7 Things You Didn’t Know About iZombie

iZombie is unlike any other show on The CW. The relatively new series was developed by Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright and is loosely based on the comic book series of the same name. iZombie premiered back in 2015 and is already onto its third season! It has received rave reviews from critics and garnered a strong fan base. In honor of the shows success, here’s a look at 7 things you might not have known about iZombie!

7. The Zombie Look

The zombie transformation requires a lot of make-up, a wig and a little bit of CGI. When Liv goes into full zombie mode her eyes turn red which is when the CGI comes into play. According to make-up artist Amber Trudeau, they used contact lenses in the pilot, but had to switch over to CGI because it had a better effect and the lenses were making Roses’ eyes all watery. It seems the make-up process is just as complex with a lot of different blends. “Her eyes can look a lot darker in the morgue, so it took about six episodes to really get the look as perfect as we could in every atmosphere we were shooting,” said Trudeau.

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6. Same Creative Team as Veronica Mars

Fans of Veronica Mars will love iZombie because both shows share the same creative team! Rob Thomas, the talented creator behind Veronica Mars, is the brains (pun intended) behind the CW’s iZombie. The two shows have a lot of similarities that come from Thomas, like those iconic voice overs from Veronica Mars and it’s another show centered around a strong, female character. He also cast a few of the same actors like Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni and Darren Norris.

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5. Loosely Based on the DC Comic

If the title iZombie sounds familiar, that’s because it is! The show is loosely based on the DC Comic series of the same name, but the story differs greatly. The show focuses on medical resident Olivia Moore who is turned into a zombie after being bitten by one. Similar to the comic, she absorbs the memories of the dead when she eats their brains, something she’s begun to do after being turned into a zombie. Luckily, her job at the coroner’s office keeps her in good supply, so she doesn’t have to kill anyone. She then takes her knowledge of the deceased to help the police solve their murder cases.

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4. Was Supposed to Come Out Earlier

iZombie finally came to life in 2015, but according to creator Rob Thomas, he’s had the idea for a long time. He wanted to pitch the idea for the show a long time ago, but The Walking Dead beat him to the punch. “A week before I was going to take it out, Frank Darabont sold ‘The Walking Dead’ to AMC,” said Thomas in an interview with KROQ’s Kevin & Bean. “It killed my pitch. No one wanted to be the second zombie show.”

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3. Rose McIver’s Role Came Naturally to Her

In an interview with TVGuide, Rose McIver, who plays lead character Olivia “Liv” Moore, said she had no trouble acting like a zombie for her role. The hard part about her job in the beginning was learning how to be a medical student! Her character can be pretty complex at times because, although she’s technically dead, she has to live among her living friends and family. “It’s a very subvertsy idea that you become a zombie and you’re just this undead force. You’re still engaging with the people around you and you still have personal problems. She doesn’t want to eat brains so she does it in the most ethical way possible by eating the brains of dead people,” said McIver.

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2. Brain Food

In pretty much every single episode of iZombie, Liv and Blaine are seen eating brains — but what are they actually eating in those scenes? According to Rose McIver and David Anders, the brains they have to eat are made out of gelatin and taste really bad. “It’s often made from clumps of gelatin, bits of corn syrup, and vegetable juice,” said McIver. Both actors use spit buckets after each scene where they have to eat a brain!

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1. Opening Credits

The opening credits of iZombie were created to look like a comic book, probably because the show itself is loosely based on one. What makes them interesting is that the artist who drew the opening credits is the main artist of the comic book!