Gaius Charles as Marshal Perlie Armstrong in “The Walking Dead: Dead City.” Filming in New Jersey brought him back to familiar places from his childhood.Peter Kramer | AMC

New York is teeming with zombies in the newest chapter of “The Walking Dead.”

The foul undead — the walkers — are the chief inhabitants of a post-apocalyptic Manhattan. The city is so overrun with the menacing, decomposing hordes that bodies drop from skyscrapers like human anvils.

But for months, the shrieking, shambling walkers made New Jersey their home, too.

And no, they’re not commuters — the bridges and tunnels have long since been destroyed. To get to Manhattan Island, people have to take boats through a river populated by the floating, groaning ghouls.

Jersey plays New York in the new series “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” premiering 9 p.m. ET Sunday, June 18 on AMC and AMC+ (episodes start streaming every Thursday).

Filming the series was a homecoming for actor Gaius Charles, who grew up in Teaneck and has starred in series including “Friday Night Lights” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“Being able to come back and do this series here was really dope,” he tells NJ Advance Media.

“Growing up here, it’s just a special place in my heart,” Charles says before the show’s world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. “It’s kind of like a touchstone for me.”

Armstrong, an officer of the law and family man, follows Negan and Maggie to Manhattan.Peter Kramer | AMC

He stars alongside “Walking Dead” favorites Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The actors, who are also producers on the show, reprise their roles as Maggie Rhee and Negan Smith from the original series.

The Jersey actor, now based in Los Angeles, plays a dedicated lawman, Marshal Perlie Armstrong, who tracks Negan to the chaotic, bleak landscape of walker-infested New York.

The six-part series filmed in New Jersey for five months, from July to November 2022. Production spanned nine counties in North Jersey and Central Jersey, from Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Essex to Warren, Morris, Union, Somerset and Monmouth (see locations list below).

“We filmed a lot in Newark, we filmed a lot in just places that I’ve grown up in, that I’ve seen as a kid, as a teenager,” says Charles, 40. (Brick City locations included the National Newark Building and Newark Symphony Hall.)

“Dead City,” originally titled “Isle of the Dead,” became one of the many TV productions to land at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford (the former Izod Center).

In the show, the former concert venue, which hosted performances from Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Prince, Cher and The Rolling Stones, stands in for Madison Square Garden, a key location in the zombie-infested city.

Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan Smith. The “Walking Dead” originals produced the New York-set spinoff.Peter Kramer | AMC

Viewers can easily spot local places like Paterson’s Art Factory and other Jersey landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Colgate Clock in Jersey City, which are given a rusty, eaten appearance in the show. They’ll also get an eyeful of a part of the Hoboken Terminal they usually wouldn’t see.

“There were a lot of locations that just felt cool to know what was around me, know the environment, know where to get a coffee,” Charles says with a laugh.

Eli Jorné, who was a writer and producer on “The Walking Dead,” is the showrunner and executive producer of “Dead City.” Scott Gimple, the former “Walking Dead” showrunner who hails from Berkeley Heights, presides over the new series and the whole Walking Dead Universe.

While the franchise has produced four “Walking Dead” spinoffs — with more in the works — “Dead City” is the first official sequel, taking place after the events in the original series, which ended in November after 11 seasons on AMC.

Armstrong tries to bring Negan to justice in the chaotic, bleak landscape of post-apocalyptic Manhattan. But he finds a larger story playing out with Maggie, Negan and a Manhattan crime boss.Peter Kramer | AMC

On the trail of the living

Charles’ character, Armstrong, is dead set on tracking and arresting Negan.

He wants to bring him to justice for his bloody past. But Negan is also being hunted by Maggie.

While she has quite the traumatic history with the infamous character, she needs him in order to rescue her son, Hershel Rhee (Logan Kim) from the twisted “Croat,” a New York crime boss played by Emmy winner Željko Ivanek (”Damages,” “Madam Secretary”). Complicating matters is Ginny (Mahina Napoleon), a young girl who has become close to Negan.

Charles, like his character, was completely new to “The Walking Dead,” which is based on the comic book series from Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard first published in 2003.

“When I got cast in the role, I went back and started binge-watching the series,” he says. “And I was just amazed, just wowed at the performances, the direction, the cinematography, the storytelling.”

From left: Želijko Ivanek, Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Gaius Charles at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of “The Walking Dead: Dead City” June 13.Rob Kim | Getty Images

The hit TV adaptation, which premiered in 2010, had already produced the spinoffs “Fear the Walking Dead” (which debuted in 2015 and is in its eighth and final season), “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” (2020, two seasons) and anthology series “Tales of the Walking Dead” (2022).

Charles watched the first four seasons of the original series, then he had to fast-forward to the seventh to witness more recent developments involving Negan, Maggie and her late husband, Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun). That history would play an important role in his character’s justification for pursuing Negan.

However, for those who haven’t seen an ounce of “The Walking Dead,” there are useful flashbacks in “Dead City” that connect the dots.

Armstrong tracks Negan and Maggie from the relative safety of New Babylon (also New Jersey!), where he’s a marshal and a father, to an isolated, unpredictable Manhattan. But he isn’t just a threat to Negan. He’s a character with his own history in New York, and painful family memories.

“The Walking Dead: Dead City” stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Gaius Charles at the TCA Winter Press Tour in January. Alberto E. Rodriguez | Getty Images

“Trauma affects us all, and so to get into Armstrong’s trauma, to get into why he does the things he does, and how his worldview and how his morals are challenged, and how they do evolve over the journey of the show, was really a cool process,” Charles says.

“One thing that the show does so well is it doesn’t always allow you to get into this clear delineation of black and white. It’s so nuanced, and I really enjoy exploring the nuances of the character in that way.”

The actor has also appreciated his introduction to a TV franchise with a well-established fanbase.

“I got to do one of the comic conventions recently for the show, and the fans are just awesome, they are so into it,” Charles says. “Anytime you can do a show that really the fans are hungry for … as an actor, that’s a dream, that’s a blessing.”

Charles binge-watched “The Walking Dead” to get up to speed on Negan and Maggie’s history. But the series also takes on Armstrong’s trauma. Peter Kramer | AMC

From school announcements to primetime TV

Charles has been a regular presence on TV since his his early 20s.

His breakthrough came in 2006, as high school football player Brian “Smash” Williams on NBC’s “Friday Night Lights.”

Charles started acting after his first brush with performance — delivering the school announcements in sixth grade at Teaneck’s Benjamin Franklin Middle School.

“It was like, you know, ‘Today’s lunch is …. chicken nuggets!’ every morning on the mic,” Charles says.

He took his first acting class in seventh grade. The 2001 alum of Teaneck High School went on to study drama at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, spending a semester at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia his senior year.

Gaius Charles as Brian “Smash” Williams in “Friday Night Lights.”NBC

Soon after college, he was cast in “Friday Night Lights,” where he played Williams through 2008.

In 2009, Charles took to the stage as the Duke of Venice opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago in LAByrinth Theater Company’s “Othello.”

Later, he changed directions and earned a master’s degree in religious studies at Drew University in Madison.

Since he was a child, Charles had dual aspirations: to become an actor and share his love of a higher power — to “be a light to others.”

“How do you do the greatest good you can in the world with the life that you’re given?” he says.

Growing up, Charles had a strong spiritual connection and religious foundation. People took notice.

“Are you a preacher’s kid?” they’d ask.

He urged his family to get involved at church, and became a regular at Tenafly United Methodist Church and Community Baptist Church in Englewood.

Charles’ other TV characters have included Shane Ross, a medical resident on “Grey’s Anatomy” (2012 to 2014), John in NBC’s “Taken” (2017) and Black Panther and civil rights activist Bunchy Carter in NBC’s “Aquarius” (2015 to 2016).

Armstrong of “Dead City” is his fourth role as a series regular.

“I love the schedule of TV,” Charles says. “I love how as an actor you can plan out your year.”

He has also appeared in the ABC series “Queens,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “The Wonder Years” and the CW’s “Roswell, New Mexico” (and played Muhammad Ali in Comedy Central’s “Drunk History”).

Charles’ film credits include the Keke Palmer movie “Alice” (2022) and “Land of Dreams” (2022).

Michonne Grimes (Danai Gurira) and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) star in the upcoming spinoff “The Walking Dead: Summit,” which also filmed in New Jersey. AMC

After the first season of “Dead City,” there is plenty of potential for new and continuing storylines.

But like its walkers, who always manage to grow their shuffling ranks — this time in even more gruesome, multi-headed ways — the show’s universe is already generating more stories.

So it happens that “Dead City” isn’t the only “Walking Dead” spinoff to film in Jersey.

It turns out both the survivors and the undead really like it here. (Insert your own joke about New York and New Jersey.)

Another series, known as “The Walking Dead: Summit,” centering on the “Walking Dead” originals Michonne Grimes (Danai Gurira) and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), is due out in 2024 from Jersey’s Gimple, who serves as showrunner.

Production for that six-episode season was again based at the Meadowlands Arena, with the series filming throughout North Jersey.

Here are some of the many locations where “The Walking Dead: Dead City” filmed in New Jersey:

Bergen County

Franklin Lakes: Franklin Lakes Nature Preserve

East Rutherford: Meadowlands Arena

Midland Park: Franklin and Erie avenues and Godwin and Highland avenues

Essex County

Newark: Port Newark, Military Park, National Newark Building, Newark Symphony Hall, Commerce Street, Clinton Street, Washington Street, Broad Street, Academy Street, Dayton Street School

Cedar Grove: The tunnels at Pompton Avenue

West Orange: (Former) Essex House, Northfield Avenue; Turtle Back Rock picnic area

Hudson County

Bayonne: Port Jersey

Hoboken: Hoboken Terminal, Union Dry Dock (Frank Sinatra Drive), Pier 11/Shipyard Marina

Jersey City: Liberty State Park

Kearny: 6th Street Pier, Kearny Warehouse/Breiderhoft Road

Weehawken: The Ivy Building on Park Avenue

Monmouth County

Holmdel: Holmdel Motor Inn, Route 35

Morris County

The Great Swamp

Rockaway: Beach Street

Passaic County

Paterson: The Art Factory, Colt Street, Modela Furniture on Market Street

Somerset County

Basking Ridge: Settler Ridge Farm

Warren: Mountain Avenue

Union County

Plainfield: Cedar Brook Park, Park Avenue, Madison Avenue, Eighth Street

Kenilworth: One Twelve Corp. on Route 22

Warren County

Great Meadows: Shades of Death Road