Jeffrey Dean Morgan admitted that he almost turned down the role of Negan after filming the second season of "The Walking Dead: Dead City." On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor said he was dissatisfied with the direction the writers were taking his character.
According to Morgan, in the second season, Negan lost his former humor and charisma, and a significant part of his storyline was reduced to anxieties:
"I feel like last year we got really bogged down in season two. Especially Negan – from my perspective, all I did was cry, and he lost his charisma and everything that made him Negan."
The dissatisfaction reached a point where, on the last day of filming, Morgan called an AMC executive and stated his intention to leave. The actor was persuaded to stay, and writer Seth Hoffman, who listened to his concerns, was brought in to work on the third season.
First and foremost, Morgan wanted to change the relationship between Negan and Maggie, which had continued to revolve around their old conflict for two seasons:
"I remember our first one-on-one conversation. He asked, 'What do you want? What do you want to do?' I said, 'The dynamic has to change. It can't all come down to her wanting to kill me again, and me trying to talk her out of it, save her son, and keep her from finishing me off. We've already been through that.'"
Morgan eventually returned to the role in the third season of "Dead City," which premiered on AMC in July. New episodes are released weekly, with the fourth episode premiering on August 17.