On Fear the Walking Dead, Kim Dickens plays Madison, who started this season as PADRE's prisoner and ends the first half in her rightful place as a leader. In this interview with amc.com, she talks about sharing the screen again with Jenna Elfman and Rubén Blades, shattering PADRE's facade both literally and figuratively, and appreciating the chance to work with Lennie James.

Q: Madison starts Season 8 broken and a captive of PADRE. Can you talk a little bit about where we find her at the beginning of Episode 1?
A: At the beginning of Season 8, I feel like we found Madison at the lowest we'd ever seen her, her darkest point. Honestly, she didn't want to live anymore. She didn't have any reason to live anymore. In her mind, she did the last thing she'd set out to do, which was to reunite Mo and Morgan. At least she thought she did. I think at that point, believing her kids are both gone, not really being able to reconcile the crimes of her past — separating children from families for the sake of PADRE — I don't think she felt she had anything more to give or more to live for. I never experienced Madison that low and that dark, and that's where we started.
Q: By the end of Episode 6, she's a leader again and wants to reimagine the island as a place to bring together parents and their children, creating what is essentially the anti-PADRE. What did you think of this development?
A: I thought it was a really beautiful first half of the season arc, and a very generous gift that it came through Morgan and Mo. Their way of giving back to Madison is to say, "Here's your redemption. You can do this. You have a reason. You can make up for your past. You are still worthy, and these people need you and you can lead them back to healing."
Q: Returning to the show as you have, I imagine it's interesting to interact on screen again with your former castmates. In Episode 3, you got a chance to act again with Jenna Elfman. I like how Madison called June "Naomi" at first, which just underscores how much time has passed. Can you talk about Madison and June's relationship after all these years?
A: I thought that was a really clever reunion. Because if we reach back into Season 4 in our memories, I seem to recall [in] their first meeting Naomi pulled a gun on Madison and was going to kill her. But still Madison was so open and believed in humanity. She believed in this better place, so much so that she brought Naomi in only to be betrayed again by Naomi/June. The surprise in seeing her [again] — which gosh must be how many years later — and to recognize this character and probably not be that surprised that she's still living because the June/Naomi character is a resilient character. Madison is strapped to a table when she sees her in Season 8, so she doesn't know what she's going to get, and I think that's a fascinating moment. The generosity of June's spirit is so surprising and it feels so good to see as an audience member. Just me reading it, I was like, "Oh that's great. Now she's got her back." You know, June has lived this life with Madison's kids and has been changed by them, as everybody was, and it's a really beautiful moment to see. I had so much fun working with Jenna. We only got to work together a little bit in Season 4 so that episode, it felt solid. It was good to be together, like girl power!
Q: Also in Episode 3, Madison was reunited with Daniel. What's it been like to share the screen again with Rubén Blades?
A: It's just like putting on a pair of your favorite boots. Honestly, he's just family. We all were certainly bonded by the series from the beginning — being in Los Angeles together to Vancouver to Mexico to Austin to Savannah — so there's some glue there. But I also think it's a nod to the original creators and original casting and Dave Erickson and even Adam Davidson, our initial director, putting this cast together from the very start. It was really a magical moment.
Of course, we've all kept in touch and personally I know Rubén was excited for me to come back to the show and he's a comrade. He really is. He's a big family man when it comes to this show. We go out and we have fellowship together. We socialize, we dine, we do all those things together. So just to see Daniel again was so comforting and we just fell right in step together. I believe our first scene was truly in step; we were walking down that long pathway. A long walk and talk I believe was our first scene together, our first scene back. So like I said we were just able to fall right in step with each other and that's such a fortunate place to be. There's a great comforting nostalgia to being back with Daniel, specifically because we were all in that pilot together.
Q: It was a stunning scene in Episode 3 when Madison shatters that glass and exposes the lie of PADRE and Shrike's deception. I'm not surprised she did that because she's always been a woman of action. How satisfying was it to be the one that got to make that moment happen?
A: [Laughs] It was very satisfying for me because the metaphor of shattering their facade and the mirror they were holding up is so well-written. And then to have such defiant action was very satisfying as well. I love that part of the show. I have always loved the action of it. I don't think I'd ever really done a lot of action before. I'd done some for sure but nothing like this and it's very fun. The stakes are always so high. It's so life and death and I love to call on that part of the character and her survival instincts. And shattering that glass, like I said, on so many levels was so meaningful and it was super fun to do!
Q: Is there a part of Madison that understands all the terrible things Shrike does?
A: Madison is very capable of getting in someone's head and figuring them out because, as you remember, the character starts as a school counselor so there's a certain level of intuition there. She was picking up cues from students and what their home life was like or what their motivation was or what they were really up to. I think that always plays in her interactions. That gift is still there, even within moments with Morgan's character when she doesn't even know what it is but she figures out there's something else that he needs to work on. But I think with Shrike, I don't think she has any forgiveness for it. I think she recognizes what happened to this young woman, but she doesn't really have any time for it.
Q: Let's talk about Morgan. Madison had to say goodbye to him in Episode 6 but not before they were able to help each other. You and Lennie James only got to work together for a few episodes, but was it as great as you thought it would be?
A: In Season 4 Lennie and I were both sad that we didn't get to work together in the transition. So to come back and have the Season 7 finale basically be these two characters was really, I think, healing for both of us, to be honest. These two iconic characters coming together is fascinating and each one offers the other their path to redemption. I think it's a beautiful relationship. We see it begin in Season 7 and then we see it really happen a lot in this first half of Season 8. Lennie and I also just fell right into step together and I think we appreciated each other as human beings and actors and really enjoyed each other. It was inspiring to work with Lennie.
Q: You talk about the two of them offering each other their path to redemption and I love how they were able to do that for each other.
A: I know! It's really poignant. It's really beautiful, and I think the resilience of the human spirit is so palpable in those scenes. It makes me a little teary.
Q: What can you tease about Madison's arc in the second half of Season 8? We haven't seen her with Strand yet and I can't wait for that because it must be coming.
A: You know it's coming, Madison and Strand, because both of us probably would have demanded it if they didn't write it! It's going to be interesting seeing Madison and Strand together. It's going to be shocking and at times not pretty, but at times it'll be comforting. These two characters together are some of the most interesting dynamics I've played, so you have that to look forward to. And there are some surprises. There are hefty surprises.

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