The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride have been reminiscing on how their characters have developed in the 15 years since the franchise first launched on TV.
With Walkers scaring buyers as they hobbled around the Palais des Festivals, Reedus and McBride were on hand to recall their experiences alongside Walking Dead universe chief Scott Gimple and Dan McDermott, AMC Networks President of Entertainment and AMC Studios.
Reedus, who plays the iconic Daryl Dixon in the original Walking Dead series and its spin-off The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, discussed how his character had gone from a rage-driven survivor to become a widely-loved leader and expert tracker, pointing to conversations with the writers and Gimple, who
“It’s been great,” he said. “I think the turning point for that character was when his brother died. He was going to be exactly like his brother, a racist who takes drugs and be this negative person, but when his brother died – his only family – I wanted to use that as an opportunity for him to become his own man with his feet on the ground and become a respectable person. They allowed me to do that.”
McBride’s character, Carol, has also gone through a startling transformation. She begins an abused wife and mother, who eventually loses her husband and daughter, and becomes a hardened survivor and an emotional core of the show. “It’s really fun for me as an actor approaching that part in different phases, as the world changed around her and the world challenged her,” she said.
Carol and Daryl become close friends over the eleven seasons of The Walking Dead and are reunited in Europe in Daryl Dixon, and McBride said the relationship was key for her character’s development.
“So much of the first part of her appearance in the story was just utter grief, immobilization and despair, and I’m so grateful that the two of them hit it off in those early stages and got to evolve together,” she added.
“Both characters come from a place of abuse,” added Reedus. “You can feel it with us.”
Earlier, Kristin Dolan, CEO of AMC Networks, made a similar point in opening remarks to introduce the panel. “The secret of the success of The Walking Dead was never the zombies. It was the humans at the heart of the story.”
McDermott told moderator Aisha Tyler, who has directed episodes of the show and had an Saturn Award-nominated role in Fear the Walking Dead, that it was “impossible to overstate the monumental importance of The Walking Dead show to AMC.”
“For starters, the mothership show is the first show AMC Studios produced for AMC, and it has now yielded six spin-offs with these characters, Daryl and Carol, who are emblazoned into the national record and forever will be,” he added.
“It has 48 of the top 50 cable television broadcasts in history. That is astounding. There are many more stories to tell in this universe, many more continents to visit. It’s quite possible you’re going to see group on stage up here in 15 years talking about where else these two have journeyed in the world.
“It’s really exciting to see how far we can take this.”
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