The Walking Dead's Greg Nicotero, Norman Reedus & Jeffrey Dean Morgan Comment On Award Snubs

02/08/2017 12:09 pm EST

Despite compelling performances from its actors and being the top rated show on cable, AMC's The Walking Dead and its cast have not been nominated for Emmy Awards outside of make-up, visual effects, and stunt categories.

This year, specifically, many were pulling for lead actor Andrew Lincoln to nab a nomination after an amazing performance in October 23's Season 7 premiere. Still, Lincoln and his Walking Dead co-stars were left off of the lists.

Over the weekend, executive producer Greg Nicotero joined Daryl Dixon and Negan actors Norman Reedus and Jeffrey Dean Morgan for a panel aboard the 2017 Walker Stalker Cruise. Among the wide variety of questions fielded at the poolside event was one which begged their opinion on the repeated Emmy snubs.

"We always campaign for Andy, because Andy's like our quarterback, you know," Reedus said. "That dude, first guy on set, last guy to leave, we couldn't be it without Andy, so we always campaign for Andy. You know, the actors do, their like Andy, Andy Lincoln. To tell you the truth I'd rather have the numbers and the love and a small amount of ratings, and get picked by five old women."

Morgan chimed in, in true Negan form, demanding the awards. "I want f---ing gold, give me f---ing gold. Give me all of it, the show deserves all of it."

Then came the explanation from executive producer Greg Nicotero, who never shies away from sharing his passion and knowledge regarding The Walking Dead and the horror genre, in general.

"Let me add to that, because I remember watching an interview, or reading an interview with somebody and they said, 'You know, people that need statues are people that want jobs, and that's how they get their next job is by winning an award,'" Nicotero said. "These guys have jobs, and they come to work every single day with the same passion that they came to in season one. If you get accolades from your peers that's a bonus, I don't show up to work hoping that someone's going to recognize what I do. I show up hoping that I can do better than I did the day before."

"Listen, you know, I have the great honor to bring people onto the show," Nicotero said. "I brought Jeffrey into the show, and when you have actors of this caliber, what you want to do is you want to give them the opportunity to be the best actors that they can be."

Nicotero went on to describe the praise each actor gives to one another, saying it's better to be recognized than peers than anyone else to the agreement of Reedus, but also emphasized how important it is for him to create this environment for his actors.

"What you need to do is you need to create an environment where the actors feel free to do their best work," Nicotero said. "My job is to make sure that these guys feel comfortable, and have that opportunity. With Jeffrey, Jeffrey has 30 pages of f---ing dialog every episode. I need to make sure that Jeffery feels comfortable and knows that he is protected when he has to do all this work."

MORE WALKER STALKER CRUISE:

Watch Chandler Riggs DJ The Silent Disco / Michael Cudlitz Reveals How He Learned Negan Would Kill Abraham / Katelyn Nacon Reveals Glenn's Impact On Enid / How Tom Payne Plans To Make Negan Look Stupid / The Epic Pet Daryl Dixon Might Have / Season 7 Finale Cliffhanger?

The Walking Dead returns for the rest of its seventh season on February 12 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. Fear the Walking Dead's third season does not yet have a premiere date but with The Walking Dead finale set for April 2, expectations for Fear's return are set for April 9. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.

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