‘The Walking Dead’: Xander Berkeley On The Hilltop, Maggie & Negan’s Kills

Last season of The Walking Dead introduced viewers to Gregory, leader of The Hilltop, played by Xander Berkeley, and set in motion a series of events that would eventually lead to the confrontation between Rick’s group and Negan’s Saviors. Since that initial meeting, however, viewers have not seen much of Gregory or The Hilltop. Speaking to Comicbook.com at Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta, actor Xander Berkeley revealed that Gregory and The Hilltop will return and teased a bit of what’s to come with the community.

“I’m so excited to have the audience see what’s revealed in the coming episodes,” Berkeley said. “They didn’t build [the Hilltop] set for nothing! That’s a nice set. You know you’ve got great stuff coming when you walk on a set like that.”

Fans of the comic books will know that Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan, will play a larger role in The Hilltop community and Berkeley teased that there will be some animosity between Gregory and Maggie.

“She’s a little carried away with herself, frankly, if you ask me,” Berkeley said.

Berkeley also weighed in on the major character deaths in the seventh season premiere and how he felt about the departure of stars Michael Cudlitz and Steven Yeun.

“I had known Michael. We’d been friends. We both had done 24. We both had done standoff. We both had done other shows together before. I was so disappointed to know I was losing him because he was like my one buddy on the show but I became friends with everybody. Steven was such a sweetheart of a guy. Right off the bat, everybody was so nice and sweet and refreshing.”

Berkeley also commented on the brutal nature of the characters’ deaths and how he felt watching those moments unfold as a viewer.

“How could anything compare to that? That was the whole episode. It’s almost like you’ve actually witnessed friends of yours getting killed. I can’t get it out of my head. It’s just devastating. It’s powerful storytelling because I know the aftermath, and the way in which its been writing… I think about the writing… Every episode that I read and every episode I’ve been a part of working in, as much as I’ve done, I feel so greatful that I get to do this material. There’s not a word you want to change.”

The Walking Dead airs at 9:00 pm EST on AMC.

Source: Comicbook.com