“The Walking Dead: Dead City” rolled back into Worcester Thursday to make some more small-screen, post-zombie apocalypse magic.
It was the sixth time that “Dead City” has filmed in the city. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who is best known for playing Negan in “The Walking Dead” universe, walked through the front door of the historic Morgan Mansion, named after Paul B. Morgan, president of both Morgan Construction Co. and Heald Machine Co.
Earlier, around 9:45 a.m., the set suffered a stage mishap when a cloth-covered steel structure constructed in front of a bay window toppled over, causing a worker on a folding ladder to fall to the ground.
The middle-aged man, who was wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey and camouflage shorts, suffered minor cuts and bruises on his exposed left leg. Forty-five minutes later, he was taken away on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
Right before 11, a dozen scruffy and weathered extras arrived on Cedar Street. Dressed in beaten leather jackets and armor, one of them had a mutated face and arm.
Shortly after 11 a.m., Morgan popped out of his black luxury van, with his script clenched in his hand. Wearing glasses and a black long-sleeve shirt with the words “People’s Champ” on the back, Morgan rode with three actors in post-apocalyptic marauder regalia. Unbothered by the rain, they went into the front door of the Morgan Mansion without blinking an eye.
After going over lines and setting up scenes and shots, Morgan was picked up by his van shortly before 12:30 p.m., after posing for a few selfies with fans. Apparently, something was delaying filming.
As of 1 p.m., Morgan was the only major star of the series spotted.
May 1, the focus was on 8 Norwich St., a two-story building that was turned into Salvatore New York City, a high-end men’s clothing store, in which zombie apocalypse survivor and mom Maggie Green Rhee and her sidekick Perlie Armstrong (actors Lauren Cohan and Gaius Charles, respectively) strategized their next move on the rooftop.
May 2, filming was all about leather-clad Negan and his trusty, barbed-wire-covered Louisville Slugger “Lucille.”
May 6, filming focused on a menacing entourage of armor-modified vehicles barreling down Norwich Street. Led by a New York City yellow cab, The Croat’s war-friendly, pimped-up Cadillac followed in close pursuit. Next came a blue delivery truck, a New York Fire Department ambulance and a green NYC sanitation truck with a black van ending the automotive pack.
May 7, filming commenced on Portland Street. Negan, carrying what looked like a cross between a harpoon and a spear, sat down at a patio table in the middle of the barren street, drinking wine and talking business with The Croat.
May 8, Maggie and zombie extras were spotted filming in the backwoods of Bell Pond Park, off Belmont Street. Later that same day, Negan, The Croat and The Dama met with “The Walking Dead: Dead City” season two super-baddie “Bruegel,” played by Kim Coates, inside a closed set at Union Station.