Trivia / Tales of the Walking Dead

• All-Star Cast: The series has netted quite a few more recognizable names than is usual for the franchise. This is likely due to it being an anthology akin to The Twilight Zone where each episode had a different well-known guest star.
• Awesome, Dear Boy:
  • As mentioned under Promoted Fanboy, Terry Crews openly jumped at the chance to be in this series, having long been a fan of The Walking Dead and the zombie genre as a whole, specifically the original Night of the Living Dead.
  • Danny Ramirez appreciated getting to work with such a diverse crew, noting fellow Hispanic actor Daniella Pineda and writer Lindsay Villarreal.
  • Samantha Morton enjoyed playing Alpha and was intrigued to explore more shades of the character in the early days of the outbreak, this time from her perspective instead of Lydia's.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Danny Ramirez revealed he had been cast to play Javi Garcia in Season 3 of the Walking Dead video game back when the character was supposed to be ten years younger than in the final product.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Averted this time with Samantha Morton, whose character is portrayed before she shaved her head. When the character is briefly seen after that point in time, it’s mostly in shadow, and Morton instead wears a bald cap since it’s only for a few seconds of screentime.
• Fake American: British Samantha Morton once again uses an American accent to play Alpha.
• Life Imitates Art: Terry Crews recalls being sent a kind message by Melissa McBride after he was announced to join the Walking Dead universe, only to later find out it wasn't from McBride herself but rather a fan account claiming to be McBride. Much like his character Joe, he fell victim to a ruse by someone who wasn't who they claimed to be.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Terry Crews is mostly known for his Large Ham work in comedies such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Everybody Hates Chris, so seeing him in a post-apocalyptic zombie drama is quite a stretch. His character is also an introverted Jerk with a Heart of Gold compared to Crews' usual extroverted Gentle Giant characters.
  • Olivia Munn, known as a Deadpan Snarker, Jerk with a Heart of Gold, or Ms. Fanservice character, plays a Granola Girl who is very friendly and helps loosen Crews' character up.
  • Jillian Bell is similarly best known for her comedic work.
• Promoted Fanboy: Terry Crews is a huge fan of The Walking Dead. He named Tyreese Williams as his favorite character and was thrilled to finally meet the cast of the original series at San Diego Comic-Con.
• What Could Have Been: Jake Johnson and Jimmy Smits were considered for the roles that went to Terry Crews and Anthony Edwards, respectively.
• Word of Gay: Although it was never alluded to in The Walking Dead and has yet to be officially revealed in this series, showrunner Channing Powell confirmed that Dee had romantic interest in the original leader of the Whisperers, Hera, which she plans to explore if Tales is renewed for a second season.

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