Fear The Walking Dead lennie james

“I don’t kill” is a common mantra from Lennie James on both ‘The Walking Dead‘ and ‘Fear the Walking Dead‘ that has cropped up in recent years. It was an ideal which he didn’t have at the start of the series but one which evolved after Morgan needed to “clear” that he would later break when helping Rick Grimes. There are multiple reasons to have developed this new belief from being unable to take the life of his undead wife to his faith, and now James is opening up to his understanding of his characters not to be willing to take the life of another.

He was asked about it in a recent interview where James stated that:

“I think that the conversation Morgan is trying to have with himself and with the people around him – the statement that drives Morgan forward is that “All life is precious.” And he is trying to walk a path that adheres to that belief. He isn’t absolutely saying you shouldn’t kill under any circumstances; he’s saying you should exhaust all other options before you do it. …We know how to kill the Walkers. We even know how to walk amongst the Walkers, if you can stand having guts covered all over you. So we know how to survive. What Morgan is saying is how are we going to choose to live. And I think that is a really important conversation that the characters need to be having and the show needs to be having. And Morgan is at the forefront of that conversation, I think.”

If his belief that “all life is precious” than it makes sense of why he is hesitant to take the life of another. However, in this apocalyptic world which they live in, you can see where there are cases that it is needed and Morgan tries to not follow that path unless necessary. While not overly stated here, when Morgan does have to take a life, we can see the toll it exacts on his sanity.

Do you agree with Lennie James reasoning as to why Morgan tries to not kill on both ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Fear the Walking Dead’? Is there more to it than what he has shared or another reason behind his motto entirely? Share your thoughts below!

Source: Screen Rant