Lennie James Convinced David Morrissey To Do ‘The Walking Dead’

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than David Morrissey as The Walking Dead‘s Governor villain but without Lennie James an alternate scenario would be real.

Though James, who plays Morgan Jones on the AMC series, never appeared on the screen with Morrissey’s Governor, the actor played a huge part in getting him to take the role. “We didn’t work together [on the show],” Morrissey explained at a showcase event for Sky. “We’ve worked together before, but not on The Walking Dead. But the reason I did The Walking Dead was the pilot show, because I watched the first pilot which Lennie was in.”

James also shared his account of the exchange and how he influenced Morrissey to take a role on the series which he was currently on hiatus with. “I remember, me and David, when he was offered the part of the villainous Governor, we met up on Sunset Boulevard for a coffee,” James said. “David said, ‘What is it? Do I want to do this?’, and I said, ‘Um… yeah, you might do!’”

The rest is history. The Governor became on the most iconic villains in television and a major part of The Walking Dead‘s history during some of the show’s most-watched seasons. Now, James and Morrissey are promoting their Save Me and Brittania titles, respectively, which will air on Sky.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.