WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 18, "Find Me," which aired Sunday on AMC.
The Walking Dead marked its returns with six additional Season 10 episodes. While last week's episode, "Home Sweet Home," focused on Maggie's return, this week's was all about Daryl. The Carol/Daryl-centric episode contained a big reveal for the crossbow-wielding survivor, that even the show begged AMC+ subscribers with early access not to spoil. The juicy secret in question -- Daryl's first on-screen romance.
For ten seasons, The Walking Dead has tiptoed around Daryl's love life until Episode 18, "Find Me," which delves into Daryl's former relationship with Leah (Lynn Collins) via flashback. In the episode, audiences get insight into Daryl's first confirmed romance and Dog's origin story. CBR had the opportunity to speak to Collins regarding her role and experience working with Norman Reedus and his on-screen canine companion.
CBR: How familiar were you with The Walking Dead before you landed the role of Leah? Were you a fan of the series?
Lynn Collins: I was a huge, huge fan up until Season 5. Then I got pregnant, and I literally couldn't watch anything violent, so everything changed for me at that point. But for those first five years, I was literally an insane fan. I would watch with a group of friends, and they would be like, "If you can't tone it done. You have to leave the room."
So, just being a part of the show, especially in this particular role, is such an honor. People ask, "How do you think you were cast?" I think some of its probably manifestation. I put a lot of emotional energy into this show [laughs].
Given you're such a fan, you must know you're Daryl's first on-screen romance, which is a pretty big deal in the fandom. Do you want to talk a little about what it was like working with Norman Reedus?
Oh my God, I love him. First of all, he's such an incredible actor, so emotionally available. At the end of the day, we are so lucky as actors because we play make-believe. It's what we do. To work with an actor that is so committed emotionally creates this environment where you can go to any length. You can go to any extreme. You can try anything because you have a partner there that has your back, who's holding the fort down and who's going to make-believe with you just an intensely. It's just such an incredible experience. Yeah, he's just a really amazing guy to work with.
Greg Nicotero is absolutely brilliant when it comes to special effects. Given this was your first time on set, what was it like working with the "walkers?" Were they as scary in person as they seem on TV?
Yeah, I was pretty weirded out. When I first saw them, I was like, "Wow!" Especially as a fan of the show, I was like, "This is so surreal right now. What is happening?"
I don't know. Maybe Norm saw that. I'm not sure. I think he probably did. So, he looked at me and said, "Hey, watch this," and he started doing this bouncy dancing thing, and then all of the actors who are playing the walkers started bouncing with him at the same time [laughs]. I was like, "Oh my God, this is such a trip." After that, I was like, "Okay." It sort of broke the spell, and I was like, "Okay, this is super fun, and this is super cool."
Along that same line, did you undergo any special training for your part?
Whenever you're working with weapons, you have somebody who is shadowing you a bit to make sure you're doing it right and to make sure everything's safe. But recently, every part I've played the character – for the last two years – as like a 12 gauge shotgun. So, I was like, "Oh, no problem. This is apparently my prop for life. So, we're good."
What about the fishing scene? What did that look like? Was it just movie magic or a little bit of skill?
Yes. I also love fishing, but you know, I have fishing poles and special lures in my life that I use. These guys, they use a spear. So, there was a little bit of movie magic that went on. But it was actually one of my favorite scenes to shoot, especially because it parallels the Carol situation. I think the writers were so crafty with this episode. So, it was super fun because we have all this heavy stuff and Norman and I were able to just have fun and play, and that's always really rewarding.
You mentioned the fishing scene, but was there another favorite scene you did for the episode?
Let's just say Norman Reedus is a pleasure to work with, and any actor that gets to do it with him is going to have fun, and you're going to be able to reach your height because he's so committed. When I saw the episode, there is this scene where we are on a refrigerator looking at the eclipse. It was so weird and awkward, and we were like, "What are we doing? Can somebody explain why we are looking through wax paper?" We were on this bridge that had actually been abandoned. It was kind of weird and physically awkward. Yet, when I see it, it turned out to be so beautiful and so oddly sexy and romantic in a very stimulating way. So, in many ways, that's my favorite on the other side of having shot it, like when you see the finished product.
But my favorite shooting-wise is that first scene when you first meet her [Leah], and she's flying like a bat out of hell with a gun. That was super fun because it was actually the first scene that he [Norman Reedus] and I had ever shot together. So, it was like this is what it's going to be like working together. We start off 90 miles per hour, and that was really, really fun. He's just such a juicy dude. He just gives so much emotionally, and he's so committed. They always say, "You're only as good as the actor standing across from you." So, I feel really proud of this work because he just gave me so much to work with.
The people want to know. What was it like working with Dog, who has quickly become a fan-favorite among the cast?
So, Dog's name is Seven, and he's actually an older guy. Technically he's a senior citizen in dog years. He's so well-behaved and so loving. Immediately, I was like, "Well, how much time can I have with him before we start shooting?" So, I was able to hang out with him a lot. The trainers were like, "You know, the best way to go about this is to just treat him like he's yours." So, basically, once we started shooting, I was just telling him what to do. We really didn't even need the trainers. Very sweet dog. Very smart dog.
Then the little puppy, who plays Dog as a puppy, that little dog's name is Carl. That was so fun because, well, you know, it's a puppy. He was already starting to be trained. So, it was like we were helping him be trained as we were working with him. He was just so sweet, and how amazing for the fans to see Dog as a puppy.
We hope to see you back on the show. Obviously, no spoilers here, but hypothetically if you were to return, who do you think your biggest competition will be for Daryl's affection?
Oh, man. If she ever does return, would there be any competition? I don't think there would be. I mean, they were shacked up. I don't think there's any competition there.
So, you're not worried about Carol?
[Laughs] Well, we don't know if she comes back, right? We'll just have to wait, watch and see. But if the question is, would there be any competition, I think we see at the end of this episode that he realizes, "No, I belong with her." Of course, he's too late. But this character that we know as Daryl--has he ever been more decisive about anything? It was so clear and decisive on his part. I don't think anything would sway it.
If you were transported into The Walking Dead world, what three items would you take with you? Let's say weapons are included, so don't worry about that.
Oh, gosh! Oh my God, that is so difficult. Deodorant? This is just going to be all hygiene because one of the things we were talking about is how stinky they all must be.
Yeah. Maybe a toothbrush.
Yeah, that was the next thing I was going to say. Oh my God. This is such a hard question. I mean, I keep thinking floss. How boring is this? I'm going to bring deodorant. I'm going to bring a toothbrush, and I'm going to bring floss.
We were talking on set. We were like, "No, there's no deodorant like they don't wash. There's no toothpaste, toothbrush or floss; that's all gone out the window." I mean baby wipes. I would bring some baby wipes [laughs]. You know, this reveals a lot about me. I'm actually not totally OCD, but it's going to seem like I am about cleanliness.
The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton and Cooper Andrews. The series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and is available to stream early on AMC+.