On The Walking Dead, Cooper Andrews plays the good-humored Jerry, who can enliven every scene with his infectious joy. In this interview with amc.com, he talks about the new walker variant he encountered in the latest episode, the sidekicks stepping up, and why Jerry seems to trust Negan.

Q: You portray Jerry with a sense of joy that's so infectious. Does that come from you? Or is it the way Jerry's written? A combination?
A: The joy, it's there in the character, but a lot of it is just me having the best day! I approached Jerry as the guy that, in a world of infinite possibilities, this day is the best day he can possibly be having. I always sort of take him in that direction. It's great mentally because I go prepared with this optimistic, happy outlook. But it's a mix. So much of Jerry is just a mix of what Scott [Gimple], Greg [Nicotero] and I talked about at the beginning of it all. The three of us were like, "What’s up with this guy? Why would someone be this happy?" But people come up to me all the time and say I remind them of someone. Sometimes they'll look like me. Sometimes they won't look like me, but they have this energy, this very happy, jolly energy. So, when I'm asked like, "How can someone like Jerry exist in the world?" It's people like that that make me think he would exist. And guess what? They can also fight. I'm happy I get to be a happy person and someone that can infect joy.

Q: I have to ask you about these crazy new walkers that showed up in Episode 19. When did you learn they’d be showing up in this episode? Was it when you read the script?
A: I was clued in a little bit beforehand, which still didn't really prepare me for what that meant! You hear it, but then when you watch it and you see it happening, it just felt like I got to be put into a fun kind of horror movie. This episode reminds me of a family vacation. We're supposed to go to the Ren Fest [Renaissance Festival], have a good time and uh oh, whoops, there's an infection there! Guess what? It's a new one. It's a more dangerous variant. I mean, it's not a National Lampoon's kind of episode, but I still had moments between shots and setups where I was like, "This is a really nice day. What a great time we're all having. All right, back to it!" But it had that feel. Filming that felt like that for me, especially when crafty [craft services] makes turkey legs!

Q: What did you think of these walkers and what was it like getting to fight them? You have some terrific action scenes.
A: Oh yeah, I was so happy with the action! To me, it's fun. We've battled massive hordes. And now I like it when our villain has to up their game as well. It was a blast. I had a lot of fun. But thinking about it, it made sense that there'd be variants. It's like, "Why would there not be?" I like that we got to usher in this new variant within The Walking Dead part of this story, and in such a fun way. I think it's a very light-hearted episode that gets very oh s–t scary really quick. I just also love that moment where it’s climbing and Jerry's like, "Dude, dude?" The whole escalation! You know when something's falling, like a lamp is falling, and you want someone to stop it but you don't have words? "Dude, dude, dude, dude!?" That's the kind of tone I love that Jerry can bring. It's going to be scary, but "dude, dude?!"

Q: I talked to Angela Kang about these walkers and she reminded me that a version of them appeared in Season 1. I'd forgotten about them, but you said on Talking Dead that you remember them?
A: Yeah. I've always wondered where those walkers in the first few episodes went. I was like, "What happened to those walkers? Maybe they started a club!" From the little girl picking up the doll and Morgan's wife turning that handle to the rocks at the department store and the dude climbing the fence. I like that it's there and then we can play with that later. It's just peppered in at the beginning, because there were larger stories that were tackled at the beginning. I like the fact that it's like, "We did write that in! That is a thing."

Q: In Episode 17, Jerry's walking around the Commonwealth during the protest, just eating an apple, and he runs into Negan. What does he think at that moment and why does he think he can trust him?
A: I always thought of Jerry as an animal, as a dog, as someone who can just sense things. But beyond that, Carol trusted Negan to do this thing and Jerry's always trusted Carol. Jerry trusts his friends. With Negan, as far as Jerry's concerned, he did his time, despite what happened. In a world like this, you have to be able to change. What's the point of keeping a guy we can't trust? So, Jerry's very much like "why hold onto that when it won't help anything?" I really did think about it long and hard when Jerry greets Negan. It's like, "What is their relationship?" Jerry wasn't at that line up [when Negan killed Glenn and Abraham], so he knows what happened, but it's not etched into his memory. The people that did the stuff to the Kingdom, they're dead. They dealt with it. I think Jerry's smart enough to know that every little thing can't be blamed on one person, and I think, maybe in a healthy or unhealthy way, that's how Jerry deals with things. But, yeah, it was a long thought, like, "What is Jerry's relationship to this guy?" I saw this apple and I grabbed it and started eating it. Greg was like, "You're eating an apple during this protest?" I was like, "It's not my protest." Jeffrey [Dean Morgan] was like, "Oh, I love that." It was fun. I enjoyed shooting those scenes with Jeff.

Q: In Episode 18, Jerry leaves the Commonwealth with Aaron, Lydia, and Elijah to work on the rebuild of Alexandria and Hilltop. Do you think he was relieved to set off on this mission and leave behind the Commonwealth, even if his family didn't get to go with him?
A: Yeah. There's a little bit of that and I think for sure he's happy because he likes it out there more. I feel like a lot of the survivors – we liked it how we were doing it. The Commonwealth is not quite our vibe. We get to this place, and they tell us what our job is. We had a good life doing what we needed to do before, whether it was farming or going on a scavenging trip, whatever it was. But it sure wasn't us staying in one job for the rest of our lives, and that's what the Commonwealth does. I think Jerry knows for his kids it's the safest thing, but Jerry wants to build a place where the Commonwealth won’t have a say. If Jerry's leaving his kids, he clearly thinks that the Commonwealth is safe. He thinks friends are able to keep his family safe while he's gone. I mean, Ezekiel's there and so is Carol. Those are the two people he trusts the most. It’s always a big deal every time Jerry leaves, but Jerry has to for the betterment of the group, of the community. That's the example he has to set because they don't know how long they have to live, so they have to keep moving forward. So he spends as much good quality time with the family but also knows that everyone has to do their part or it can all fall apart.

Aaron had to leave Gracie behind too.
A: Yeah. It's two guys that both know their responsibility. It's always funny having Jerry and Aaron together because Aaron has that mission in hand and he has a plan but is very cautious. And Jerry's like, "Let's just stop and smell the flowers. Look at this. This is just some great, great stuff out here, isn't it?" Aaron's just like, "Okayyy." I love that between the two of them.

Q: Episode 19 ends on a bit of a hopeful note for Jerry, when he and Aaron talk about a kingdom for King Jerry and Queen Nabila. What did you think of that scene? Especially in such an overall dark episode and after all those action sequences with the variant walkers.
A: Because it's an overall dark episode, it's always nice to see how Jerry spends it and how he even gets Aaron to see the bright side of things. "We survived another day. It's a new day. We have to take in every day like it's the best day." I think it was about getting Aaron into that mindset that was more important to Jerry than anything. I don't think Jerry's going, "Oh, I'm gonna be a king one day!" I don't think that's the plan. But the idea that Aaron can see just what a slight change of mindset can do. I love that. Jerry and Aaron have so much in common. They were people that had their own communities. They've fought tons of walkers. They've been out there. They know what it's like, they've grown these families, and they have so much to lose. I think Jerry always knows where people's hearts are, but it's always nice when there's a reminder. Just like, "Now you're getting it, you know?" King Jerry and Queen Nabila – that's fun! And it makes for a lovely idea of what the future could be. Because the future, every new day can be anything. Yesterday we were just people who hit a bump in the road and now we conquered a kingdom! We went inside of a festival, like into a kingdom, and we vanquished all the evil in there. It's a fun little adventure that they had.

Q: Even though Jerry and Ezekiel haven't had any scenes together since 11B, I've always loved their dynamic. In Season 11 alone, there was the touching moment when Ezekiel gave Shiva's chain to one of Jerry’s children, as well as the elation that Jerry felt when Ezekiel got bumped to the head of the line for his surgery. Has that relationship brought as much happiness to you as it has to the viewers?
A: Oh, I mean, it's probably brought more happiness to me, to be honest! Khary Payton is one of the coolest, most genuine people I've ever met and he was the first person I met when being cast on the show. The two of us plus Kerry Cahill [Dianne] all came on this show on the same episode. We always laugh because it's just the three of us left out of the Kingdom Knights. Every year we take a photo and it's just our numbers diminishing and diminishing. But we started this journey together. And as friends, it's the same thing. We ended together, we started together. It's just very cool, in the sense of being the last season and everything. Khary is Ezekiel. He's this very courageous dude. He's not afraid to say what's on his mind. He really is very much like his character in that way. He’s a good guy. That's what's so great about The Walking Dead, there's so much of us in our characters. We're not our characters obviously, but there's so much of us in them that when we have scenes as Jerry and Ezekiel, I believe everything that comes out of that man's mouth. He's not acting at any moment. He's just Ezekiel and he goes beyond that. Professionally, personally, and even in my romantic life, Khary has helped in so many ways. I couldn't be more thankful for being cast with someone like him.

Q: It would be nice if Jerry and Ezekiel were on this adventure together!
A: I've always been with Ezekiel and Carol. I've been at their side for all these adventures. What I also liked so much about this episode was that it was an episode of the sidekicks. We were all sidekicks! You have Lydia. She was supposed to be the next Alpha. That's what her mom was grooming her for. You have Aaron who was part of Alexandria in a major way before Rick joined, but he's had all these leaders in front of him – Michonne, Rick – and now he's the one having to step up to be that leader. Then with Jerry, he doesn't really have a kingdom anymore. He still has his people, but he doesn't have to be by Ezekiel's side anymore. I mean even Elijah. It's just a bunch of characters who always had someone to shield them before and now they have to lead. They have to take control of this mission. That’s why I enjoyed it, because to me this is like the sidekick show. The sidekicks stepping up! We've been with all of our big heroes and now it's time for us to pave our way – I really enjoyed that aspect of it. So, even though Jerry and Ezekiel are not together, our whole theme remains. Even though people are gone and they're not with us, they're still with us, and I think that's a thing that plays out for my character.

Q: You've been on this show since Season 7, since 2016. What has this show meant to you personally?
A: A lot! It really affected every aspect of my life. It taught me so much. It's brought me so much happiness. I've loved it from the beginning, which is just crazy to me! I was eating Rice-A-Roni and chicken Hot Pockets with my buddy watching the first season. And then 12 years later I'm finishing it. I never thought I'd be on the show. It's really not a thing I ever thought of or dreamt of because I just didn't think it was a possibility. I was just like, "I'm just going to keep watching this show. I love watching this show." Then I was like, "Oh, I'm in the show!" Then I was terrified. I was scared. I was like, "Why did they pick me? Oh my gosh, I shouldn't be here!" Jerry was a character where I fully committed to him because it was the only way to make him work, I felt. We all have to fully commit, but I'm like, "Are these jokes gonna land?" As a fan, I'm like, "This is a weird turn of a character." But knowing the show, I was like, "All right, maybe I can be this little bright blue bird right on this tree in this shot. I'm gonna try and just sort of do that."
I've made so many friends, some great, great amazing friends. When you're growing up, it's hard to find many people that are like you. And at this job I have conversations with people and they get me. It's people understanding exactly what I'm talking about. The family thing, we say it a lot but it really sticks with this one. I was a boom op[erator] for years. I've been on easily 50-plus sets since 2004 and I'm telling you I've never seen a cast and crew that worked like this. Every time I showed up on set, it felt like we were at a summer camp. The base camp became the Jerry lot, which made me very happy, because there's different areas named after characters. It doesn't feel like a regular backlot, and I love that! Nothing gets you more in the headspace and prepared. I mean, we have everything a production has, but you really do think there's just gonna be like Igloo coolers with bug juice in it! That's what it feels like! It sets the tone for how I want to work on other projects. It was so much fun to be had. I'm gonna miss it a lot. But I'm glad we got to end it. It just feels good to bookend this thing. There will be more stories in this world, but let's finish this. The best part is knowing you're working on a thing you want people to see. Me personally, I want people to be entertained. I want people to be transported and taken to a place, to let people think just a little differently, like, "I haven't thought of a thing like that." That's the goal and I think this last third, it's really gonna get people's minds thinking. I think we're going to end it with some good television.

New episodes of The Walking Dead Season 11 Part 3 air on Sundays at 9/8c on AMC. Full episodes are available to stream on amc.com (with a cable provider login), the AMC apps for mobile and devices, and a week early on AMC+. AMC+ is available at amcplus.com or through the new AMC+ app available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku. AMC+ can also be accessed through a variety of providers, including AppleTV, Prime Video Channels, DirectTV, Dish, Roku Channel, Sling, and Xfinity. Sign up for AMC+ now.