The Walking Dead's Lew Temple reveals Axel was originally a serial killer with a 'pretty dark' role
Spoilers for 'The Walking Dead'
Fans of 'The Walking Dead' are desperately awaiting the Season 10 finale and Season 11 hopefully this fall and we don't blame them. With the whisperer war threatening to take more lives than we prefer, we're being geared up for some intense scenes and some emotional ones. While we wait for the savagery, actor Lew Temple has revealed an interesting pod of information about his character Axel, the prisoner.
Temple played the role of Axel in the beginning part of Season 3; Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, had taken over Axel's home along with the gang of survivors. On May 10, Temple revealed on the 'Talk Dead To Me' podcast that Axel was originally pegged to be a serial killer. Due to a "sudden change of heart," his narrative was changed! "I showed up with the idea that it was going to be serial killer and foreboding, and then, the day-of, got a note to switch that," said Temple. They told him, "No, no, we’ve gotta lighten things up a little bit. We’ve been pretty dark!" Merle was part of the first season with a few episodes and made his return in Season 3 with a bang - he had sawed off his hand to escape the way Rick had left him.
Temple further revealed that there were scripts written in which his character Axel abducts and murders Hershel Greene’s daughter Beth (Emily Kinney). "There were some episodes that were written where I do take Beth out into the woods and slaughter her. And so we didn’t get to any of those," revealed the actor. Apparently, there were other "darker things" that the writers had considered for Axel, but those were "too dark." “I mean, just these really dark things that the writers were talking about, and then all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Oh, we painted ourselves in the corner, the Governor is showing up and he’s gotta draw blood or he’ll be impotent. He’s gotta draw first blood. And it’s looking like you’re gonna get the short straw," said Temple speaking of his fatality after the Governor shot him.
While that's surprising news, there's more. Temple had also auditioned for the role of Merle (Michael Rooker) and his brother, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus). Before he booked the role of Axel in Season 3, Temple had tried out for Merle first. "The first character that I went in for was the pilot episode, and it was Merle. It was great. It was written so well, the monologue on the roof, really good stuff,' said Temple.
