As fans wait for The Walking Dead to return for its 11th season this fall, some interesting details have surfaced about a character who has come and gone.
Lew Temple portrayed the prisoner Axel in the first half of Season 3, one of the prisoners whose home is taken over by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his crew of survivors.
Temple, 52, appeared on the Talk Dead To Me podcast on Sunday, where he revealed his Axel character was originally envisioned as a serial killer.
Come and gone: As fans wait for The Walking Dead to return for its 11th season this fall, some interesting details have surfaced about a character who has come and gone
Killer: Temple, 52, appeared on the Talk Dead To Me podcast on Sunday, where he revealed his Axel character was originally envisioned as a serial killer
At the end of Season 2, Rick and his group had discovered the prison, which they took over in the beginning of Season 3, with Axel being one of the survivors who managed not to be bitten and turned into a zombie.
Temple revealed that, when he first read for the role, he was told Axel was going to be a serial killer, when they had a sudden change of heart.
‘I showed up with the idea that it was going to be serial killer and foreboding, and then, the day-of, got a note to switch that,’ he began.
No killer: Temple revealed that, when he first read for the role, he was told Axel was going to be a serial killer, when they had a sudden change of heart
Foreboding: ‘I showed up with the idea that it was going to be serial killer and foreboding, and then, the day-of, got a note to switch that,’ he began
‘”No, no, we’ve gotta lighten things up a little bit. We’ve been pretty dark”‘ they told him, adding there had been scripts written that had
Lew continued that there were some scripts that had Axel abducting and murdering Hershel Greene’s daughter Beth, played by Emily Kinney.
‘There were some episodes that were written where I do take Beth out into the woods and slaughter her. And so we didn’t get to any of those,’ he added.
Murder: Lew continued that there were some scripts that had Axel abducting and murdering Hershel Greene’s daughter Beth, played by Emily Kinney
‘That was why I kept buttoned up, he was gonna come undone and be totally Henry Rollins tattooed. The whole thing about being a drug addict was all a facade, the thing about the squirt gun and pistol is all bulls***.’ he added.
Lew adds that there were other darker things the writers considered doing with Axel, but even those were too dark.
“I mean, just these really dark things that the writers were talking about, and then all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Oh, we painted ourselves in the corner, the Governor is showing up and he’s gotta draw blood or he’ll be impotent. He’s gotta draw first blood. And it’s looking like you’re gonna get the short straw.’”
Undone: ‘That was why I kept buttoned up, he was gonna come undone and be totally Henry Rollins tattooed. The whole thing about being a drug addict was all a facade, the thing about the squirt gun and pistol is all bulls***.’ he added
He also opened up that, before he landed the role as Axel in Season 3, he auditioned for the role of Merle, played by Michael Rooker.
‘The first character that I went in for was the pilot episode, and it was Merle. It was great. It was written so well, the monologue on the roof, really good stuff,’ he said.
While Merle only appeared in a few episodes in the first season, when he was handcuffed to the roof by Rick, he returned in the third season, revealing he sawed off his own hand to escape the fate Rick gave him.
Temple also said he read for Merle’s brother, Daryl Dixon, a role ultimately won by Norman Reedus, who has become one of the show’s mainstays.
Daryl: Temple also said he read for Merle’s brother, Daryl Dixon, a role ultimately won by Norman Reedus, who has become one of the show’s mainstays