On The Walking Dead: Dead City, Lauren Cohan plays the indomitable yet vulnerable Maggie Rhee. In this Q&A with amc.com, she talks about battling the Walker King, Maggie and Hershel's fraught relationship, and the intrigue set up by the season finale.

Q: Maggie beating a walker to a bloody pulp and screaming in anguish was quite a way to start the series. What did you think of this scene as Maggie's reintroduction to viewers?
A: You know, when I watched the scene back [at the premiere], it occurred to me then that it almost felt like a dream sequence. Not a positive dream sequence or anything, but it almost felt like it was a big, beautiful metaphor for everything people go through and for what she's gone through. It's like, "Does she really do that? Or is this something that is just an unfulfilled catharsis?" Because when we meet her at the beginning, it's been three days that she's been sitting there watching, figuring out, strategizing how she's going to get into the city and get her son. It's an overwhelming task ahead. I thought that that scene was a real physical manifestation of those broken hearts that we've seen for over a decade on The Walking Dead.
Q: There's that scene in Episode 2 at the bank when Negan guts a Burazi and lets the blood rain down on everyone below and then throws him over the side. Is Maggie surprised by how brutal Negan still is?
A: Yeah, I do think that it surprises her to see it. In some ways, it confirms the things she thought were always there that maybe he was hiding, but in other ways, she knows he had to pull up something he dreaded for the protection of her and the other people in the group. I think both of those things challenge the belief system she wants to hold in order to get this mission done. She knows that this is somebody who owes her something and he's going to help her get her son… and then all will somehow be balanced. But that's not necessarily the case and things aren't cut and dry. He’s also in pain about these things, and about having to harness that persona. So, I thought that was a really powerful scene.
Yes. Negan seemed to be on some kind of path to redemption when The Walking Dead ended.
Yeah. He's been feeling very, very guilty for a long time, and I know that Maggie knows this intellectually, that he's made these amends and he's trying. But just think back on the impact of the events of [The Walking Dead] Seasons 7 and 8 — it's not something that you can will away. You have subconscious triggers that are directing your behaviors and your belief system that take a long time to iron out.
Q: What did you think of the grotesque hydra-headed, many-limbed walker? How impressive is it that Greg Nicotero and KNB EFX keep topping themselves like this?
A: Yeah, I don't even know how to do justice with words to what we get to see on screen with that Walker King! It started because we definitely wanted to top the walkers we've had through the seasons on The Walking Dead. We're so lucky that Greg and the KNB team have been with us since the beginning. We share such a close bond. When [showrunner] Eli [Jorné] took the story and set it in New York, he wanted to go as far as he could in bringing things we would expect from a city far into the apocalypse, but with The Walking Dead twist. There’s something called a rat king, which is when a lot of bodies of rats get melded together. I think it's either that they become one body or that one sort of drags the others. I mean, obviously whatever it is, it's gruesome and great. So, he transferred that idea to the bodies of walkers and that's what we get to see there. The Walker King was a stunt performer with two puppets connected with our puppeteers in green suits during the whole filming process. Meanwhile, I'm in the muck there in that pile of bodies. It was definitely one of my favorite days on set! By favorite, I mean it was completely disgusting! But I feel pretty chuffed that I got to have that one.
Q: Yes, because you were the only one that got to fight it!
A: Yeah, it was good! For me, it was a representation of the demons in all of us, to be honest with you. We always like to explore that with our zombies.
Q: Maggie hasn't had the ideal parenting situation, what with Glenn's violent death leaving her as a single parent and Hershel’s current teenage attitude sending her spinning — all set against the backdrop of the apocalypse. At the end of The Walking Dead, she told Negan, "I don't want to hurt like that, and I don't want my son to see that anyone has that kind of hold over me." But she learned from Hershel that she hasn't been very successful at that. What's your view of Maggie's relationship with Hershel?
A: It's highly fraught. It relates so much to needing something massive to shift in your heart, in your life, and in your mind, and not being able to see it, not being able to understand it, and not knowing how to do it, and just getting by. You know, I find these scenes so relatable, struggling to connect with your son and to connect with somebody that you love so much. You just can't figure out the right thing to do and the right thing to do is something that takes this season and into seasons beyond to learn. I am just so glad to explore that as a reality because that's real life. It's not just about not being able to have Glenn there with me to do it. It's that even if we were all there, what do we need to heal and understand so that we can be a great parent and a great partner? And in this case, Maggie and Hershel, they're parent and child, but they’re also two soldiers who have to have each other's back in a world where they're the last ones standing in their family. It's heartbreaking. I can feel his pain.
Q: Does Maggie have any sympathy for Negan by the end of Episode 6? Is there any part of her that regrets giving him up to the Croat? I thought I saw something in your face that maybe there was?
A: I won't say too much. There's a whole cocktail of things that I’m really looking forward to diving into. I know what I want to happen, and I know what would be interesting to happen. I will say that it's not as if I traded Negan in and everything's hunky dory. It's like so many situations in this world. You hope that the thing you do is going to give you peace and relief, and it doesn't always do that. If it does, it may just be in fleeting moments or in parts and pieces. It's the moments where you keep stepping forward and keep wondering about the right thing to do that are interesting to me.
Q: Can we talk about the ending? Even though Hershel is back with Maggie, it seems like he isn't safe because The Dama still has him in her sights and is using him to blackmail Negan. Is that what's being set up here?
A: I was so happy with the way the show set up intrigue about everybody's intentions by the end of the season because they're all forces to be reckoned with. I mean, even Hershel and the way his heart may be pulled is going to be a huge force to reckon with. When we really understand the way that The Dama pulls the strings and the Croat's devotion to her as well as to Negan and being pulled in between both but wanted by neither — that really sets us up to see how people will maneuver each other.
*This conversation took place before the SAG-AFTRA strike.
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