'The Walking Dead' Season 6 News, Update: Tom Payne Speaks About His Role As Jesus
One of the highly anticipated characters from Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" comic book series is Paul Monroe, also known as Jesus.
The character, who will be portrayed by British actor Tom Payne, is expected to be introduced in the second half of AMC's "The Walking Dead" Season 6.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Payne shared some details on how he was able to get the part of the "complete badass" Jesus as well as his views on the character.
"It was unexpectedly quick! I had an audition notice from my agent telling me the fake name of the part with a short description. I knew it was for The Walking Dead but had no idea of what the part would end up being. I submitted the tape on a Wednesday and got the part on Friday," he told the media outlet.
With so little time to get himself into the material, the 33-year-old admitted it was hard at first to figure out how to approach his character. He opted to stick to the script and to what showrunner Scott Gimple wanted him to do. Eventually, he caught up.
Payne also shared that it was a blessing in disguise for him in that he needed to get back into shape as his role required him to. While he is into body-building, taking the part of Jesus means he gets to have a "more dynamic physicality."
Giving his own take about the new player in town, Payne described him as someone who is "physically and mentally capable." As able as Jesus is, he is the type of person who doesn't easily show off his aces, the actor added.
"He has the measure of people pretty quickly upon meeting them and is always thinking about the best way to handle any situation he finds himself in," he told EW.
Introduced in issue 91 of the source material, Jesus hails from the Hilltop Colony – a town which a lot of communities often do business with. A master of hand-to-hand combat and having a quick sense of logic and justice, Jesus easily becomes a trusted ally of Rick (Andrew Lincoln in the series).
"The Walking Dead" returns Feb. 14 at 9 p.m. on AMC.
