While the Walker family has never had it particularly easy, they have certainly endured a grueling gauntlet across Walker Season 2. After their old rivals, the Davidson family, resurfaced at the start of the season, the Walkers fell back into their old grudge as the longtime family feud resumed in earnest. Over the course of the reignited rivalry, Walker family matriarch Abby (Molly Hagan) revealed she was aware that the Davidsons' long-lost child survived, with family friend Geri Broussard as the child in question, now all grown up.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Hagan talked about the morally compromised decisions Abby has made in Season 2. She also praised the cast and crew for creating such a positive production environment and revealed her inspiration for portraying Abby.

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Walker S2 E16 Abby Bonham

CBR: Molly, did you have any directions you wanted to take Abby in Walker Season 2? Did you sit down with showrunner Anna Fricke at all to talk about the character's direction?

Molly Hagan: I don't take her in any direction. Anna takes her in a direction. [laughs] It comes from the writers, and I wouldn't presume to know anything about it. This is the thing that really kills me about the show in general -- How much more can this family take?! [laughs] These are the most resilient people. At some point, is Abby just going to have a breakdown? I keep needing a moment for myself to grasp all the horrible things that have happened to this family. I'm good, but they never have a chance to recover!

This season has really put Abby through a lot recently, with her aware of the Davidsons' secret child putting her at odds with Geri. How is it playing with that subtext in your performance?

I think the secret about Marv [Davidson] and the kid I feel like has got to be something that's coming up with 23andMe and those kinds of things. People are finding out that they have siblings. I've had conversations with friends of mine where I'm like, "This is not my secret to tell..." It's always the adopted kids that have no power at all. It's always the parents that have the power, and I feel that that's so completely wrong.

Poor Geri never knew who her parents were… It's just something so prevalent and alive about it right now in our culture. I know more and more laws are being opened to support adopted children and the rights that they have, but mostly all the rights are in the parents' hands. It just doesn't seem great.

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There is a lot of backstory for Abby that we don't see, like her history with Marv Davidson and keeping his secret. How much backstory do you like to know, and how much do you prefer to find out as you go?

Some stuff is imperative that I know, and with other stuff, getting gaps filled in along the way works. If there are gaps that aren't filled, it's not necessary that I know my whole history. What's important for me to know are my beliefs about things like Marv. I don't have to know every little detail about Marv, but I've created a whole relationship with Marv in my head. [laughs]

I've protected Marv this whole season, and it's made me, as Abby and Molly, feel like crap! I've been protecting Marv and not thinking about the kid, not once. So when they say, "Did you ever think about the kid?" and [Abby] says no, that's horrible that she never thought about the kid and what it could mean to the kid.

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Walker S2 E13 Liam Abby

Abby and Bonham really were the paradigms of the Walker family, but the Davidsons resurfacing really has taken them in more morally ambiguous areas.

There's one scene where Jared [Padalecki] goes, "We're not the bad guys here," and I wanted to say, "Speak for yourself, I think I am the bad guy!" [laughs] Sure, Abby wants to be above board, but it's not all light and love. Abby doesn't want to see Gale all the time, and we just lost the ranch to them.

With this episode, in particular, you get to spend a lot of time with Mitch Pileggi, and he was saying some of his favorite stuff are his scenes with you. How is having him as a scene partner?

I can't believe how lucky I am. The moment I found out he was cast, I was like, "Oh my god! Mitch Pileggi is going to be my husband?!" [laughs] We have become really good friends. I get to work with a really great actor, and now I'm also friends with him. Probably the strongest relationship that I have here in Austin is with Mitch, and it's great. I love his wife, Arlene, and his daughter, and he loves my husband, Richard. It's just great, and we can watch out for each other. I'm here in Austin alone -- my husband still lives [out of town], so his family watches out for me, and, before Arlene got out here, I watched out for Mitch. I won the lottery in all ways. [laughs]

Mitch was also saying that the Walker set is one of the friendliest, tightest sets he's ever been on.

It's cliché, but it really is like family, and everyone is really happy to be here. I don't know if it was COVID or whatever, but there just seems to be a larger scale of gratitude from everyone. The crew is the most lightning-fast crew I've ever worked with in my life, but they're still a tremendous amount of joy and fun. At the same time that we're moving really fast, there's all this humor on the set and huge camaraderie. It's the easiest set I've been on in my entire life, and it makes the acting better because there's so much trust back and forward between the actors and the crew, and the actors with each other, and that allows us to be better because there's no tension.

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Walker S2 E16 Abby Bonham

For this episode, you've got Kelli Williams behind the camera as director. How is it working with her?

We were in acting class together, so I am really a giant Kelli Williams fan. Not only is she a really great actress, but about six years ago, she started to direct. There's a simpatico between us and all her direction in the Side Step was just so great and fun. She's also really funny, and she fits in really well with this crew. They loved her. She also moves really fast, and it was like having a friend show up on set and direct me. It was great.

This season, you've seen a lot of new cast additions, including Dave Annable, Paula Marshall, and Ashley Reyes jumping in midstream.

I don't know what kind of magic Anna Fricke has, but she is outstanding at casting. Whoever she hires fits in perfectly with our growing family, and anyone who comes in really gets along. We welcome them with open arms. They instantly fit in. Dave Annable is the funniest -- he was killing me the other day. [laughs] They're just pleasant and fun. Ashley, you can see on the show, she's just hilarious.

Two seasons in, what has surprised you the most about playing Abby as you've grown into this character?

With Abby, I did keep waiting for her to completely fall apart, but I don't want her to fall apart. [laughs] I'm kind of giving an ode to my mom when I'm playing her. I told my mom that she's never crying, and she said, "I feel like if I started to cry, I'd never stop," because a lot of bad stuff happened to my mom in her life in the past few years. You can't take time, you have to keep moving on.

I think it's her resilience and strength [that keeps Abby going]. If she didn't have children, and it was just her, she'd probably be a basket case, but she has to be there for her kids, grandkids, and husband and take care of them. I do wonder about Abby's mental health. [laughs]

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Was that inspiration from your mom always there, even as far back as Season 1?

I think it was there initially. When I first read the script, "Oh my god, this is my mom!" I think it was there immediately.

What else can you tease for the Walker family this season? They've been through a crucible, and it doesn't look like it's letting up any time soon.

No, it's not. [laughs] I would say that's accurate, It's not letting up.

Developed for television by Anna Fricke, Walker airs Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT on The CW.