This was where the exclusive Q&A with the two celebrities was going to be held in front of over 200 specially invited fans and media folks.
Red Dot Diva, Red Dot Dude aka Andre and Rita decided to head down to the ground level of the hall instead of the circle seats, and managed to find a pretty sweet vantage point about five rows up from the stage. Adding to the eye candy factor was cutie and local celebrity George Young, who happened to be seated in the row just in front of Rita.
After about half an hour and everyone had settled into their seats, Adrian Pang came on stage.. and was promptly harrassed by two zombies. Funny how they didn't seem too hungry and nom Adrian right there and then. There must have been tastier meat backstage. Heh heh.
The two special guests on stage were invited on stage, and Andrew Lincoln came on first, followed closely by Norman Reedus, who was still taking selfies. So typical Norman! Red Dot Diva noticed that the two had a change of clothes, which was undoubtedly a necessity after that sweaty zombie obstacle course.
Once settled in on the comfy black sofa on stage, Adrian started the ball rolling with a list of questions - many of which were acting-based. It then seemed apparent that the event was also pitched as a tie-in to La Salle's drama course. (The actors also held an acting Masterclass for the students on the same afternoon later in the day.)
Brit actor Andrew was the more controlled and restrained of the two, but he quickly warmed up to the questions rattled off by Adrian, who is always great at impromptu lines and witty repartee. And Andrew's co-star Norman -- oh Norman -- who was hyper and rambunctious, and absolutely charming and funny -- fueled the discussions into very blue territories with lots of sexual references, hand gestures, and unapologetic four-letter words.
Here's Norman sharing about "The Walking Dead" porno that he saw, which sent everyone into hysterics:
The two actors were surprisingly very candid and open about their acting experiences during the session. Andrew said that it took awhile for him to be able to let go and not try to please everyone in order to give a good performance. "Don't be afraid of looking like a dick," he advised.
His own Dad was seriously ill at that time and while shooting a difficult emotional scene, he decided to make a phone call and have a heartfelt conversation with his father. After that, he drew his own personal feelings from that moment to give off a very convincing performance where he sobbed his heart out - snot and all.
Later that day, Norman said that the cast and crew were not able to stomach a good lunch because they were all so moved by his take on that particular scene that day. And that's when Norman said, "I finally realized and something in my head clicked and I understood .. 'Ohhhhhh. That's what acting really means."
Scheduled in between the discussion was an amusing video edit of the Rick-Daryl bromance. Which was apt, considering how the two actors played out their brotherly feelings on stage as well. Norman, in particular, was always giving Andrew unexpected hugs, or snuggling up close to him on the sofa and taking random selfies of themselves.
And here's the epic segment where Norman revealed how they dealt with intense scenes ;)
There were also snippets of acting performed by the drama students from La Salle, which were projected on to the big screen as well as a smaller TV screen on stage.
While Andrew (who was visibly jetlagged) hunched down in the dark, his head in his hands .. almost as if he was blocking out the sights and sound, Norman was like an eager puppy dog trying to take in everything around him all at once. He would either do a slump-recline on the sofa with his leg stretched out to watch the giant screen.....
Or scurry down to the front edge of the stage to sit cross-legged while watching the footage:
Adrian asked if it was Andrew's "thing" that he avoids looking at his own scenes. And Andrew said that he has mentioned this quirk of his many times during interviews before. "I stopped watching myself in my own work 15 years ago because I became self conscious," he said.
When time was opened to the floor, George Young was the first to pose Andrew and Norman a question on how they would feel about directing an episode of "The Walking Dead", especially considering that Andrew would not watch scenes of his own acting. Norman immediately said that it would definitely not work for him because no one on set would take him seriously, but thought Andrew would be able to make it work as a director for the series.
However, Andrew added that he could not be the kind of person to act his own scenes and direct them at the same time.
During the span of a good one hour or so, the two actors answered many other interesting questions, and shared tidbits about the TV series (how they are never allowed to bring scripts on set because of the fear that the spoilers would be leaked), their different acting technique ("Norman is one of the best instinctive actors I know," Andrew said), their relationships on set, and how often they got injured while doing scenes (which is a lot of times), amongst several anecdotes and personal thoughts.
It was amazing how much heart they gave back to the fans that day considering how tired they were from their long journey to Red Dot Island, and that they had just been thrown into a crazy obstacle course in the unrelenting humidity of the tropics.
And that was not all, both of them gamely stayed on to sign autographs and take more selfies with fans after the dialogue session officially wrapped up. Red Dot Diva rushed to the front trying to get a pic with Andrew but didn't get lucky. However, she was able to see firsthand how patient he could be.
For a moment there, he was on the stage floor on his hands and knees signing items for the fans. Then he said, "Guys, I'll be back. I just need to go to the bathroom." And he made good his promise, when he came back a short while later, signing more stuff and taking some more photos. Unfortunately, Red Dot Diva got pushed back into the second row by eager fans, and Andrew was gently moved along and ushered off stage by his minder, so no dice on the AL selfie again. Still, he was a visual feast for the eyes up-close... ;)
On the other side of the stage was Norman. He was taking his own sweet time making the fans happy by autographing and taking photos. It was obvious he loved the attention he was getting, but he was also giving back to the fans large doses (if not more) of energy and love too.
Red Dot Dude was one of the lucky people who managed to get his "The Walking Dead" blu-ray set signed by Andrew and Norman. Later, while checking out of the auditorium, it turned out that Red Dot Diva did not need to grab for any of their autographs because the good folks at Fox Movies Premium/ Starhub had arranged for Andrew and Norman to sign sets of TWD postcards for those who had a voucher. :)
So for that day, she scored a nice poofy Fox Movies cushion, the autographed postcard.... and a stream of new wonderful epic memories.
BIG Undead Thanks to Fox Movies Premium, Starhub and SPRG for organizing the fabulous event for the local TWD fans.
And Much Love to Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus who took the time to come visit and spend time with us!!
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The rest of Season 4 of "The Walking Dead" premieres in Singapore on Fox Movies Premium, Starhub Channel 622 on 10 February 2014, 11:30AM!
The episodes air just 1.5 hours after the telecast in the USA!
Repeat telecast is at 8:10PM.
A new trailer has just been released for the continuing mid-season. Catch it courtesy of the Daily Mail UK!
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For Part 1 of Red Dot Diva's recap of "The Walking Dead" Live in Singapore, click here!
And for Part 2, click here!
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Thanks to Andre Chee aka Red Dot Dude for helping to take photos/ videos at the event
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