in that email to finish the registration process and claim your comic rewards.
Skybound Entertainment
  • About
  • Comics
  • Games
  • TV / Movies
  • Podcasts
  • Shop
The Walking Dead
Invincible
Skybound Insiders
Nothing Found
View All Search Results
  • The Walking Dead
  • Comic
    • Latest
    • Story
    • Characters
  • Show
    • Latest
    • Story
    • Characters
  • Games
  • Fear TWD
    • Latest
    • Story
    • Characters
  • Galleries
  • Videos
Skybound Entertainment
  • Account
  • Logout
Nothing Found
View All Search Results

Khary Payton Talks Landing Ezekiel Role

July 28, 2016
Johnny O'DellbyJohnny O'Dell
in TV
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0
32
SHARES
FacebookTwitterRedditQREmail

First a governor, then a Ricktator, and now a KING. Meet King Ezekiel, a Walking Dead comic fan favorite who’s finally heading to the show. But who is Ezekiel actor Khary Payton, how did he keep his casting a secret, and how does he feel about playing him? Entertainment Weekly recently sat down with Payton to discuss that and more below:


ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I guess it must be nice to finally be able to talk about getting this role, huh?

KHARY PAYTON: Yeah, man. I’m honestly a little freaked out just talking to you. I’ve been diving in the backs of vans and having blankets thrown over my head so that nobody catches a glimpse of me and getting in and out of Georgia. I’ve got a lot of family in Georgia and I didn’t even tell them that I was there, so to have an interview with a reporter is a little unnerving.


EW: Why don’t you start off by just telling me how you ended up landing the role. What was the whole process like for you?

KP: The process was relatively simple, honestly. It was essentially a four or five-page monologue that they gave me, so I spent a good 72 hours pretty much by myself cloistered in a cave trying to get everything down. I didn’t audition in front of producers or directors or anything. It was all on tape, so it was just myself and the casting director.

I feel like I had a connection with this character in a weird way. I always say that when you’re in this acting business, you get a lot of rejection. You get a lot of people telling you no and you’ve got to get up, dust yourself off, and try again, and I feel like in a way Ezekiel fits that same mold where he’s in the hope business. I always say I’m in the hope business. You’ve got to stay hopeful. You’ve got to get up off your behind and try again no matter how many times they tell you it’s not going to work out. Your opinion’s got to overshadow whatever negativity might come your way. In a zombie apocalypse one can find themselves getting down about their situation, but Ezekiel’s not one of those people. He fights with all he’s got to make sure he stays positive and stays joyful. That’s what I love about him.

Screen Shot 2016-07-22 at 1.25.41 PM


EW: How familiar were you with the show or the comic before you got the part?

I actually didn’t read the comics, but my wife and I have been watching the show for a few years. We kind of got into it maybe three or four years after it started, and so we binged the first three seasons and we’ve been fans of it ever since. So when I got the audition, I’d been busy and I hadn’t caught up with the last half of the last season, so I had to hurry up and catch up and see what was going on.

I really adore the connection that people have with the show. I’m not a big zombie apocalypse guy, but I think the acting and the writing of the show is just exceptional, and the fact that I happen to be working with Lennie James and Melissa McBride on the show — their characters and their performances are two of the things that really kept me watching the show, so it was really wonderful to have those guys as kind of mentors and hosts introducing me to this world.

Ezekiel1


EW: Did you go back and look at all at the Ezekiel in the comics or did you just steer clear of it and focus on the TV incarnation of the character?

I looked at the comics, but more to just kind of get a feel for the world and everything. I don’t feel like I need follow it exactly. I don’t worry about being affected by it too much. I feel like I live in the moment enough that a little bit of information here or there isn’t going to kill me if they totally go off the rails and Ezekiel becomes a very different version than he is in the comic books. It’s just another reason why I love to do this job, man. It’s awesome.

Ezekiel


EW: So how do you see Ezekiel? Let’s talk about the character himself because he’s certainly an interesting cat when you first meet this dude in the apocalypse.

KP: He’s in the business of not losing himself to his surroundings. I don’t let things get me down. I brighten the things around me in that it’s a party when you’re going to be around him, and whether it was a party there before it’ll be a party by the time he leaves. I love even his relationship with the zombies themselves. He’s a guy who doesn’t think of them as having a physical disease. It’s more that their joy was robbed from them, and that he’s one of the few people left on earth whose joy hasn’t been robbed, and to him, that’s the difference between the living and the dead. If you’re still human, but you’re letting your joy be taken away from you, you might as well be one of those mindless creatures walking all over. So to him, it’s kind of a weird philosophy of life that he’s developed living in this apocalypse that you don’t let this world turn you into something that you’re not.

TWD_703_GP_0602_0171-RT


EW: So let me ask you about Ezekiel’s tiger Shiva. I know you guys are doing some sort of mix of animatronics and CG to bring Shiva to life, so what’s it like for you in terms of working with that?

KP: It’s just another beautiful way that I get to use my imagination. As far as I’m concerned, Shiva’s as real as the people standing next to me — as Morgan or Carol or any of the other people who move among the Kingdom itself. So I really don’t think of it as CG or mechanic. All I know is that she’s real to me. I’ve done a lot of video games where there’s literally nothing standing in front of me. I’ve done, you know, a lot of voiceovers where there’s literally nothing standing in front of me, I’ve got to make it all up, so this is just another situation where my imagination gets to be used in another context, so no matter how good they bring it to life, it’s already alive in my head.


WATCH fans react to his arrival in the Season 7 trailer AND check out the rest of the interview over at EW!

Become a Shareholder in the Skybound Universe!
Announcements

Become a Shareholder in the Skybound Universe!

by DWelch
January 23, 2023

POPULAR

  • The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 15: Comic vs. Show

    The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 15: Comic vs. Show

    11416 shares
    Share 4470 Tweet 2794
  • Frank Dillane Says It Was His Choice To Leave Fear the Walking Dead

    386 shares
    Share 154 Tweet 97
  • NEW PREVIEW OF VOID RIVALS #1 BY ROBERT KIRKMAN & LORENZO DE FELICI

    44 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • The Top 10 Carl Grimes Moments From The Walking Dead

    959 shares
    Share 384 Tweet 240
  • Merch Mastermind Garima Sharma on Skybound’s Board Games and Beyond

    21 shares
    Share 8 Tweet 5

SkyboundShop

Recommended from the SKYBOUND shop


Tags: CastingEntertainment WeeklyEWInterviewSeason 7ShivaTWD

Home | The Walking Dead | Khary Payton Talks Landing Ezekiel Role

Previous

Fans React to The Walking Dead Season 7 SDCC Trailer

Next

The Walking Dead Comics Panel: SDCC 2016

Related Posts

The Walking Dead Deluxe Reveals Stacked Lineup of Variant Covers for Landmark 50th Issue
Comics

The Walking Dead Deluxe Reveals Stacked Lineup of Variant Covers for Landmark 50th Issue

by DWelch
7 months ago
0

LOS ANGELES 10/04/2022 – Today Skybound revealed seven all-new The Walking Dead Deluxe variant covers from a lineup of superstar artists in celebration of the series’ milestone 50th issue, presented...

The Walking Dead Season 10c Trailer
TV

The Walking Dead Season 10c Trailer

by Johnny O'Dell
3 years ago
0

Negan returns in the easter egg-filled trailer for The Walking Dead 10c, which begins its six-episode run on February 28th, 2021.

Steven Ogg Breaks Down Negan and Simon’s Fight in The Walking Dead

Steven Ogg Breaks Down Negan and Simon’s Fight in The Walking Dead

3 years ago
Talk First Day With Me (Feat. SHIVA!)

Talk First Day With Me (Feat. SHIVA!)

3 years ago
Andrew J. West Talks Playing Gareth on The Walking Dead

Andrew J. West Talks Playing Gareth on The Walking Dead

3 years ago
Brighton Sharbino On Playing Lizzie On The Walking Dead

Brighton Sharbino On Playing Lizzie On The Walking Dead

3 years ago

Related Posts

The Walking Dead Deluxe Reveals Stacked Lineup of Variant Covers for Landmark 50th Issue

The Walking Dead Deluxe Reveals Stacked Lineup of Variant Covers for Landmark 50th Issue

by DWelch
7 months ago
0

LOS ANGELES 10/04/2022 – Today Skybound revealed seven all-new The Walking Dead Deluxe variant covers from a lineup of superstar...

The Walking Dead Season 10c Trailer

The Walking Dead Season 10c Trailer

by Johnny O'Dell
3 years ago
0

Negan returns in the easter egg-filled trailer for The Walking Dead 10c, which begins its six-episode run on February 28th,...

Steven Ogg Breaks Down Negan and Simon’s Fight in The Walking Dead

Steven Ogg Breaks Down Negan and Simon’s Fight in The Walking Dead

by Johnny O'Dell
3 years ago
0

Simon himself, Steven Ogg, breaks down the details and behind the scenes facts of Negan and Simon's fight in Episode...

Talk First Day With Me (Feat. SHIVA!)

Talk First Day With Me (Feat. SHIVA!)

by Johnny O'Dell
3 years ago
0

Shiva won this episode, so naturally she's our guest this week

Andrew J. West Talks Playing Gareth on The Walking Dead

Andrew J. West Talks Playing Gareth on The Walking Dead

by Johnny O'Dell
3 years ago
0

Andrew J. West chats with us about his time playing Gareth on The Walking Dead, as well as his role...

Brighton Sharbino On Playing Lizzie On The Walking Dead

Brighton Sharbino On Playing Lizzie On The Walking Dead

by Johnny O'Dell
3 years ago
0

Brighton Sharbino talks with us about her time on The Walking Dead, as well as what she's up to now...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest

Garima Sharma

Merch Mastermind Garima Sharma on Skybound’s Board Games and Beyond

May 25, 2023
The Walking Dead Deluxe

ARTIST CONOR HUGHES DEBUTS THE WALKING DEAD DELUXE CONNECTING VARIANT COVERS

May 25, 2023
GNCRT

Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table Announces Comics Librarian Conference Travel Grant Recipients

May 24, 2023
Glitch Busters

Glitch Busters: Stuck on You Available Now!

May 23, 2023
Tri Vuong

Tri Vuong on Building His Everyday Hero Machine Boy

May 19, 2023
Follow @skybound Tweet to @skybound Tweets by Skybound
  • afterschool
  • assassin-nation
  • baldurs-gate
  • battle-pope
  • battle-pope
  • big-con
  • birthright
  • brit
  • callisto-protocol
  • clementine
  • clone
  • creepshow
  • crude
  • cuphead
  • dark-ride
  • dead-body-road
  • deaths-gambit
  • die-die-die
  • disco
  • the-electric-state
  • escape-academy
  • everyday-herd
  • excellence
  • extra-fabulous
  • extremity
  • fear-the-walking-dead
  • fire-power
  • gasolina
  • ghosted
  • glitch-busters
  • grimm-forest
  • grimm-masquerade
  • guardians-call
  • guarding-the-globe
  • hardcore
  • heart-attack
  • homestead
  • icewind-dale
  • hate-this-place
  • invincible
  • invincible-universe
  • kroma
  • last-man
  • the-labrynth
  • the-long-dark
  • manifest-destiny
  • murder-falcon
  • mr-lovenstein
  • neverwinter-nights
  • notmycar
  • oblivion-song
  • the-obsoletes
  • outcast
  • outer-darkness
  • outpost-zero
  • pitchstorm
  • planescape-torment
  • rainbow-billy
  • redneck
  • the-walking-dead-saints-and-sinners
  • science-dog
  • scurry
  • sea-serpent-heir
  • six-sidekicks
  • skull-girls
  • skybound-x
  • slime-rancher
  • the-walking-dead-something-to-fear
  • sorcerer-city
  • stealth
  • stillwater
  • stray
  • superfight
  • tech-jacket
  • the-walking-dead
  • the-walking-dead-last-mile
  • telltales-the-walking-dead
  • thief-of-thieves
  • tidal-blades
  • trial-by-trolley
  • vice
  • wrestle-quest

READ

About
Comics
Games
TV / Movies
Podcasts

SHOP

Games
Clothing
Accessories
Comics & Books
Toys & Collectibles

LEARN

Robert Kirkman
Contact
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Accessibility Statement
Careers

© 2023 Skybound, LLC and/or its affiliates. The Skybound mark and any related logos are trademarks of Skybound, LLC

  • Login
  • About
  • Comics
  • Games
  • TV & MOVIES
  • Shop
  • Podcasts

Forgotten Password?
Don't have an account yet?
Sign Up
Copyright © 2018 All Site Content and © 2018 SKYBOUND, unless otherwise noted here. All Right Reserved.

Fill the forms bellow to register

Cancel
Already have an account?
Log In
All fields are required.

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In