In the last decade, Michael Rooker has made quite an impression playing indelible characters like Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead and Yondu in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. And the actor shows no signs of stopping with major upcoming roles in blockbusters-to-be The Suicide Squad and F9.

Yet when he spoke to CBR, he was promoting a smaller but no less exciting movie: Love and Monsters, a coming-of-age tale set in the monster apocalypse. Rooker plays Clyde, who serves as a mentor of sorts to main character Joel (Dylan O'Brien), and ally and father figure to Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt). The movie is funny, clever, thrilling and heartfelt, and features Rooker as we've rarely seen him before. In our exclusive interview he discussed his experience working on Love and Monsters, why he had "perfect" hair for the film and the reason playing Savant in The Suicide Squad was "a dream come true."

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CBR: You were in an apocalypse before Love and Monsters.

Michael Rooker: Of course.

So what appealed to you about going back, this time for the monsterpocalypse?

Yeah, well, you know what, I think the similarities is that both characters, Merle Dixon and also Clyde, are both obviously outdoorsmen. They can survive in the wilderness anywhere, anyhow. And I can do that as well. I mean, I'm very good at camping and hiking and stuff, and I really enjoy nature, but I would be calling in the drone for my pumpkin spice latte [Laughs]. Once I make it to this crest of the mountain, I would call in a drone and have lunch delivered. That would be my way around the apocalyptic events of Love and Monsters.

That's what I want to do next time I'm on set. I want to call in a drone and have coffee delivered. [Laughs] And that's exactly what I'm going to do! Don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to do it first. I want to do it first.

It sounds like a good plan.

That's a great plan. [Laughs] Oh my gosh, I wish I had thought of that. I wonder if it would have been possible over in Australia [where Love and Monsters was filmed].

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It’s a really fun movie, what was it like to shoot?

Oh, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Did you enjoy it? It is fun.

I really enjoyed it. It was really funny, it had a lot of heart and I loved the vision of the apocalypse with the monsters. What was it like knowing you were acting opposite monsters?

We had a blast! It was ridiculous. Because it’s all green-screen stuff when that kind of thing happens. Actually it wasn't even green screen. Was it blue? I think it was blue this time. They keep changing the screen colors, it drives me crazy. It's interesting, I didn't have to do a lot of action sequences with monsters, but we did have the really slow moving one, the rock slug. That was very cool.

And we had the special effects guy. They could tell us about how big it's going to be, how long the head's going to be, stuff like that. So as the actors, we have to adjust eyelines and do our imagination thing. So we had seen drawings of the monster, so we kind of knew what they look like. So it wasn't just like, "There's going to be a big giant monster over here." So we kind of knew. We saw the sketches and things, so we kind of knew which one we're talking about and what it's going to look like.

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Your character also has a pretty unique look for the film. Where did the idea for the wig and the hat come from?

No wig! That's my real hair. [Laughs]

I'm used to seeing you with no hair!

That was my real hair! I grew my hair out for a different role prior to Love and Monsters. And then I grew my beard as well. And so when I got back home, I got the offer for Love and Monsters and I realized, "Oh my gosh, my hair is perfect for this role. And my beard is perfect." It was just right for me. I don't have to worry about a wig, I don’t have to worry about a beard, I don't have to worry about any of that stuff. I can just keep my hair and keep my beard and I'm ready to go. That’s what happened. It was really great. It ended up being perfect. It ended up being really fun and perfect. The hair turned out great, having it all whacked out and weird and crazy. And [because Clyde is] living in the outside all the time, having it look kind of dirty and sweaty and all that kind of stuff. It was a blast.

What was it like working with Dylan O'Brien and Ariana Greenblatt?

What a crazy team. We were. Me and Ariana, what a pair, right? [Laughs] We were constantly goofing around and at each other all the time, and it was so much fun. It started right off the bat too. It started right in the first reading, even before the first reading [Laughs]. And I'm always game for that kind of thing. It's just so much fun to find the little kink in the armor and then dig. [Laughs]

So we had a blast. And Dylan was a cool dude, and the three of us at the read was just ridiculous and fun. And once we got on set, it just continued from there. Our poor director, I felt sorry for him [Laughs] having to deal with all these three nutcases.

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Clyde is actually a lot nicer than some of your well-known characters, especially Merle in The Walking Dead.

Yeah, Clyde is kind of like the sage, the Obi-Wan of Love and Monsters. I mean, his history and his experience he's passing on as much as possible to Dylan's character as he possibly can. And the poor kid, when we see him, we're surprised that he hasn't been eaten sooner. [Laughs] We pull him out of a situation where he should never have gotten into. And that knowledge and that kind of sage advice on survival pulled [O'Brien's character] through the rest of the movie, because there was a lot of situations where he would have been eaten right away.

Yes. That's very clear.

Poor guy. [Laughs] Clyde was a very cool character. Very interesting guy, been through a lot. Ariana's character and my character have been through a lot. They've literally lost everyone, everyone they know is gone now. So if you've ever lost someone dear to you, a family member or anything, you know you never get over that, and to have lost entire groups of individuals… I mean, they're living their lives and they're surviving, but there's still, probably at times, those grieving moments that you have to sit down and step away, right?

I think that's where the heart comes from of this little movie, not just Dylan’s character making a choice to find the true love of his life. And it’s a beautiful coming of age, some beautiful moments in there. But all of these people in this project, all of the characters, we don't bring this out in the movie, but all of these characters, you must realize, have gone through horrific, horrific times prior to when we see them. I like to develop history for my characters, you know, where they came from and who were they before these kinds of things occur. It was a challenging piece, I thought. And I'm glad you appreciate the role, because it was something different than I get to usually play.

It's fun to see you in that wise role.

That was so far from myself. [Laughs] You mentioned wise. Oh my goodness, yes. As you get older, as you age, you would hope that you get wiser don’t you think? Maybe one day I will feel that. [Laughs]

But I love getting these opportunities to play these kinds of roles. We just had an absolute wonderful time together. All the actors and director Michael [Matthews] was great. Everyone was great.

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You also have some big things coming up, like The Suicide Squad. Can you tease anything about that movie?

Suicide Squad, I play Savant. And I tell people that I hope my hair gets its own credit. I would give up my billing for my hair. I would allow my hair to have my billing over me. [Laughs] I’ve always wanted to have long, straight hair. I have curly hair. I have kind of wild, crazy, kinky, curly hair. That's my real hair. And that's kind of what my hair looks like when it's long and crazy and have a hat on, and that's what it looks like. So the difference between Love and Monster's hair, which is my hair, and Savant’s hair is night and day completely.

And I've always as a kid, as a teenager, I've always wanted to be able to move my head very quickly and flip my hair back out of my eyes and that never, ever happened. So for [writer and director] James Gunn to write a role in there for me, Savant with long hair, it was a dream come true. I had a blast doing that role too. [It’s] a big, big movie. James Gunn is genius in this movie. The writing was genius, the directing, of course, it goes without saying. [The cast] are marvelous together [Laughs]. And the movie is going to be quite a beautiful piece.

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I have to let you go, but I want to ask one last thing. The Walking Dead is ending next year. Is there any chance we'll see you return as Merle before the finale?

Not that I know of. I can take a hint, they killed me two times. [Laughs] Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to happen.

But I'd like to mention I'm also in Fast 9. Fast 9's going to be a beautiful piece and I'm glad we're all waiting. I’m glad everything was pushed back so [it can] come out on the big screen. I'm happy that Love and Monsters is coming out on the screens all over the world […] and you'll be able to order it, and you’ll be able to order it even more than once. You'll be able to go, put it on pause, run and get your supper, come back in front of your screen and watch it again. So it's going to be a blast.

Directed by Michael Matthews and written by Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson, Love and Monsters stars Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt. The movie is currently available on digital and premium video on demand.

NEXT: Dylan O' Brien on Everything He Loves About Love and Monsters