The character of Dr. Eugene Porter, who joined AMC's "The Walking Dead" last season, will be further developed in the upcoming season, actor Josh McDermitt has revealed.

According to McDermitt, his "comedy background" made his manager and agents hesitant to book dramatic auditions for him, but he ended up getting one of the first parts he auditioned for: Eugene in "The Walking Dead" Season 4.

"I didn't know which role I was auditioning for when I read," he told MoviePilot. "They're really tight about that. ... There were several moments when I didn't think I'd have the job."

In Season 5, which premieres on AMC on Oct. 12, McDermitt's character will finally get a backstory.

"The writers do such a great job revealing things about people as we go along," he told Wetpaint. "What was so great about last season was that they had full episodes dedicated to just a couple of people and, that's cool, but I think the tone of this season is going be a lot more intense. ... It's gonna be a fun ride, so, I don't know that they're going [to] just narrow it down and give Eugene his own episode."

The actor also promised an "insane" season.

"In terms of tone, everything's just more intense, more so than anything I've ever seen in anything we've ever done," McDermitt said. "It's wild, and it goes a thousand miles an hour and we start to see them as they just hit the ground running. It's just super intense, dirty, wild, and I think we're all really proud of it."

Nowadays, McDermitt does not read Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" comic books, from which the AMC TV show is based.

"I didn't want to be influenced by the comics," he told MoviePilot. "I can only work with Eugene in the space the writers and producers give me and I didn't want what I read to change how I might play the character."

He does, however, spend time with his cast. One time, he went to see Grizfolk, a band from Los Angeles, play in Atlanta with Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn Rhee, and Michael Cudlitz, who plays Abraham Ford.

"We hung out in the club and there was this line of fans coming by and telling us how much they loved the show and having pictures taken," McDermitt said. "Then, Steven and Cudlitz and I hung out with the band until someone invited us to a grilled cheese party. We went to the party at some random person's house, and ate grilled cheese and listened to the impromptu concert Grizfolk put on. It felt like something from a movie."

---

Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.