And at the top of the list was the return ofLauren Cohan’s Maggie.
“Lauren and I have always bonded,“showrunner Angela Kang told EW.
“She’s so lovely and so fun to work with.
Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
She just brings such energy and optimism and positivity to our set.
So we’d been trying to work out, ‘How and when can you come back?’
And then she just stepped on set and it was like no time had passed at all.
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee and Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel Stokes on ‘The Walking Dead’.Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
So it was really great.”
What was it like for Cohan to return to her old stomping grounds?
She actually came out to Prague and directed some episodes ofWhiskey Cavalier.
So she and I had developed a friendship.
And I would love to direct when there’s room in my mental space from acting.
And so I just tagged along and followed Daisy and just learned a huge amount.
So to watch the beast ofThe Walking Deadand what it takes to direct these episodes was amazing.
So you think at some point maybe you might want to go behind the camera there?
I watch shows differently.
Like you had transferred back to your old school but there were suddenly a bunch of new students there?
Yeah, “That’s my seat!”
No, I’m just kidding.
It was a lot of my old friends, but a lot of new ones.
And it’s weird.
It kind of felt like that, but it felt so relaxed.
You know how it is, it’s like you sink or swim being here.
So you’re either in and it’s all going well well, that’s really the only option.
That’s just what has to happen.
No choice in the matter.
So it felt very familiar.
So I got to know everybody.
I felt like a watcher, you know what I mean?
More of the latter because we knew I was coming back.
I think part of it was, they were still hammering out some story.
And so Angela had basically said, “You’re going to be coming back in.”
I said, “I’ve been gone a long time.
Do I have a different mindset, skill set?
Is my son still alive?”
She was able to say yes to those three things.
And then we just sort of kept everything a little bit mysterious from there.
Some good has happened.
Some bad has happened.
And now here we are getting ready to shoot these six episodes, which is like 10 part B.
And it’s been really juicy because we never get six episodes at a time, first of all.
So that’s just really exciting.
And then it turns out there’s been some good and some bad.
And it’s going to be pretty and it’s going to be ugly.
No, we knew like 24 hours before you guys did.
So it gives you some time to get used to it.
And you get to go out with a bang, knowing the end point.
You’re disappointed on one level, because you think this is never going to end.
And then you’re relieved because you think this is never going to end.
So I respect that always in TV shows, like English series that are just such limited things.
And you’re like, “Okay, cool.
We know that I’m fully invested to this point.”
Do you know where Maggie is going to be at the end of those 30 episodes?
Angela hasn’t shared that with you, has she?
I know that there are murmurings of an extended story with Maggie when the official mothership is done.
I’m in the moment now.
Maggie gets to come back and save the day here in this episode.
But why does she ultimately come back?
Was the news in that note she reads at the top of the episode just too much to ignore?
They did have things under control, but then to learn about Tara and Enid and Jesus.
So that’s a nice surprise we’ll get to.
And just as anybody would, just give it a minute or forever.
Well, that’s the interesting thing moving forward that I think I’m really looking forward to seeing.
We’ve been watching Daryl still been carrying the anti-Negan torch.
But now at the end of this episode, they sort of team up to take out Beta.
But now here comes Maggie back and…
How dare you guys!
He’s like part of the gang, he’s part of the crew now.
And that’s got to be weird for her.
Yeah, I’m like, “Daryl was my friend!”
Like at least he was in a cell when you left.
You know what it is: “I leave you guys for nine years and this is what happens?
You let the psychopath out.
I don’t care who he helped.
I don’t care what he did.
There’s no excuse.”
[Laughs] Yeah, I know.
I don’t know any of this.
And even if I did…
So, it’s going to be a lot.
It’s definitely going to be a lot when she comes back.
I’m so jonesing to get into it.
It’s really, it’s fricking great.
And I couldn’t be doing it with anybody more fun than Jeffrey [Dean Morgan].
It’s just, we’re really amped.
That is going to be interesting.
First of all, where’s Herschel?
We didn’t see Herschel in this episode.
Oh, we’ll see.
It’s really a wild ride, these six episodes that we’re doing.
I’m not going to say anything, though.
Were you given any information at the time who this person was?
So it’s funny because I had said to Angela, “So, what’s changed?
How does she fight now?”
This punch in of thing.
And, “Do I need to be training?
Like, what do I need to do to tell this story?”
And she’s like, “Well, we have this person.
And they’re going to sort of, this will say a lot kind of thing.”
And so I read this episode, and I was so gleeful to read how I come back in.
For people who read the comic, know that this would have been Gabriel’s last moment.
The whole moment was just really happy and fun.
And I love using words likehappyandfunwhen I talk about our show.
I think some part of me is like, “Must get bright words in here.”
It’s an absolute laugh riot, Lauren.
It’s a laugh riot!
Just kick off your shoes, lay back.
How excited are you to get back at it?
It’s pretty unreal, to be honest with you.
I mean working first of all, just rad.
And it’s really good.
I did a music video.
I won’t say who it’s for yet until it’s about to come out.
So my first AD fromWalking Dead, Matthew Goodwin, came on.
And he was our first AD for the music video.
And it was beautiful.
It was such a good experience because I was like, “Okay, cool.
We’ve got the red team, we got the blue team.
When the blue team’s here, the red team’s out.
Things are going to be a bit different, but we’re adults and we can do it.”
And it’s cool.
There’s definitely going to be some kills by distance.
