14 DAY TRIAL // AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is the biggest zombie TV show of the moment and of all times, as Kanye West would say. Now at its fifth season, it’s becoming an even bigger phenomenon, and the price that the cast and crew have to pay for this success is somehow unexpected.
They seem to be having problems eating any kind of meat after they’re done shooting scenes, with leading man Norman Reedus joking in a new interview that they might be turning vegetarian together.
This wouldn’t be a bad thing, vegetarians worldwide are probably thinking at reading this.
Too much fake blood and guts
If you’ve watched a single episode of “Walking Dead” or even paid attention to news and promo materials released for it, you know that it’s a post-apocalyptic show in which a group of people struggles to survive a zombie invasion.
Naturally, this is the least spoilerish description of the show, and all you need to know to understand why people working on it might consider the vegetarian lifestyle for a change.
“The Walking Dead” is one of the goriest shows on TV right now, with the camera never once shying away from showing a pack of zombies eating people or animals after hunting them down. A lot of fake blood and guts have been used so far, and more will be used in the future.
The cast and crew seem to have had their fill, according to Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon. “I've become a vegetarian and I'm kind of bummed about it,” he says of his instinctive reaction after taking part in one too many bloody scenes.
An insider confirms that, right now, about 80% of the food served on set by a catering service is meat-free because no one wants any of it at the end of a day’s work.
“After watching Walkers realistically look as though they are consuming bloody human flesh or seeing heads and other body parts sliced off, no one was touching the red meat or even chicken,” the insider continues.
“Often, we're talking about hundreds of people who need to be fed on a show that uses an enormous number of extras all made up to look so scary they'd put anyone off eating,” the tipster continues.
Most of the blood used on a set of any project pertaining to the horror genre is usually fun stuff like a mix of corn syrup, chocolate topping, and food coloring (or plain ol’ CGI), while props are not even remotely as harmful as they appear. Still, we assume, working in such an environment can turn off someone from meat, if only for a while.
Going vegetarian is not that bad
Not that turning vegetarian would be the worst thing that could happen to the staff and the crew on the AMC hit show. According to Vegetarian Times, to name just one of the bigger specialized publications, this animal products-free lifestyle has so many advantages that only listing them would take forever.
From better bowel movement and a healthier and longer life, higher energy levels, and less pollution to the knowledge that you’re not hurting other live creatures so you can get the fuel your body needs to work, going veg could be just the thing to turn your life around completely.
Plus, it’s easy and much cheaper and many times healthier, compared to eating meat on a regular basis. There are disadvantages as well to such a lifestyle, but they can be easily overcome. Those working on “The Walking Dead” probably know all about this right now.