***Note that the following interview contains spoilers for tonight’s premiere episode***

Tonight, the highly-anticipated anticipated episodic anthology series in the universe of The Walking Dead, called Tales of the Walking Dead, premiered on AMC and AMC+. In the premiere episode, Joe (Terry Crews), an end of the world prepper, has isolated himself except for chatting with others through the internet. When he ventures outside his safe haven, he meets Evie (Olivia Munn), who still sees the beauty in the world. The two clash but must work together if they are to survive the apocalypse.

On Thursday, Crews talked to SciFi Vision during a roundtable with the press about what surprised him most about working on the franchise, which is how hard it would be. “A tremendous amount of effort goes into every episode,” explained the actor. “We only had ten days to do a full movie. We went twelve hours every day, and, I mean, it was basically me and Olivia in every scene. Thank God we were playing the apocalypse, because it felt like it. We were so exhausted and so tired, but that's what you want to be. The way I look at it is if you’re playing in the Super Bowl, you want to get dirty, bloody, messed up. If you come out of the Super Bowl with a clean uniform, did you ever play? This is what I knew coming in, that this was going to be a challenge, because you're playing the end of the world and the zombie apocalypse, and I didn't want it to be easy, but I was shocked at how hard it would be.”

During the interview, Crews talked a bit about who his character is and why he likes him. “The thing I love about Joe is that, here's a guy who [is] prepared,” the actor told the press. “He wants to be ready for everything, but that's absolutely impossible. He's a realist. He really saw this coming, and damn it; he was right! The world did end. He's got everything about him and everything that justifies all his decisions.”

The actor also loved Joe’s relationship with Gilligan, his dog. “There's something about that relationship that I think is one of the sweetest things about Joe,” said Crews. “It says everything about [him]. It’s his pal; it’s his buddy. They would die for each other. That's the one thing I love about Joe, because he's got his heart in everything.”

The actor also explained that the episode takes place 402 days after the apocalypse when he leaves his bunker.

Crews, who is already a fan of the franchise, was also excited to get to work with his Munn, as they worked together previously on The Newsroom and were already friends. “It's amazing to be working with her again,” said the actor of his costar.

For more from Crews, including working with stunts, how he was catfished like Joe recently in real life, and more, read the full transcript below and be sure to watch the episode, tonight on AMC or streaming on AMC+

***Lightly edited for clarity***

SCIFI VISION:  What I want to know, is obviously The Walking Dead is a huge franchise, and this is a new addition, but it's still part of The Walking Dead. What surprised you the most about the job going in that you didn't expect?

TERRY CREWS:   Wow. How hard it would be. [laughs] A tremendous amount of effort goes into every episode. We only had ten days to do a full movie. We went twelve hours every day, and, I mean, it was basically me and Olivia in every scene. Thank God we were playing the apocalypse, because it felt like it. [laughs] We were so exhausted and so tired, but that's what you want to be. The way I look at it is if you’re playing in the Super Bowl, you want to get dirty, bloody, messed up. If you come out of the Super Bowl with a clean uniform, did you ever play? This is what I knew coming in, that this was going to be a challenge, because you're playing the end of the world and the zombie apocalypse, and I didn't want it to be easy, but I was shocked at how hard it would be.

QUESTION:   What is the thing you love about Joe?

TERRY CREWS:   The thing I love about Joe is that, here's a guy who [is] prepared. He wants to be ready for everything, but that's absolutely impossible. He's a realist. He really saw this coming, and damn it; he was right! The world did end. He's got everything about him and everything that justifies all his decisions. I also love the fact that he is has this relationship with Gilligan, his dog. He's like, that's his buddy. There's something about that relationship that I think is one of the sweetest things about Joe. It says everything about [him]. It’s his pal; it’s his buddy. They would die for each other. That's the one thing I love about Joe, because he's got his heart in everything.

QUESTION:   You are a big fan of the franchise, and you even mentioned how Melissa McBride sent you a message, and you were over the moon. What makes Carol such a cool character? I know you're a big fan, so how would you like to maybe star with her in the future, if that's a possibility?

TERRY CREWS:   Well, first of all, I have to straighten this out. This is great. I'm glad you asked that. Melissa McBride, I love her. I mean, as Carol, she's been there since the beginning. I got a message on Instagram, but I found out that that wasn't really her! I got catfished just like Joe does in this series. It wasn't her. I was like, “Oh my god!” Like, I said this in an interview, and I got the chance to meet Melissa. She looked at me like “Really?” She was so nice, but it wasn't her. I said “Boy, just like Joe does with Sandra (Kersti Bryan) in this whole thing.” He believed the internet. Terry Crews believed the internet too, and it's so wild, because you find out that half the internet is not real. You can live a whole life vicariously on the internet and not touch reality one bit, but it's a testament to what this world is now. But this is another thing that's so wonderful is that Joe does live in this episode; he survives, and now he is open to be in any of the series from Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to Daryl (Norman Reedus)’s France series, all the way to the new Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Gurira) series. I would literally jump at the chance to bring Joe back in any one of those iterations, in any one of those series, because I love this character so much.

QUESTION:   Who do you relate to the most in real life, from your two characters? And now that the whole experience is over, who do you think has the best survival skills between you and Olivia?

TERRY CREWS:   Oh, well, first of all, you know, Olivia and I worked together on The Newsroom with Aaron Sorkin on HBO. So, we've been friends for years…When I found out I was going to be in the show, I get a text from her, because we've been friends for years. So, I get a text. She says, “Hey, Joe,” and I go, “How do you know about this?” She said, “I'm Evie,” and I went, “Oh my God!” It's a reunion, and it's amazing to be working with her again. And I tell you, I love these characters, and this is another thing I love. The fact that they established us at the right pace. Like you get to spend time with us as we get to know each other. We actually are friends. We're actually fighting. We break up; we get back together. It's so great, because it's a real friendship. It's just how real friends act. But when you talk about who would survive? I have to tell you, to be honest, it would be Evie, because Joe was out of his bunker, not even twenty-four hours, and he's caught in a net. You don't even know how long Evie’s been just out there doing her thing. She wasn't bunkerized. Joe jumped out the bunker, and bam, he's in a net in less than a day. Then, in the end, she ends up saving his life, because he's trapped again. He got catfished. So, you look at this man. He thought he had it all together. But I thought what's so beautiful, is that the hope that Evie brings and this what he called unrealistic expectations is the thing that we all need to survive. Because you look at what faith is. You can't see it. You can't hold it you. In fact, it's something that you can never see, but faith is what keeps you going from here to there, and being realistic, you pretty much will just go down instantly. So, I think Evie is definitely the survivor, and I need to stick with her.

QUESTION:   The Walking Dead franchise certainly plays up a lot of fears that people have about the end of days in the zombie apocalypse, and I always think about it the height of COVID when the CDC had listed like, how to survive the zombie apocalypse. Then, I think about a friend of mine, who like two years ago, went into, I don't know some tool shop and purchased a zombie survival kit. So, with all that said, does this franchise play on any fears that you have about end of world, zombie apocalypse? And part two of my question is, if we were currently living in a zombie apocalypse, what three things would you have in your zombie survival kit?

TERRY CREWS:   That's a great question. This is awesome. Awesome. First of all, you’ve got to understand, I'm old enough, because I lived through 9/11, and that was the end of the world. I'll never forget. No planes flying. All of a sudden, you knew your world was going to be different from here on out. What I mean is the fear; it was abject fear. We had no idea what was happening. We said, “Oh my god, the Twin Towers are done. They hit the Pentagon.” We didn't know what was happening. It felt like the zombie apocalypse. Also then flash forward to the pandemic, and I remember I was hosting AGT, and slowly but surely the audience kept filing away, and no one was coming. All of a sudden, we had a full packed stadium, and then there were ten people in there. By the time the whole thing got shut down, I was like, “This is the end of the world.” And they were like, “Just go home, and maybe this will be over in a week. Maybe it'll be over in three weeks.” Then, two months later, I'm still in my house. I was like, “This is frightening.” By that time, I had been into The Walking Dead, and I was like, “This is what this is. “Now the things I would have, the things I would definitely do, I’d go to Costco, and I would definitely load up on all the groceries I could get. I would have the biggest freezer. You have got to get the groceries and the freezer. Then, the third thing would be the gun. I would have the gun and ammo. Those three things: gun, ammo, food, freezer. Those are the three things I would say, because this is the deal. The dead I can deal with. It's the living you have to look out for. Because that's where the betrayal will happen. It'll be people like, “Oh, come over here; trust me,” and they will try to take everything you have. If the dead guy comes over, I got him, but man, you do not know what to do with your neighbor who wants everything you have? It’s crazy.

QUESTION:   You mentioned the all-powerful Rick and Michonne a while ago, but can you talk about getting your own epic and insane love story before they even got to come back to TV?

TERRY CREWS:   Well, this is the thing. I mean, with Evie and Joe, it's such a beautiful story, because of where it takes place and at what time. One thing I love about the whole Walking Dead universe is it's filmed nonlinearly. You can jump back at any time. I'll never forget the time I saw Michonne in the kitchen with her friends, and she's making food, and you're like, “What world is this?” and you start to realize you can be anywhere. My story takes place 402 days after the apocalypse, and that's when I leave my bunker, which is pretty early in the whole series. I mean, in season nine, there’s a six-year jump. So, when I look at where we could be and who we could meet, the story can keep going. I mean, I could be hanging with Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green). I could be part of Abraham (Michael Cutdlitz) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt)'s crew. I could be back in the day. It's all these connections that could really happen. It's one of those things where you could even go back before he was in the bunker. This is one of the beautiful things about this world. And when Rick and Michonne were announced that they're coming back, I think it reinvigorated the whole franchise. I had no clue. I had just got off the Comic-Con stage, and I was walking off, and we were doing other interviews, and I heard the yells and screams, and I was like, “What's going on?” and boom, there was Andrew Lincoln and Dania Gurira, right there on the stage announcing the six episodes that they're going to do. I said, “Holy cow, that would be a dream.” I could be in I could be in Negan and Maggie's; I could be in Daryl’s one in France, or I could be in Rick and Michonne’s, and I'm welcome to all of that. I am open; I want to leave it open. I am willing to do any of that. I want to come back in this world.

QUESTION:   I'm pretty sure you taught Negan how to drop an F bomb in this universe.

TERRY CREWS:   You know what's funny is, what if I knew Negan before? What if it was early on, and we had some kind of relationship early on before he became part of the Saviors? Again, my mind just keeps going on how this thing could go, but this is the thing I do know: the ending is as hopeful as you will ever see in The Walking Dead world. This means whatever you see next is going to be brutal.

QUESTION:   We have to talk about the fight scenes and the weapons training. This show was so action packed, and you're familiar with action sequences in film and television. So, did you have to do any training for this, any weapons training, any fight training? Were you able to do any of your own stunts?

TERRY CREWS:   Motorcycle training. This is the thing. I don't ride motorcycles in LA, because it's so dangerous. I mean, the thing is, you can do everything right and get hit in LA. That's what's so crazy. But every year, for the last five years, I take a motorcycle recertification course, simply for projects like this. So, right before I went to Atlanta, I re-upped on all my motorcycle skills and made sure I passed all those things just so [I could] get comfortable on a bike again and look like I knew what I was doing. The thing is that this thing was a trike. It had the sidecar, which handles totally different than a regular motorcycle. So, I wanted to be careful I didn't hurt my costar or myself. So, that was the extent of that kind of training. I've done the gun training before, and I've done stunts and stuff, but I remember just being up in the net was one of those things where you're like, “Oh, I'm a lot older than I used to be,” but it's the fun part. I'm looking forward if I do do more in this world, I really want to get more physical and do more zombie killing or people killing if I have to.

QUESTION:   So, one of the things I noticed about the episode, and it happened in the beginning, is when Joe's watching TV, he's watching Ohio State, and you see the Ohio State helmet and Ohio State logo. Playing football at Western Michigan, was it difficult for you to wear that Ohio State helmet?

TERRY CREWS:   Oh, not at all. Not at all. I don't care. First of all, the NCAA, they've exploited us; it’s time to get them back. I came up in the day where there was no name image likeness. They used you and exploited you, and so I have no loyalties whatsoever. But what I thought was cool is that they did set it in my Midwestern upbringing. And the fact that I circled the city of Flint when I went to go look out, it just, it was a nod to my upbringing, to where I'm from, because you have to understand Flint, Michigan went through its own apocalypse. It's the American city - Flint, Michigan and Gary, Indiana, which are two cities, my wife is from Gary, I'm from Flint, it went through its own apocalypse. I have to tell you, everything I remember as a kid, from my high school, to the movie theater, to the malls, to the places I used to go, the restaurants I used to eat, has all been knocked down. When I drive back to Flint, Michigan, it's like when Joe comes out of that bunker, and he's looking around, and he's driving around, and he notices everything's gone. That is my experience when I go to Flint, Michigan, and that prepared me. I mean, I was like, “This is what Joe is going through,” Things he used to see, it's all gone. And he says it to himself. He's like, “Hey, you should have [gone] underground.” And I felt that way, even as a youngster, as a kid growing up in the 80s. I was like, “I have got to get out of here, or I'm not going to survive.”