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‘The Walking Dead’s’ Tom Payne: It’s time to get rid of Gregory
It’s been a long time coming but Gregory’s (Xander Berkeley) future on “The Walking Dead” is not bright. With the war against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is brewing, Gregory seems to have found himself on the wrong side of the fight, making threats to his own people in an effort to stay in the good graces of the Saviors.
With these acts, Tom Payne — who plays Jesus on the show — thinks the time has come for Gregory to be ousted from his spot as the leader of the Hilltop community. “We really need to do something about this now, because Gregory is very dangerous,” the actor tells us during Paley Fest. “He’s already tried to give up Sasha and Maggie, and he’s just now threatened Jesus.”
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What is Hilltop to do, though? Someone has to lead… And Payne knows that person shouldn’t be Jesus.
“I don’t think so, because I think Jesus has said that he’s not a leader,” he says. “But he recognizes that in Maggie.”
Those who follow the comics know just how correct Payne is. In Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels, Maggie takes control of Hilltop, leading into the war after Gregory threatens to banish anyone who opposes Negan. How closely the show will stick to the comics remains to be seen.
However, as Payne says, Gregory poses a risk Hilltop just can’t live with. “At any time, to save his own skin, he could do something dangerous,” he explains. “I think it makes everyone realize that we have to fix this in any way we can.”
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Watch out, Gregory. It seems your time in power is coming to an end. With only two episodes left in Season 7 of “The Walking Dead” — and plenty of story to tell — the time to rise up has definitely arrived.
“The Walking Dead” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.