The Walking Dead Star Says He Gave Himself Negan’s Haircut With A Really Sharp Knife

We’ve always known that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was the perfect person to play Negan on The Walking Dead, with the actor bringing the villain’s larger-than-life personality to life like no one else. But until now we didn’t know exactly how good a fit for the role he really was. It turns out he even gives himself death-defying haircuts just to embody the character.

While chatting on The Rich Eisen Show, Morgan spoke about the look Negan’s sported over the past couple of seasons. In early season 9, the former Savior had a ragged appearance, but after the time jump, he had switched to a kind of clean, buzzcut style. This struck Morgan as potentially far-fetched in a post-apocalyptic world, so he had to see if Negan could really give himself a haircut like that.

“Negan is all about kind of ego is sort of my guess on this, but he does seem to have a nice haircut week in and week out,” Morgan said. “Here’s how crazy I am: I decided to see if I could give myself a fade, the Negan fade, using a knife. So believe it or not, I cut my hair for that show using a knife [laughs]. I had to try it.”

The star went on to say that he just wanted to have an answer ready for when fans inevitably asked him the question – even if it meant invoking the ire of the show’s producers. And, you know, slicing his head open.

“I’m not a method guy, but I knew that I’d get asked — for years, ‘How come no one is bugging Negan about his gelled up hair with his nice haircut?'” Morgan added. “When I was in jail, the season I was in jail, I decided to see if I could cut my hair using a really sharp knife. And you can. I cut myself a few times, but it’s a possible thing. The producers weren’t exactly thrilled.”

Not that anyone was, anyway, but now no one can question Morgan’s commitment to The Walking Dead. But Jeff, if you’re reading this, please don’t play with any sharp knives again, OK?