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With roles in two hugely talked about projects, The Blind Side and The Walking Dead, IronE Singleton is a name we will all soon come to know and a face we already do.

Singleton has led a tough life like many other inner city youth growing up in low-income housing projects, but he fought for a different life for himself and is now an unstoppable force in the acting world, finding himself a crucial component of the biggest show in basic cable history. Seriously, not even the undead can stop IronE (or should we say T-Dog on The Walking Dead).

With new episodes of The Walking Dead returning and picking up with the second half of season two, PCM's Allison was more than excited to speak with IronE about what to expect from the rest of the season, what it's like on set amidst zombies and intense scenes, a new Lifetime movie he's working on, how he dealt with real-life zombies and much more!

His passion for acting and life and love, in general, comes across in his answers and most certainly in his personality. Here's hoping T-Dog makes it through the season so that we can have the pleasure of speaking with him again soon! Be sure to read below to find out everything he had to share with us!

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.
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The Walking Dead fans are just buzzing right now in anticipation of the new episodes. How incredible is it for you to be part of a show that is so beloved?

Oh man, it's a dream come true. I have those moments and I'm like, how did this happen? How did I come out of the projects, out of the ghetto, to land on the biggest television show in basic cable history? And it's miraculous, but it is a testament to the power of God. Like, what has happened is nothing short of a miracle.

A lot of people want to see Christ walk on water, you know, they won't become a believer unless you see Christ turn two loaves and five fish into an abundance to feed the multitudes, but it's like, we have miracles that happen every day, but if they're not so obvious like that then sometimes they might not buy into it. But I'm here to say that God is real and God has worked in my life because, you know, I'm living proof of it.

Absolutely. And you do have such an incredible story of overcoming the odds and being that living proof. I mean, did you ever expect that'd you be fighting zombies today?

[laughs] Well, yeah, you know - I fought a lot of zombies, so to speak, in the inner city coming up because a lot of times, late at night and on the weekends, you see some of the crack addicts walking around there, they kind of look like zombies, really, but without all the prosthetics, without all the makeup. It was a scary situation. And, you know, I had some really close calls, so it was like, okay, well it's similar to the environment that I came from, but at least I know in this situation the likelihood of me dying in the process is not as likely.

But never expected to land in the biggest show in basic cable history, no. Not so soon! It just happened so fast. From The Blind Side and within a year of that being on this show, two projects - one made it to the Oscars and was nominated for so many other awards and then this one which has been nominated for so many awards - and it happened within a year, so it's insane.

It's incredible! So, we're picking back up mid-season, can you tease us a bit about what we can expect in the weeks to come?

It's going to be a lot crazier. I don't know how anybody can imagine that, from what you've already seen, I know people are like O-M-G-ing, they're like crazy, right? It gets bigger and it gets better. I'm like, how can you top what you just did? My thing was: how can you top season 1? Then we come back and in our first six episodes, we top season one! That's how I feel.

And then now, these next six episodes, from what [showrunner] Glen Mazzara e-mailed the cast last night, he said that these next six episodes are incredible and that we outdid ourselves. Everyone, but more particularly - some people will survive, some people won't and T-Dog might be one of the ones that won't survive or he might survive... you have to tune in and find out! But it gets better, even better.

Great, and I was going to ask, you know, what's your general reaction when you're reading the scripts for the first time? Anything can happen on the show at any time, so do you worry at all about what may be in store for T-Dog?

Yeah! I get the script and I flip to the back! I say, ok, I read from back to front. [laughs] I say, alright, let's see exactly what T-Dog's fate is in this episode. So if I see that, okay, well, his last line is not one where he is saying "Oh! Tell my family I love them! I love you guys!" I'm like, okay, I'm good! He survives. But yes, it's quite a concern! [laughs] We get our script and we always want to know if we're going to make it through the next episode.

Well, you know, that midseason finale was pretty intense and pretty poignant with the big scene at the barn where we found out about Sophia. How was that to film? You know, how emotional was that for the cast and crew to be a part of?

It was very emotional. I just got off the phone with Al from Boston, I think, and we talked about that. And he was asking me what do we normally do after we film an intense scene, do we just try to flip it, like go to a happy place, to cope with all that intensity we just experienced?

And I said, well, for the most part, most of the time, we do, but that particular scene it was just hard to do such a horrific moment. And with Sophia becoming, [actress] Madison Lintz becoming so close to the family, like she had become a part of our family, and to see her come out of that barn like a zombie, it was just tough for all of us to take in. You know, it was really a tough scene, tough moment. We stayed in that place for a while. We stayed in that place.

Right. Well, how about when things maybe aren't that intense. Can you speak a bit about the atmosphere on set, in general? I imagine between the cast and the content of the show and the zombies walking around, it has to be quite something.

Wow, it is! Yeah, it's a crazy environment. But the show, I'll tell you this, the show is so successful because we all love each other. We are really - we're a happy family. That's how I look at it. It's like my second family there.

There's such great energy, great vibes, you know, everybody gets along. We laugh, so when the cameras aren't rolling and we're not bashing in zombies' heads, then we're just laughing and joking around with each other and playing. I think that it works well, you know, when you have to work with an individual every day. So I think that that is a major contributing factor to the success of the show, just our good relationship with each other.

And then, you know, the zombies, they come on and I've gotten from some of them - they say, "Wow. Normally when I go onto the set as an extra, you know, they don't show us much love, but you guys just embrace us, show us so much love and so it exists between everybody: the cast, the extras and the crew, we all get along. It's a collaborative effort and wouldn't be what it is without everybody's efforts.

That's amazing. And you were speaking a bit about season one and season two, but there was a change in showrunners between the two seasons. And there are some people who find the first season is very much in your face with the zombies and the second season is a bit more about character development and storylines. Do you notice any differences in the show? Or do you find it's still heading in that same direction?

Yeah, I don't think anything changed because - well, Glen Mazzara is our showrunner now and Frank Darabont was our showrunner at the beginning and the executive producer. Now Glen Mazzara was under Frank, so he was Frank's right hand man and basically, Frank's vision carried over into the first half of season two because he was around to put together I think the first four or five, if not six, scripts, so what you've seen so far, for the most part, for the most part, is the vision of Frank Darabont.

Now, he had a lot to do with that. So the stuff that you're going to see upcoming, I don't think Frank's hands were in, but no, this was basically the game plan, I think. The plan was to develop the characters a little more in season two and that's what they've been doing.

Well, fans agree it's headed in a great direction! Now, you're currently filming a movie in Toronto, right?

Yes! I'm working with Neve Campbell right now and we're doing a movie called Sworn to Silence based on the best-selling novel by Linda Castillo, I'm going to have to figure out exactly how you pronounce that. [laughs] I play Officer Rupert Nichols and we're in search of a serial killer -trying to track a serial killer before he takes out the entire Amish community in a small town in Ohio.

Sounds like a great one. How is working with Neve?

She's beautiful! She's beautiful, she's a sweet person, very charming, I love her smile. She's a wonderful person.

And this is a Lifetime movie, right?

It is a Lifetime movie!

I love that you can jump into all these projects. You know, from The Walking Dead to a Lifetime movie, that's incredible! Do you enjoy challenging yourself and pushing the boundaries of what you're doing?

That's one of the big reasons why I became an actor. I want to do that! I want to run the gamut. I want to pretty much go where no man has gone before! You know, I'm not afraid of taking chances. That's what we did in college, when I did theater we just embraced those moments to take chances, to take risks. You know, I'm not in it to be a cookie cutter actor. I'm in it to have fun.

And another reason I got into it was because I loved the fear that it brought on. You know, when I first got on stage, I loved that fear that I had to deal with, sweaty palms and having to get on stage in front of thousands of people and performing - there's just something about that. So, for me, to play a character that may be something that's totally unlike who I am, I embrace that, especially if there's a positive message involved, like in the overall production, not just my character.

My character could be a slimy, sleaze ball or whatever, but if the overall message of the production is a good one, a positive one, for instance, my character from The Blind Side. He was sleazy. He was a creep. But the message itself, I was just glad to be a part of something like that. So whenever I get an opportunity to do something different, I'm excited!

Absolutely! And we are Pop Culture Madness, so we love being immersed in pop culture. But how about you? Is there anything you can't get enough of these days?

Hm, you know what? Not really... I can't get enough of people doing good things in the world. Especially our artists get a lot of flack because they're in the spotlight and because it sells to put out drama, but I love the ones that don't stoop to that level. They take the high road and they continue to stay positive about things. I can't get enough of that.

I'm always moved to see when those artists do that. Sometimes they give in to temptation, in a sense people kind of provoke them into taking the low road and that's disheartening, saddening. But the ones that continue to stay on that high road, I love that! I can't get enough of that! [laughs]

Absolutely! Well, thank you so much for speaking with me today, do you have a final message for your fans and the visitors of Pop Culture Madness?

Yeah! Truth and love! You know, truth and love, basically that's the think that's going to create a better society, a better world. You know, it's always about speaking the truth, but speaking with love in your heart because one can't survive without the other. A lot of people say, "yeah, I'm just speaking the truth, what's the problem?" But, you know, if it creates tension, if it creates drama, then that means that it was probably lacking the love.

So let's just live our lives based on truth and love and I think everything will work out. Listen, obey that voice deep down inside of you and things will work out in this life. Even given all of the obstacles and the circumstances, if we continue to live our lives based on those principles, everything will work out. Love you, guys!