Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira’s Michonne are not the only Walking Dead characters returning for the franchise’s latest — and greatest? — spinoff, The Ones Who Live, which premieres Feb. 25 on AMC. There is one other very familiar face that will be fighting against both the living and the dead, and that is Pollyanna McIntosh’s Jadis Stokes.
In fact, in a way, McIntosh’s inclusion is even more historically significant than the others because she now becomes the first actor to star on three scripted Walking Dead series. (Unless Lennie James’ Morgan shows up on The Ones Who Live first, that is.)
McIntosh’s triple-play is perhaps not a surprise to those who have worked with her. “Pollyanna is special,” says former Walking Dead and current Ones Who Live showrunner Scott M. Gimple. “She’s an artist, she’s funny, she’s brilliant. I’ve depended on her instincts from the beginning of working together, and she hasn’t ever let me down. Running into her in the lobby of the apartment building we all shared, as she wrangled her dogs in elegant winter coats, was a highlight of the week.”
Jadis — then going by the name of Anne — and Rick both flew off in a Civic Republic Military helicopter to parts and a future unknown during season 9 of the flagship series. But while Rick’s fate remained a mystery, Jadis Stokes — reassuming her first name from the Heaps while taking on then boyfriend Father Gabriel’s last name — reappeared on The Walking Dead: World Beyond as a warrant officer for the CRM. She also became a full-on villain who would seemingly do whatever it takes to advance both herself and her organization’s cause — even if it meant turning on former allies.
So what can we expect from Jadis on her third Walking Dead series? “Jadis has had one of the bigger journeys in the TWDU,” says Gimple. “And The Ones Who Live pushes her story into crazier, unexpected places.”
Not only do we have the exclusive first look at Jadis on The Ones Who Live below, but we also spoke to McIntosh all about her three-series journey and what is in store for Jadis 3.0
Gene Page/AMC
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So how and when did you find out that you were going to be able to play Jadis again on now your third different Walking Dead show?
POLLYANNA McINTOSH: It was about five months before Jadis left The Walking Dead that I knew that she was going to carry on. So I’ve been looking forward excitedly to this leg of the journey for all that time. And then World Beyond was just an added beautiful bonus where I got to come in and play her then and bring another crazy haircut to the world — which was my stupid decision because then I had to do it again for this one. I was like, “Oh s—, we have to go back to Dumb and Dumber.”
I did that because I wanted her to be like Joan of Arc. I wanted her to be on this mission that to her was essential and the right way to go. I wanted to make it clear in the story from World Beyond and now in The Ones Who Live that in her eyes what she’s doing is the right thing. And I also thought it gave it a bit of a military edge with that shave. I wanted to give a nod to the original Jadis because I’d been Anne in between, who was a very different character and I wanted to say, “Yeah, Jadis is back. Don’t get comfortable.”
So when you wrapped on World Beyond, you knew then there was more coming with the character?
Yeah, it was always going to be Rick’s story with Jadis and Michonne. Certainly, I knew it would be Jadis and Rick. And then of course I figured you’ve got to have Michonne in there. And because that hadn’t happened in World Beyond, I knew that we’d still have this coming. So it was always that. But it was a beautiful call from Scott in lockdown saying, “We’re doing that thing, but can you also do this other thing and come to World Beyond?” So it wasn’t a question for me when we wrapped World Beyond as to whether we’d be doing The Ones Who Live or not. It was always going to be the plan, because we want to see Rick, right? The question I get asked the most in my life for the last four and a half years is, “What have you done with Rick?”
As you mentioned, she’s a very different Jadis on World Beyond than when she left The Walking Dead. So what kind of Jadis are we going to meet here?
There will be some of the Jadis that you will recognize from World Beyond. She is in the position of Warrant Officer Jadis Stokes. She is still working with the Civic Republic and the Civic Republic Military. So she’s a committed follower of the CRM, but people are not just their jobs, and the old Jadis that we got to know and who has tried her best but has lost many times is a big driving undercurrent of where she’s coming from.
It’s interesting how you mentioned the last name again of Stokes. And look, that’s a character in Gabriel that’s still out there. Should they cross paths, how do you think that might go for her?
Jadis has experienced the pain of loving before. I don’t think she feels there’s a lot of place for that in the apocalypse. She would like there to be. She feels that if the CRM achieve their goals, there can be a world in which we can all go and be in love and have relationships. But as it stands, that can’t be part of her world. That’s just not going to fly with what she has to do.
I think if she and Gabriel were to meet again, she’d have a lot of explaining to do, and there are two people who felt very strongly for each other, but their worldviews are so opposing. But anything can happen in The Walking Dead, as we know. So I think one of the most wonderful things for me as a fan of it is these extraordinary arcs that the characters go on and how you can still always be surprised.
What was it like being back on set with Andrew Lincoln and some of your Walking Dead family?
Oh, it was just wicked. It was truly like the band’s back together. Being that character and getting to connect with another actor and getting to fully go there is just the greatest joy of my work. And Andy is one of those actors who is fully present. He’s fully there, he’s fully in the scene, he’s fully in the character. Anything can happen. There’s such a freedom to it. And so getting to see him again was just a delight.
And getting to work with him again in those scenes, it was like they changed every time. The more pissed off or upset or disappointed or worn down he played it, the more I had to question as Jadis what I was doing. The tougher and more macho he played it, the more I thought, “F— you, you arrogant little prick. It’s not all about you. There’s work to be done here!” And I’m talking about the character. Obviously, Andy could never be an arrogant little prick. So that was just the most wonderful reminder of the days on Walking Dead working together.
Anything else you can say about this show and how it is similar to or different from the original series?
The setting and the locations are very different. The spirit is all there. I’d say it’s a lot of action, it’s a lot of pathos, and it’s a whole lot of love. Look at that! That’s a greeting card! But that’s what it is. And, to me, it’s very much in the spirit of the original. It’s just that we’ve never seen Rick in this situation before.
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