Boot camp for zombies as Universal Studios readies ride

NEW YORK – Becoming a zombie is hard work. Just ask the actors being put through a zombie bootcamp for Universal Studios Hollywood’s latest theme park attraction “The Walking Dead,” based on the hit AMC series. The two-week training includes teaching actors to realistically playing a 'walker' - an undead corpse – by slowing down, dropping shoulders and trying to develop their own style of walk.  During the press day, the cast were overseen by the AMC series’ executive producer, Greg Nicotero. “It's very physical so in some ways it's like being an athlete because whatever they're going to do they're going to do every ten seconds, literally thousands and thousands if not millions of times so a lot of it has to do with being in control of their body and being able to be this close to people without actually touching them,” said John Murdy, creative director of Universal Studios Hollywood. The theme park previously hosted “The Walking Dead” maze for a limited run during its Halloween season, but due to the popularity of the attraction and the show, the new “Walking Dead” experience, where visitors will be “survivors” amid the zombie apocalypse, will be a permanent fixture and enhanced with props and prosthetics from the series. It will open on July 4. "I think it's going to be really scary but the thing is about scaring people that I've learned over the years and I've been doing this all my life is it's kind of the same as riding a rollercoaster. There's an adrenaline rush when people get scared,” Murdy said. – Reuters