Every character in The Walking Dead has a specialty. Daryl has his crossbow, Michonne is great with her katana, Rick is a strong leader…the list goes on. Take Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt), who’s survived year after year in this harsh world. How has he made it this far? According to McDermitt, lying is the key.
Back when Eugene was introduced in season 4, he lied about knowing how to cure the zombie apocalypse in order to save his own neck. Fast forward to season 11, and he’s stuck in a Commonwealth admissions unit, pleading his case to be allowed entry into the vast, 50,000 strong community.
From Abraham to Negan, Eugene has dealt with many strong personalities, and the stoic Commonwealth military leader Mercer (Michael James Shaw) is more of the same. “His friends have been split off. He doesn’t know what’s happened to them,” McDermitt told Entertainment Weekly. “And that anxiety-ridden place that he’s been living in in his mind is just getting to be too much. And he’s unspooling at this point.”
"But Eugene does well with people who are in positions of authority. Look at Abraham and Negan. It’s like he sees Mercer as the new alpha male for him that he’s going to then become the beta and survive. It’s like he has this muscle memory of, just do whatever I can to survive. And he kind of spins this yarn. He gives just enough truth so that Mercer is satisfied, but holds back on other parts."
It all comes down to Eugene’s superb lying ability. Mind you, this hasn’t always worked out for him. Back when he had convinced everyone he knew the cure, things didn’t go well when Abraham learned that it was all an elaborate lie to save himself. Regardless, he’s still alive when countless others aren’t, so he must be doing something right.
“And really, lying is Eugene’s superpower,” McDermitt said. “And he’s able to do that so well and just get them to clear those hurdles and get to the other side. That’s all he wants to do, is survive.”
"He knows what he has to do to convince someone of something. Eugene probably has his idea of like, ‘Well, this guy was a cop or some sort of like authority figure before.’ So he knows how to talk to people like that and play them — the marionette sort of thing. And yeah, he’s very nervous outwardly. But inside, he’s able to kind of breathe calmly and think through everything he needs to say to this guy in order to get to the other side."
Is Eugene a virgin in The Walking Dead?
One question in Eugene’s interview confused fans. Basically, Mercer asked him if he was a virgin, and Eugene said yes. What makes this extra interesting is that the show had previously shot a sex scene between Eugene and Savior Laura (Lindsley Register), though it never made it to screen.
Despite the unreleased scene, McDermitt confirms Eugene is still, in fact, a virgin. “That is absolutely true,” he said. “Yeah.”
"I remember saying to [Walking Dead chief content officer] Scott Gimple, ‘Man, this is like a huge deal for Eugene. I think he’s a virgin,” McDermitt recalls. “And Gimple said, ‘No, he’s not a virgin.’ And I was like, ‘Scott, he’s a virgin!’ And I don’t know if that conversation changed things, but I’m glad it did, because then we got this beautiful moment here in season 11."
The Walking Dead‘s eleventh and final season continues Sundays on AMC. For AMC+ subscribers, new episodes air one week early.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels