Lauren Cohan: 'I'd rather have the validation of fans than awards' 

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Going by the much-discussed season 6 cliffhanger, you\'re an extremely brave woman doing these interviews…

Yeah, I know, believe me. This morning I was like, \'wait, what am I doing?!\'

It\'s just the passion for the show, it’s a tribute to what it represents: people living and dying to protect each other and creating something worth living for. That is such a simple idea. Andy [Lincoln, rick] is a pure person and from the beginning, everyone in the show has kept it real. The people who watch the show, including latecomers, figure that out - it’s not just zombies and horror, it’s being a part of something. I just love that that\'s the core of the show.

Do you and your cast mates live in fear over getting told your character might be next to get killed off?

No, you can’t live in fear. You just have to stay in the moment and trust in the story. There\'s never been a time when the writers have written a story that doesn’t propel more stories and bring you to the right emotional place. In the beginning, when it’s a new job, you go \'oh, I haven’t really experienced it\' and then you come to understand that everything that happens is happening just the way it should. You just have to be at peace with your part of the puzzle and just do service to that.  

Do your friends and family dig for info over what\'s to come?

Oh God yeah, they all do. The thing is, the way the show is, characters always have episodes off so there’s always time to constantly squeeze in other work. There really aren\'t many clues because the structure isn’t that different whether it’s because you’re not on the show or whether it’s because you have a break. I hate to break it to anybody but there’s really no clue about what\'s to come.

What was it like filming season 6\'s climactic scene?

It was brutal filming the finale as you can imagine. Jeffrey\'s such a great actor and we’re lucky to have someone so dynamic playing such a baddie - Negan really is just the worst The Walking Dead has had. He\'s written in the comics as such a dark character and Jeffrey is definitely able to bring that. He’s a teddy bear as a person. It’s good to all go to that place together and to play the crazy interactions that he has with the group. It\'s difficult for him because he\'s acting thees things and he doesn’t really get the emotional relief while our characters show how painful it is.  

There’s an introduction of so many new worlds now so it\'s easy to get lost and enjoy the story. Sometimes, I think when the whole thing focuses on your group, you blur the lines between show and comic. With all these new characters being introduced, I feel like I can get lost in it like a separate reader. Now I also understand we don’t follow everything from it, I can also enjoy reading the comic book as its own entity. It’s also nice for me on a visual level to see how the show will pay tribute to the frames of the comic. 

If you could play any other character for one day only, who would you pick?

[laughs] Eugene! If I could nail all that dialogue. Josh [McDermitt] is so good at learning those lines.

There are a lot of stories to go - and there\'s definitely a lot more to come with Negan; the show could go a while, as long as you don\'t have to repeat anything - which we haven\'t yet. Scott Gimple has a very very genius brain so between our source material and him I\'m sure there’s a lot to come.

Much of season two\'s opening half is spent looking for Sophia, the missing daughter of Carol (Melissa McBride). Turns out she was locked up in Hershel\'s barn as a zombie all along.

Shane reanimates without being bitten (season 2, episode 12)

When Carl (Chandler Riggs) guns down a deranged Shane (Jon Bernthal) to protect his father, the shock arrives when he manifests into a walker despite not being bitten; turns out everyone\'s infected with the virus and will turn whichever way they die.

A character introduced in the show\'s prison arc, Axel is a reformed prisoner who strikes up a friendship with Carol - until he\'s gunned down mid-sentence.

Carl kills Lori after she gives birth (season 3, episode 4)

Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) goes into labour at the very moment a zombie siege breaks out at the prison. Unfortunately, she doesn\'t make it through the procedure with her son Carl being the one to put a bullet to her head.

The Governor makes his dramatic return for a showdown at the prison after he captures Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Hershel (Scott Wilson). Rick reaches out, attempting to reason with him - but The Governor starts a war when he proceeds to decapitate poor old Hershel instead.

In a standout episode from the show\'s fourth season, Carol is forced to take drastic measures when young teenager Lizzie murders her sister Mika in the belief that she\'ll live on as a zombie. Realising Lizzie\'s depraved mind would endanger those around her, Carol puts a gun to the young girl\'s head and, telling her to "look at the flowers," pulls the trigger, fighting back the tears.

Season six returned from its mid-season break in typically dramatic fashion when an iconic moment from the graphic novels came to life: Carl takes a bullet to the eye.

Upon being kidnapped, Beth (Emily Kinney) is taken to Grady Memorial Hospital managed by Atlanta Law Enforcement. Forced to reside there against her will, the group - including Rick and Daryl (Norman Reedus) - eventually find her - only for her to be accidentally shot in the head by her captor. The worst thing? Her sister Maggie (Lauren Cohan) had just arrived outside.

\' popularity is backed up by plenty of awards recognition [it recently won the Outstanding drama Series Emmy for the second year running). Why doesn\'t

You know I don’t understand it. My only explanation is that people don’t watch it. I look at Melissa [McBride, Carol] and I look at Andy and I think how can they not be recognised. I\'m not mad about it, i just think I\'d rather have the validation of people and the fans, and I know how much the show moves people - and how it moves me - so I don\'t need those things. Being deemed the most successful at prom does not mean you’re gong to do the best in your life. I don’t need to understand it - it doesn’t stop us from doing our work. Maybe there’s some deeper gift in it, I don\'t know.

Maybe they\'re waiting until the final season to award it everything.

I just hope that they watch the show because it’s so good!

season 6 is now available to own on DVD and Blu-ray on 26 September. Season 7 will air in the US on 23 October followed by a UK premiere the following evening at 9pm on FOX. 

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