Meet Jadis, The Woman In Control Of Alexandria’s Fate On The Walking Dead

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 10 follow.

There is someone new in charge of Rick’s fate on The Walking Dead and it’s not Negan anymore. The leader of the junkyard gang, who refer to themselves as “the Heapsters” if you ask the actress charged with playing Jadis, is a woman called Jadis. Jadis is in control of Rick and his group of survivors because not only does she have bodies behind her at the junkyard but they are armed with an impressive amount of weaponry.

Speaking to ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview, Jadis actress Polyanna McIntosh went into detail about her character and what the experience of landing the role on the AMC series has been like for her.

“Of course it is a little intimidating to walk onto the American TV set,” McIntosh admit. “But I’m also walking into my own junkyard home so that was pretty quick. Very much at home and the cast and crew really do that for you as well.”

UP NEXT: Can We Trust Jadis’ Group?

As for her character, the leader of a clan that likes to dress in all black and keep oddly quiet, McIntosh says the outfits are influenced by their survival habits. “We’re not sitting about watching TV, so we’ve got a lot of time to deal with there and we’ve got a lot of sneaky ways and get what we need so why not make ourselves look a little matching,” McIntosh said, before adding that it is also a factor for “intimidation.”

When it came to landing this role, one which does not exist in The Walking Dead comics, McIntosh tells ComicBook.com that Jadis is in fact the spot the crew was looking to fill when they released a casting call for “Brion” over the summer.

“The audition piece was actually pretty close to the dialog,” McIntosh said. “It was like a two page audition piece so it wasn’t everything from the episode, but everything I did in the audition was pretty close to what we ended up using, except I had a different name and also, when I was auditioning, it was made very clear that it would be either a man or a woman that could play the role. I didn’t know if I was going to end up watching the show and seeing a man up there, or a woman, or me, or what. But that was a pretty great insight into the character as well, that they were looking at it from that perspective.

“Yes, she had a different name because she’s not been in the comic books, I think they had to be less secretive at that point because it’s not something written by the comic books. I kind of feel lucky in that regard. I’m not sure what it would have been like if I was playing a character that people know. Then, I probably would have had much different than what we ended using.”

As for whether or not we can trust Jadis whenever Rick manages to hand over the guns she desires, McIntosh says, “I can safely say that anything is possible.”

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The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.