Words: Rob Jerram

The last time I saw David Morrissey he was beating a man around the head with a 5-iron and throwing him to his death. So as we stood side-by-side at Centurion Golf Club, I couldn’t help but feel a little trepidation as the Walking Dead’s “Governor” pulled the same club from his bag. Fortunately the only thing the Liverpudlian actor, director and producer was hitting this time was range balls ahead of our match at Britain’s newest course.

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“Golf is a big part of the show because so many of the cast and crew like it. Andrew (who plays lead character Rick Grimes) is especially good, but he practises a lot. We had a weekly fourball with Scott Wilson (Hershel) and Darrell Pritchett (special effects) and it was our down time,” Morrissey tells TG.

“The first time I played out there I hit a ball into the rough and Andrew said ‘be careful of the snakes’. I laughed and then realised he wasn’t joking. It’s very different and Andrew’s always coming up with a new format with some seemingly impossible mathematical equation… ultimately Andrew wins the money,” smiles the towering 49-year-old.

...But as fans of The Walking Dead now know, series four’s brutal mid-season finale halved that weekly fourball with Morrissey’s Governor producing another impressive swing (this time with a sword) to decapitate Scott’s character Hershel, before being stabbed and shot himself.

“We did an eight-day shoot per episode and got the sсript for the next episode at lunchtime on the fourth day, so I didn’t really know until I read that. I was really upset because I’ve loved the show and I’m a genuine fan – but my final episode was superbly written and directed.”

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And while it’s a role that will inevitably win Morrissey and his co-stars (Sheridan Smith, Olivia Colman, Sean Maguire) plenty of acclaim, it’s unlikely to keep him “cool” with 18-year-old son Albie.

“The Walking Dead was a show that he watched so when I called and said I’d been offered the part he was pretty impressed.

“But as an actor you can’t worry about being cool or embarrassed. The best stuff I’ve ever done is where I’ve thought ‘this could be absolutely terrible or absolutely brilliant’. You have to take risks – the safe middle ground is a really boring place to live.”

That attitude is clear on the golf course too as David, two-down and playing the 3rd, attempts a Seve-esque lob shot over the trees from an almost impossible position, only to see his ball clip the final branch and drop back. “I didn’t say the risks always pay off,” he laughs.

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