The Walking Dead’s Shiva EXPOSED: You won’t believe who plays King Ezekiel’s tiger
THE WALKING DEAD introduced its first CGI hero to the zombie epic in season seven with King Ezekiel’s pet tiger Shiva, and you won’t believe the face behind the cat.
Shiva the tiger's BIG moment in The Walking Dead
The feline beast proved his worth in the nail-biting finale, titled The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life, when he flashed his pearly whites and tore apart several of Negan’s Saviors.
However, fans of the his AMC series might be surprised to learn that Shiva was actually played by a man dressed in a blue morph suit, hurling himself at Rick Grimes’ enemies from a trampoline.
Chandler Riggs, who stars as Carl Grimes, told his legion of Twitter followers that watching the impressive stunt artist was his favourite part of filming.
“Ok but here's the best part about filming that whole episode,” he wrote. “When shiva came in clutch, it was literally a guy in a blue suit jumping off of a trampoline and tackling the guy lmaooo.”
The Walking Dead's Shiva exposed as stunt man in a blue suit
The Walking Dead's Shiva isn't as impressive in the flesh
it was literally a guy in a blue suit jumping off of a trampoline
During last week’s season seven climax, many fans flooded social media to ask: “How does the tiger know which ones are the bad guys?”
Thankfully, King Ezekiel star Khary Payton had the answer: “I draw pictures of the bad guys on flash cards & quiz her before battle. Obviously,” he joked.
Sadly it may be a while before Shiva and his owner are back on screens as season eight of The Walking Dead may be delayed while The Writers Guild of America threaten strike action over pay.
The Walking Dead's Chandler Riggs called watching Shiva in action his favourite part of filming
The WGA has said in a letter that writers have increasingly lost revenue in recent years and could find themselves in contracts with no work.
Should the horror drama return this year, there’s been reports that Glenn Rhee could be making a surprise revival after being bludgeoned to death by Negan and his baseball bat Lucille.
Showrunner Scott Gimple teased the deceased character’s comeback after Abraham Ford appeared in a ghosty flashback, telling TV Line: “I'd be silly to say it isn't [possible]."
The Walking Dead is available to stream on NOW TV.