Katelyn Nacon and Chandler Riggs take the stage at Walker Stalker Con to kick off the convention’s Saturday.
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The moderator starts by going back to Season 7’s darkness. Is it a different vibe or more difficult?
“I don’t know if it changes much because the set is ridiculous we’re always having so much fun,” Nacon said. “The scenes, in this seasons, are with a lot more adrenaline and a lot more hope whereas before we were like, ‘This isn’t that great. We’ve already lost two people.’”
“This past season has definitely been a lot more exciting with explosions and the gunfighting. For me, I’ve grown up with my character, so it’s really easy to go in and out of it,” Riggs said. “The vibe has always been very laid back and very chill and we always have a lot of fun on the set.”
Now, the moderator turns his attention to references and specifically how Riggs recreated Rick’s scene from the earliest episode.
“That was actually so sick because Greg was directing the episode and he had the screen pulled up on his phone and he wanted me to match the exact footsteps and the exact mannerisms with his arms and stuff,” Riggs said. “There was actually a lot of stuff we shot that was more like the pilot but didn’t make the cut.” Riggs goes on to note how it means Carl is stepping out of his father’s shadow and becoming an adult.
“I just go off whichever way they’re writing her. As we’ve watched her character, I know her character started out with a much different place than she is in now…I know I would probably be a lot like her. She’s getting really brave and I’m like, ‘I don’t know about that. I don’t know if I’d be that brave.’”
Does Nacon get any inspiration from the comics despite Enid not existing there?
“I was wondering for a little while if they were gonna give me Sophia’s storyline,” Nacon said. “Once Glenn came into Enid’s life, I was like maybe Glenn and Maggie will take up Sophia the way they did in the comics. In a way that happened and in a way it didn’t…I always thought I would get into Sophia’s storyline but they are very different characters.”
Bacon recalls having to a turtle. Initially, the crew wanted her to eat tuna, but she didn’t want to, so they went with chicken wings. Riggs jokes that he got to eat pudding while she had to eat pudding. He points out how lucky he’s been to not have to do anything gross. “Having the meat ponchos in Season 6,” Riggs said, “That was so disgusting and so cool.”
What do their friends think of this?
“They don’t really care,” Riggs said.
On Nacon second or third day on set with Riggs, their high schools played each other in football, and they’re rivals. Nacon’s team won. “Our baseball team destroyed yours,” Riggs points out.
What’s it been like to grow up on The Walking Dead?
“It’s kind of been almost half my life. It’s kind of all I’ve ever known is being on the show and being on the show…it’s been really, really awesome being on the show and telling a story people can relate to. I think that’s why people love the show so much. They find a character they can relate to.”
What’s Riggs’ favorite Walker Stalker moment?
“I’ve had so many crazy, really weird fan experiences,” Riggs said. “A lot of people want to pick me up and hold me during photo ops. It’s really uncomfortable. I’ve gotten a lot of pudding over four years.”
A fan asks their favorite part of filming the show is…
“Being employed,” Riggs said. “Actually being able to work. Being a working actor is pretty awesome.
“Being able to do what we love in such a good environment,” Nacon said.
The two discuss their experiences with roller skating and acting for a bit, offering bits of advice for aspiring actors based on fan questions.
“I’ve been an avid fan of the comics,” Riggs said. “I keep up with it to this day.”
“I haven’t,” Nacon admits. “I tried and then school slapped me in the face like, ‘You can’t read for fun.’”
A fan asks if they have had arguments on set and they joke for a bit before Nacon opens up about how much of a family the cast is. “Everyone just loves what they’re doing on the show,” she said. “Everyone just loves what they’re doing and loves that they’re there.”
What are the infamous death dinners like for the cast? Are they happy or sad?
“Kind of depends,” Riggs said. “The majority of them are… It’s always sad to see someone go but it’s always exciting to see what they’re gonna do next. I remember last year with Glenn and Abraham, for Steven and Michael, that was really sad but they were also super happy to get to go and do other stuff.”
What is Carl going through while everyone, including Enid, went off to war? What was that moment with Rick like?
“I don’t have any parents I’m an orphan let me shoot a gun,” Nacon said.
“It felt very final between them,” Riggs said. “It could’ve been the last time they see each other and that could’ve been it.”
Why did he start shooting at Negan in the Season 7 finale?
“No one expected Sasha to be a walker and lunge at Negan. I think he saw his opportunity and took it.”
How many takes were there for the Enid and Carl kiss?
“It was not my first on-screen kiss but it was not his,” Nacon said. “He had kissed before, in his life, though.”
“It was only like, two or three?” Nacon said, with Riggs adding, “It didn’t take that long.”
Updates on the introduction of Lydia?
“I don’t think there’s a Lydia this season, at least,” Nacon said. “Unless that just went over my head.”
“The Whisperer story arc we probably wouldn’t get to until like Season 9 or 10,” Riggs said.
Riggs discusses his costumes.
He says the eyepatch, “makes me wanna die,” because he runs into stuff. “I can’t see!” he said. “If there’s a bug? Forget it. I’m dead.”
Nacon tells a story that if there’s a bug, she just tells people, “Don’t say anything. He can’t see it!”
Are Enid and Carl a couple?
“It’s a war,” Riggs said.
“I don’t know if there’s really time to be like, a cute little couple, while there’s a war going on,” Nacon said. “There definitely in some sort of relationship with each other because they have a lot of common ground…It doesn’t look like they’re going away any time soon but the war is kind of a priority over that.”
If Rick dies, would Carl take over as leader for him?
“I would hope so, that’d be awesome,” Riggs said. “Top bill character? I will gladly take that role!”
If Rick died and Negan lived, could Carl become Negan’s right-hand man?
“That would be awesome! That would b really cool. Actually, in Episode 7 of last year, there was a few minutes during Negan’s power trip over Carl, there’s a few times where Carl was very admiring of Negan’s power. I did a few subtle things in there to hint at him possibly going own that path.”
