NEW YORK, Nov. 3 (UPI) — The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon actress Melissa McBride says the disappearance of her best friend is the worst thing to happen to her character Carol since her young daughter Sophia was killed in the franchise’s zombie apocalypse years ago.
McBride, 59, played Carol for 11 seasons of The Walking Dead from 2010 to 2022.
She reprises the role in Season 2 of the spin-off Daryl Dixon, which reunites Carol with her favorite person, the show’s titular hero (Norman Reedus), who was kidnapped and dragged to France.
“I wouldn’t say a whole lot has changed [about Carol]. I think that she is just on a new mission and we are getting to see a little more in her bag of tricks,” McBride told UPI at a recent New York Comic Con press conference.
“I don’t think she’s ever been pushed this far as when she lost Sophia as when her best friend didn’t return, so it’s really fun to play and great to explore this part of Carol.”
Season 1 of Daryl Dixon showed Daryl traipsing through France, trying to find a way home and protecting the people he meets, while Carol was back in the United States investigating what happened to him.
In Season 2, Carol figures out that Daryl is in France and she lies to new acquaintance Ash (Manish Dayal) to get him to fly her to France in his plane, supposedly so she can look for her daughter.
Even after all these years of playing Carol, the character and the world are still fascinating to McBride.
“I’m surprised all the time,” she said.
“I look around and I’m surprised we’re still at it and it’s still interesting and I still enjoy working with [Reedus] and I hope he still enjoys working with me and the material is fresh, and we’re still learning about these characters, and they’re still interesting to me,” she added.
“I love Carol and I do love getting to know her better and exploring her emotions, her pragmatism, the things that she’s capable of, not capable of.”
Reedus, sitting alongside McBride, said he loves the evolution of Daryl and Carol’s relationship from Season 1 of the flagship series until now.
“The original show was about Rick and you had all these characters around Rick and Rick’s story,” Reedus, 55, added.
“But these two characters always were checking up on each other from Day 1, [saying,] ‘You all right?’ Sophia goes missing. She tells me I’m just as good as everybody. We’ve always had this connection that’s always been very honest. So, when you see the two characters on camera now, on TV now, the relationship feels earned. We’ve earned it.”
One reason for that is because Reedus and McBride are good friends in real life, as well.
“There’s little moments that only two people who have known each other, been through everything they’ve been through together, that resonate in a different way than just two characters written that are showing up pretending to know each other. We actually really know each other,” Reedus said.
That familiarity gives great texture and emotion to their scenes together, he added.
“If it’s a serious scene, if it’s a crying scene, if it’s sad, or if it’s kind of funny — like the funny scenes are almost like Carol Burnett or I Love Lucy,” Reedus said. “There’s hidden little smirks and things that are real, so I like that.”
Wrapping up its second season on AMC Sunday, the show’s cast also includes Clémence Poésy, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, Laika Blanc Francard, Charrier, Romain Levi, Eriq Ebouaney and Joel de la Fuente.
Season 3 of Daryl Dixon is filming now. It will take Daryl and Carol to Spain.