Tom Payne On Jesus’ Reaction To Carl’s ‘The Walking Dead’ Death

Carl’s death on The Walking Dead will impact everyone differently but it might have very little impact at all on Tom Payne‘s Jesus.

Since joining the show in its sixth season, The Hilltop’s Paul “Jesus” Rovia has spent very limited time with Carl Grimes. He has been busy carrying out several missions in the weeks he has known Rick Grimes and making every effort to protect his community. He shared a ride in the back of a truck with Chandler Riggs‘ Carl as they secretly rode out towards the Sanctuary but, for the most part, hasn’t had time to get to know Rick’s only son.

“I kind of rocked the boat a little bit on a Q and A recently where someone asked me about what Jesus thinks about Carl’s death and I was like, ‘Well, Jesus doesn’t really know Carl, and I’m not sure if he really is that impacted by it, to be honest,” Payne admits. “He spent about as much time, probably more time, with Glenn than he spent with Carl. He’s had that, and he’s just always been more about the people left behind, like Maggie and Sasha and Enid.”

Jesus might have the most level-headed outlook on Carl’s farewell, which is unsurprising considering the character’s ability to step back from intense situations to make rational decisions. “His view of the whole thing would be from a more removed standpoint,” Payne said. “Obviously, my view of the whole thing is different and I have a wide-ranging understanding of who is involved, because I’ve watched the show, but Jesus just met these people. In the world that we live in in the show, people are gone. That’s the nature of the world that he lives in, and he’s very used to actually being on his own and not being in the group and not getting close to that many people. As far as he’s concerned, it’s a hazard of living in that post-apocalyptic world that we all have to deal with. The most important thing is moving forward.”

Following The Walking Dead‘s Mid-Season Eight premiere on Sunday night, ComicBook.com’s After the Dead will be live to recap Chandler Riggs’ final episode with executive producer Greg Nicotero and insight from Riggs himself at 10:22 pm ET on ComicBook NOW’s Facebook page and ComicBook.com Orginals’ YouTube channel.

The Walking Dead returns for the second half of its eighth season on February 25, 2018. Fear the Walking Dead will debut its fourth season after The Walking Dead concludes its eighth, at 10 pm ET on April 15. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.