AMC’s hit series The Walking Dead is one of the most talked about programs on TV. The hilarious and kind hearted IronE Singleton, better known to zombie lovers as T-Dog, spoke to TheCelebrityCafe.com's Sarah Burbank about the The Walking Dead, the series that has taken pop-culture by storm. He took time out to give us key information about what to do if a zombie apocalypse strikes, and the keys to survival.

TheCelebrityCafe: Tell me how did you get started on The Walking Dead?

IronE: My agent called me and said, “Do you want to be in a zombie show?” I’ve never been into sci-fi and all that type of stuff, because I guess I was traumatized at a young age [laughs], my mom would kind of force me and my younger brother to go watch these scary movies, you know Friday the 13th, she got a kick out of that stuff. I think that kind of scared me a little bit, so I never got into scary movies. Then when they brought that to me so many years later it just kind of reminded me of those times. When [my agent] brought that to me and said Frank Darabont, who is the director of The Shawshank Redemeption,The Green Mile, Majestic, and so many other great projects along with Gale Ann Hurd, who is the executive producer of The Terminator series, and Alien, they were both part of it and I said, “Wow...This could be something special.” So, sign me up! I auditioned and read for them and the rest is history.

TCC: Did you read the original comics?

IE: Shamefully, no. Once I got on the project, picked up and started reading it and to this day, because I have been so busy since that, I haven’t been able to get all of the way through what I’ve got. I’ve got part of the way through, but still have not completed it. I find it a very interesting series and Robert Kirkman to be a very special and humorous type of guy.

TCC: How does your character develop throughout the series?

IE: T-Dog is still on his journey of self-discovery. I spoke to the creator, the show runner Glen Mazzara, and he said that there is just a matter of time, if my character stays alive, before they start to explore the history and background of T-Dog. So there is still much to be seen from this character, but so far you know that this is a guy who is intent on maintaining his humanity and doing the right thing no matter what the cost. He is a man of much integrity, and he wants to do whatever he can to help this group survive. I look forward to seeing him grow even more in the future. IF he survives!

TCC: We’ve discussed that these characters are struggling within a zombie apocalypse and really, it’s about survival. What is your character's motivation for surviving?

IE: The motivation, as with everyone, is instinctual. It’s innate. As a human-being we all have this desire to survive, most human beings, if not all human beings, some succumb to the pressures of this life, unfortunately, but most have this strong desire to life on and continue to have energy to thrive in this world. I would use my real life as an example; coming up in the inner city and every day seeming like it was another day to survive because it was definitely not living. But, it was just staying alive, hopefully I don’t get shot in the head…yeah it was like that! I use that to instill into my character T-Dog, so now it’s that type of mind set in the apocalyptic world.

TCC: Why do you think The Walking Dead has made such a huge impact on pop-culture?

IE: Like I had said, I use my life to service motivation for T-Dog, I think that people have their lives and they compare their lives to what they see the characters going through on the show. I mean, it’s to a lesser extreme, maybe for most people, but day in and day out I think people subconsciously feel that they are dealing with the walking dead. Given the state of our economy, just the general climate right now is not a good one in the states. People are at the point where they are making desperate decisions because they don’t have enough to eat; they don’t know if they are going to be able to keep on their lights for the rest of the week.

And, because a lot of it is due to certain politicians who I would classify as zombies; the ones that are making decisions based on their own self-interests and their greed. These decisions, unfortunately, are affecting the decisions of the masses and kind of turning some of those individuals into the walking dead. They are making decisions that they otherwise wouldn’t make, you know, in a better type of situation.

It’s like they are being programmed, like zombies! They are going through the motions. For example, I’ve done it, there are times I’ve gotten in the car and going somewhere and I don’t even realize how I got there, I don’t remember the experience. I think people can relate to it, they find a character or two or the whole cast and they attach themselves to that character and live vicariously through that character.

TCC: I have to ask, can you give me and fellow fans tips on how to survive a zombie apocalypse?

IE: Yes! Keep a big hammer on you and a machete or something like that. You need to keep a quiet weapon, and you need to keep some kind of, maybe an explosive or something, a grenade if you can, you know you can get it at your local Walmart [laughs] and a gun or something like that. Just for the zombies though…

TCC: What can fans look forward to in this coming season?

IE: Wow, there the rest of this season is explosive! Glen Mazzara, again, he contacted us and said that he is so pleased with the remainder of this season and that we should really be proud of ourselves, he told the cast and the crew that also. As to what to look forward to, it gets even better. I’ve said, from episode one, season one, how can they match this? And they continue to take the show to another level every week, so what the people are seeing so far is nothing compared to what they are going to be seeing. Get ready for a heck of a ride.

TCC: You are going to head back down to Atlanta and sign autographs and make an appearance at the “Run For Your Live” race, can you tell me more about that?

IE: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES EVERYBODY! Yes! I will be there on March 3, and this is a 5K that people get to run that has all sorts of obstacles to get through and run from the zombies, they’re going to be the big ones, and you’re going to have some fast and some slow. It’s going to be very exciting. We are thinking about having my daughter a part of it, she’s 14 years old, that’s the minimum age to be a part of it, she is really excited about that and I am too. I really look forward to seeing people there.

For more information or to register for “Run For Your Lives” please visit www.runforyourlives.com