The Walking Dead’s Steven Ogg Previews Simon/Negan Dynamic Ahead Of Season 8B

Steven Ogg has a knack for playing the charismatic villain.

Whether it’s Westworld or Grand Theft Auto V, the actor typically embodies his characters with such intensity that they’re often just as interesting – if not more so – than their straight-laced counterparts. And The Walking Dead is no different.

Ahead of AMC’s midseason premiere this Sunday, Ogg spoke to ComicBook.com about his character (Simon) and, in particular, his evolving dynamic with Negan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s bat-wielding maniac who continues to be a source of fear and trepidation.

I think it’s civil discourse. They have different ideas. There’s nothing wrong with having a group, and having two people disagree. And I think that’s what we see. That’s what we got a taste of, is that there’s obviously some different ideas brewing as to ways to go about it and handle it,” Ogg adds. “I think that’s what we’re seeing now.

CB then pressed Steven Ogg about the impending death of Carl Grimes, who is primed for his last hurrah on this Sunday’s super-sized “Honor.” But much like Paul “Jesus” Rovia before him, it seems Ogg’s Simon is pretty indifferent to the whole situation.

Simon hasn’t really had that much to do with Carl. And, yeah, he obviously knows that he is a bit of the beacon, the hope. And now that he is gone, is that going to affect anything? But, at the end of the day, everyone’s doing their thing, right? Trying to survive, trying to win.

So, I think it’s not really going to change much. It’s like ‘Yeah, well people die. This is what happens’. But we still have a war to fight. And we still want to win, and we’ve still got to figure out who’s doing who. So, I don’t think it changes the way Simon takes his piss in the morning, put it that way.

There are now only eight episodes remaining in The Walking Dead season 8, and though AMC has already issued the go-ahead for a ninth season, fans are counting down the hours until Sunday’s midseason premiere.