For those who've forgotten, Andrew Rothenberg plays survivor Jim in the first season of "The Walking Dead." And his tale of survival easily ranks among the saddest of that original group. It seems the actor never let the weight of his character's survivor's guilt bring him down, however. And as Sarah Wayne Callies claimed, his ability to keep things light helped the cast get through a particularly grueling day of shooting.
As Callies recounted on Reddit, "We were shooting a scene in 105 [degree temperatures] where everyone contemplates Amy's death and tries to figure out what do to so she doesn't become a walker. It was HOT. Atlanta HOT — that special kind of heat that fries your skin and makes it hard to think straight... and we'd been out there for hours, making the scene." Callies goes on to say the scene mattered all the more to the cast as it was the last for Emma Bell, who played Amy during Season 1. The actor adds, "There was so much emotion, so much tension and exhaustion."
Thankfully, Callies claims Rothenberg seized on a chance to lighten the mood. "And then in the middle of a take," she said, "Andy Rothenberg looks over his shoulder at Jon Bernthal, blows him a kiss, and mouths the words 'I love you.'" The hilarious move apparently brought the house down, with Callies stating, "I thought Jon was going to have a heart attack; he was trying so hard not to laugh," and that the mood-lightening prank was "just what we needed."
