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Fans of The Walking Dead have been waiting for-ev-er to find out what happened to leader Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who was presumed dead at the end of Season 9 when he exploded a bridge to save his warrior wife Michonne (Danai Gurira) and their people.
What Michonne and the rest of the survivors didn’t know was that a severely injured Rick was saved (or was it abducted?) by the former Scavengers leader Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and her allegiance with the Civic Republic Military (CRM). But in the series finale, four years later, we got a new glimpse of Rick, barefooted on a walker-infested beach, where a CRM helicopter hovers with a man telling him to surrender as “there’s no escape for the living,” while his lover Michonne desperately tries to find him. While Jadis’ connection with the CRM was explained in World Beyond, here we caught up with McIntosh for her insights on the six-episode new series The Ones Who Live (Sundays beginning Feb. 25 at 9pm ET/PT on AMC).
On returning to her character and the cast: The first day, I was really looking forward to getting back in the skin of Jadis; she’s so paced at how she deals with things and she’s constantly watchful of everything else that’s going on so that she can ensure she makes the best play. She’s like a chess player in my head, and there’s something very comfortable for me about sitting in that character. It slows me down a little. I’m much more naturally hyperactive than Jadis, so I was kind of looking forward to just putting on the heavy boots and getting weighted. And the first day, the first work that Andy [Andrew Lincoln] and I did together was a very intense scene. It just didn’t disappoint in the playfulness, the emotion, the joy, the high fives between takes.
Is Jadis friend or enemy? We’ve already found out about Jadis’ background with the Civic Republic on Walking Dead: World Beyond; she has a strong position as a warrant officer there. She takes her job very seriously and she believes that the Civic Republic and military are doing the right thing for the future of humanity. But Rick Grimes has a way of looking at things a little differently, and there’s some conflict of opinion there. So I’d say she’s challenged in this show perhaps more than we’ve ever seen her be challenged before.
On the ending: I’m very satisfied. There’s some extraordinary stuff in there. There’s an exploration of the male experience that I think I’ve certainly been missing in a lot of other things I’ve been watching. And there’s a lot of action, which I love — you can see and feel it and understand what’s happening and be in the moment with the characters.
Prepare for some emotions: It’s not black and white. I think that’s one of the reasons that people love it so much is that the show understands the nuance of being a human. And life ain’t black and white, it’s complicated. I would say watch it with somebody you can squeeze the hand of, that you can hide in the shoulder of, and that will be there to hold you when you’re having a good cry.
