“His energy was very calming,” Whiteduck-Lavoie tells PEOPLE of the ‘Walking Dead’ star, who he says is a “GOAT”
Credit: Prime Video
NEED TO KNOW
- Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie was “really nervous” any time he had a scene coming up with his on-screen dad, Joe (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), on Sterling Point
- He tells PEOPLE he has “never” worked with an actor of that “status before, obviously, so those were pinned and those were the big ones, and I really wanted to get those right”
- Sterling Point is now streaming on Prime Video
Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie knew he had to bring his A-game any day he was on set with Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
Morgan, 60, plays Joe, the dad of Whiteduck-Lavoie’s Ellis, who knows a lot more than he originally lets on about Annie’s (Ella Rubin) family, on the hit new Prime Video series. “When they told me that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was going to play my dad, I was mind-blown,” Whiteduck-Lavoie, 23, tells PEOPLE. “I was a big fan of The Walking Dead in high school. Everyone knows Negan. He’s a GOAT.”
His first move was to go through “every script” to find the scenes he had with Morgan. “Those scenes were very highlighted. I’d never got[ten] to work with an actor with that status before, obviously, so those were pinned and those were the big ones, and I really wanted to get those right,” he says.
Credit: Sabrina Lantos/Prime Video
“Every time I’d see interior, Joe’s house, I’m like, ‘Oh, s–t, okay. Take a sip of water. Okay, let’s do this.’ Honestly, every scene with Joe, I was like, ‘Okay, I have to nail those,’ ” the actor continues.
Whiteduck-Lavoie was particularly anticipating the intense argument their characters get into in the penultimate episode. “That fight scene, I was freaking out. I was obviously really nervous going into it,” he says. “But Jeffrey, he’s so good. And it’s so funny to see him not in villain mode.”
“He’s so cool in real life. He’s just the coolest guy ever,” he adds of his costar. “The first few days when I met him, I was like, oh, okay. He’s obviously not a princess or diva. He’s just super chill.”
The actor says Morgan made every day feel like it was just another day at camp.
While filming Sterling Point in Toronto and Muskoka in Ontario, Canada, Morgan was also in the middle of production on The Walking Dead: Dead City. “He was always flying in and out of Toronto. He’s super busy shooting, and he was on talk shows and stuff. So he was always like, ‘Oh, I have to catch a flight in three hours. I have to be wrapped.’ He was just always in and out,” Whiteduck-Lavoie recalls.
The actor adds, “He calms you with his energy. He wouldn’t give out specific advice, but his energy was very calming, and he’s been on set forever, so he knows how it goes and that doesn’t intimidate him.”
Credit: Prime Video
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“We didn’t really have time to actually sit down and go for dinner, which I’m kind of bummed about,” Whiteduck-Lavoie admits. Regardless, “I’ve learned a lot working with him. He’s really cool.”
Sterling Point is now streaming on Prime Video.
Read the full article here
