A Conversation with Actor Michael Cudlitz

The Impact of Authentic Storytelling

TV personality Jason Wahler goes one-on-one with PRISM Award winning actor and “Walking Dead” and “Southland” star Michael Cudlitz to discuss the impact of authentic storytelling. Michael earned his PRISM Award for his portrayal of John Cooper, a police officer who struggled with an addiction to pain killers after an injury. He will be interviewed by Jason Wahler about how he brought this character to life, the trials and tribulations and hope demonstrated by the character, and the impact the character has had on the public. During the session, the influence of entertainment and media on audiences will be examined and the power of accurate portrayals on attitude and behavior change revealed. This is a unique opportunity to see how a character and his story goes from the script page to a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood individual that audiences root for and return for.

Moderator: Jason Wahler

When you portray things like substance abuse inaccurately sticks out like sore thumb. Tell the truth of character as best you can. To be honored after the fact is very humbling. None of this stuff is done in a vaccuum; unless everyone around me operating at the top of their game. When you are in the middle of it, you just try to do the best work as you can.

Michael Cudlitz: This is not a man under the bridge or 18 year old tweaker, this disease doesn’t discriminate.

For example: Take John Cooper, he was the highest ranking officer in patrol car, by choice, and first responder. He was a veteran close to retirement and had an injury that caused him to get onto pain pills. The first episode shows him taking just one pill and it then became like a slow burn, it didn’t happen overnight. Eventually his pain pills turned into a dependency, and eventually after a while the pills didn’t work. And as a cop, cops know where to get drugs, so he rationalized and embodied everything he had been working against all these years. He became the kind of cop he despised.

Moderator: Battle suffering, so he became the man he always despised….can you elaborate?

MC: The police officer was also gay, and when he served, it wasn’t accepted. First thing he had to hide because people wouldn’t understand. From a psychological stand point, he had to hide being gay and he also hid his drug addiction because he thought people “wouldn’t understand.”

For example: many of us have driven tipsy then realized it was NOT okay. Now, while some people get pulled over, others who don’t get pulled over just think they will never do it again. Some people build up a perceived tolerance, you think its normal, but your normal is changing and you can’t keep up. In John’s case he doesn’t even recognize himself and literally almost got his partner killed.

Moderator: What was it like to get into the role of being an addict?

MC: I don’t want to say it was easy because that cheapens the whole thing. But, we are all addicted to something. My job was to tell John’s truth…based on a real officer (broad strokes). My job is to tell his story, not what addiction can do to you, because that is for you to experience if that’s the path you choose. Although, you are typically not hammered all the time as an addict. It’s like an accumulation, it snowballs. It gets to the point where someone either intervenes, or you get killed.

Moderator: Any personal experience you drew from?

MC: My personal friend has been sober 3 years now, but it literally ruined his life. He lost his friends, and became this entirely different person no one wanted to be around.

The minute you tell the kids its terrible and they like it, your credibility goes out the window. We judge so harshly when someone stumbles like “oh never me” but its so close to being you in many cases. I told kids: be sober at a party and look around and see how ridiculous it is. It changes your perception.

Moderator: Heard your work resonated with many police officers..

MC: I would get Facebook messages from many people. I heard from a Colombian officer who feared for his life because he is gay. He shared that the police officers he works with are very macho/aggressive and my work made him feel less alone.

Another letter I received was from  a cop realizing he was going through the same thing – he was becoming who he was trying to keep off the streets; this letter was a confession. It was like this moment of light where they were about to change their lives and he wrote, “as bizarre as this may sound…you have saved my life.”..thanks for saving a good guy.”

So, do accurate depictions in media matter? Apparently they do. Content doesn’t always have to be earth changing to be life changing.

Audience question: When you forgave Eugene, did you have the same experience with John Cooper since he was so humble and heroic?

MC: Fans connect in the same similar way, even if perceived mindless.

Walking Dead is one of the most human shows on TV  right now. What would you do? What if all rules were gone and you had to start over? Look at every group…trace back each leader in each group, but through different circumstances, survival kicks in and they end up in horrific but realistic circumstances. A lot of people have the best intentions in what they perceive as being good. It empowers women specifically in our show too with some great role models and strong like females like Machone.