‘The Walking Dead’: Laurie Holden Wishes Andrea’s Story Played Out Differently

Former The Walking Dead star Laurie Holden admits Andrea’s story “kind of went off the rails” and expresses disappointment the villainous Governor (David Morrissey) got away with his “victimization” of her character.

“Yeah. I mean, yes and no,” Holden said aboard Walker Stalker Cruise when asked if she was disappointed Andrea’s story didn’t play out the way it did in creator Robert Kirkman’s comic books.

“I mean, when [original showrunner] Frank [Darabont] was there, it was amazing. It was a different time. It was really special, and we all just kind of just went to the backwoods of Georgia and created something beautiful, it was art.”

But when Darabont was fired by network AMC and replaced with showrunner Glen Mazzara, “things got a little crazy.”

“A change of show runners, and different ideas, and some of it kind of went off the rails, I think a bit, and then some of it got back on the rails,” Holden explained.

“But I think Frank created a lot of wonderful things for Andrea, and I think [writer-producer] Scott Gimple really helped with the end, so it was a journey. I was proud of the woman she became, because she was a suicidal sad sack when she started and at the end she was a woman of integrity. And for that I will always be grateful.”

Holden then expanded on comments she made earlier in the evening, in which she argued Andrea should have been the one to kill the Governor.

“Do I wish that there had been more time? Yeah, absolutely. Do I wish that I could have been part of storytelling where the man that was victimizing the woman actually didn’t get away with it? 100 percent,” Holden said.

“But it is what it is, and I love what I was part of.”

In the books, Andrea emerges as female lead, becoming Alexandria leader Rick Grimes’ romantic partner and surviving until issue #167.

Holden’s Andrea died much earlier in Season Three, committing suicide before she could succumb to a walker bite she sustained when imprisoned in the torture chamber operated by scorned former lover the Governor.

When asked how Andrea would have reacted to Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and the Saviors, Holden believes Andrea wouldn’t have committed the same mistakes of the past.

“To be honest, I’m not watching the show, I didn’t watch when I was on it. I’m like Sarah, I’m afraid of zombies. I also don’t like to see my friends die,” she said, pointing to former co-star and fellow panelist Sarah Wayne Callies, who acknowledged she never watched the show.

“So I’m a little confused about the whole survivors-Saviors thing. But let me be clear about the Governor. I dug him for a little bit and then I realized he was a sociopath trying to kill my friends. I thought I could broker peace. Some people say she was a little bit dumb, I think she was a little bit — she was a humanitarian. She wanted to believe in the best of [Rick and the Governor], right? Because they were both fathers and husbands — and I’m going on a tangent.

“My point is, she would have done the right thing that would have protected the group, not going off with any villains, not hooking up with any sociopaths… she went down that road and paid the price.”

The actress revealed in 2016 she was signed to an eight-year deal. When it came to Andrea’s story and abrupt death, “None of it was supposed to happen the way it did.”

Holden has since joined ongoing Fox legal drama Proven Innocent in a recurring role, where she plays Greta Bellows, wife to Cook County state attorney Gore Bellows (Kelsey Grammer).

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