My Interview With Chandler Riggs Discussing His Latest Movie, His Latest Series, and How Often He Still Gets Called Carl

I was recently given the opportunity to view the film Inherit the Viper, starring Josh Hartnett, Margarita Levieva, Owen Teague, Bruce Dern, Valorie Curry, Brad William Henke, Dash Mihok, and Chandler Riggs. The film was a gritty drama about a small town family in Appalachia who are getting by selling opioids, but become at odds with one another when it comes to the business when things go awry.

I had the privilege of interviewing Chandler Riggs about his role, as well as his other projects, and it was such an honor. I watched him grow up on The Walking Dead and have loved his character in the series A Million Little Things. He’s super nice and definitely an actor to keep an eye on, as I believe he will continue to do great things. Check out the interview below, and see Inherit the Viper In Select Theaters, On Digital, and On Demand now.

Jessica Fisher: Hi Chandler, how are you?

Chandler Riggs: Doing great, how about you?

JF: Doing really well. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. I’m a huge fan. I’ve been watching The Walking Dead since the beginning, so I feel like I’ve watched you grow up, and I think you’re a great actor.

CR: Thank you. That’s great to hear.

JF: So, how often when you’re walking down the street do people yell “Carl” at you?

CR: (laughs) It’s kinda died down over the years, but yeah, whenever I’m at conventions, I hear someone yell, “Coral!” on the regular, so it definitely has not stopped.

JF: Good to hear. I wanted to do that for you, but I’m a little under the weather, so I decided to just not yell it at you.

CR: I appreciate that, thank you.

JF: I watched Inherit the Viper this weekend and I thought your performance was great, and heartbreaking. So what drew you to the role of Cooper? And how did you prepare to play such a heavy role?

CR: With Cooper, it was interesting, because when I was originally sent the script, I thought it was awesome, and I hopped on Skype with the directors and we talked about the movie and the characters and everything and they asked “which character are you most drawn to?” and I was like, “Cooper feels like the best fit for me in my opinion.” Because he’s just like constantly in situations he doesn’t want to be in. He’s not really trying to insert himself into anything. He just ends up getting mixed up with the wrong crowd over and over again. It is very heartbreaking, and very impactful. It’s was just fun to play that kind of character, and to prepare for it, I mean the hardest part was the hair. Getting into the mullet, you know I had super long hair from The Walking Dead before, and it was right before I did the film, so you know, when I got to the hair and makeup trailer and they said, “we’re thinking of doing a mullet,” I was like, “oh boy, this is gonna look awful.” And yeah, it looked pretty bad for like two weeks. So I’m pretty glad to have moved on from that.

JF: So, do you think Cooper was actually a threat to the Conley’s, or do you think he would have been loyal?

CR: I don’t think he was a threat. I think he definitely would have kept his mouth shut. I don’t think he wanted any trouble from anyone. I think he just wanted to stay out of it.

JF: I agree. Most of the roles you’ve taken on have been pretty dramatic. Are there any other genres that you’ve been wanting to try out?

CR: You know, I’ve been wanting to break into sci-fi for a really long time. I know Walking Dead is kind of sci-fi, but I want to do something with lots of green screens. Lots of action and fun. It’s so fun doing stunts, at least on Walking Dead it was. So, I really want to try to break into sci-fi in the near future. But I mean, everything that I’ve done is a ton of fun as well. I’m a big fan of heavy, dramatic, and emotional things. But it’s also fun doing lighter things here and there. Like on the set of the show I’ve been working on over the summer called A Million Little Things. It’s a much lighter set, it’s a lot of fun. But really, I’d like to break into any genre I can and just try it all out.

JF: So when you say sci-fi, do you mean MCU, or Star Trek, or like, what would be your ideal?

CR: I mean, literally all of that. My dream role was Ender’s Game. It was my favorite book for the longest time. I was so stoked when I got the audition. Asa Butterfield did an incredible job. But something like that would be super cool.

JF: That would be awesome. So, as you mentioned, I love the series A Million Little Things. It’s so good. The season 2 finale was so crazy and so emotional. So what can expect to see from PJ in season 3?

CR: PJ’s story for the second season has wrapped up kind of nicely. He’s attending the Rhode Island School of Design to work on himself, and to get through this depression, and kind of work on his own stuff before he comes back into the rest of the group. But fortunately, RISD is only about an hour and 45 minutes away from Boston, so it’s not like he’ll be gone forever. He’ll be back at some point. It’s just a matter of when, but we’ll see.

JF: Okay, so you think he definitely will be back then?

CR: Yeah, he will. He just needs some time to work on himself for a bit.

JF: Sounds good. So, you’ve been really lucky with the casts you’ve worked with so far on TV, with The Walking Dead, and A Million Little Things. So who have you learned the most from, and who have you remained the closest with?

CR: I’ve definitely learned the most from Andy. He played my dad on The Walking Dead. Spending so much time with him over the years, I’m pretty sure he spent more time with me than he did with his actual kids. But yeah, he taught me so much over the years, not intentionally, but just by being on the set, and just by doing the things that he does. It was always so inspiring to see him come to set. He knew every single word of every single scene we were shooting for the whole week, down to each word in the stage direction. He knew exactly, everyone else’s lines. He knew the script inside and out, and seeing the dedication he put into that role, and seeing how well it paid off, especially now, going back and watching the show, it’s just so incredibly inspiring. I’m just so lucky to have been able to have spent so much time on the set with him. And I would say now, I mean, I still see everyone at the conventions here and there, but the girl who played Enid on The Walking Dead, we go to the same acting class, and probably live about ten minutes away from each other, so I would say I’m probably closest with her. She’s become a great friend. But everyone from The Walking Dead, and everyone from A Million Little Things are great too and so much fun to work with. I’ve been really lucky and blessed with such amazing casts over and over again.

JF: Yes, that’s so cool. Do you have any other project in the works that we can look forward to seeing from you?

CR: Not at the moment. Just auditions, and I DJ on the regular. Nothing new coming out at the moment, but I’m working every day on it. I do livestreams a few times a week where I just play video games and have a good time. But outside of that, I’m just auditioning, and hoping for something new.

JF: Awesome. Well, we can’t wait to see you in whatever comes next. Hopefully you do get to branch out into the sci-fi realm, but whatever you do, we’re excited for it. Thanks so much for taking the time, and we will let our readers know about Inherit the Viper.

CR: Sounds great, thank you so much!

You can follow Chandler Riggs on Twitter, and keep up with his movie, TV, and music career, as well as watch him play The Walking Dead video game!