Judith Grimes Star Says The Walking Dead Did a “Very Good Job” with Michonne’s Exit

Cailey Fleming, who plays Judith Grimes on The Walking Dead, says the zombie drama did a “very good job” sending off TV mom Michonne (Danai Gurira).

“I was really, really happy with the way that she leaves the show,” Fleming told ET Live at New York Comic Con ahead of Season 10. “I think that they did it really well and everybody did a very good job with her exit. I’m excited. It’s very… I don’t know how to describe it.”

When co-star Josh McDermitt, who plays Eugene, asked if the 12-year-old star meant “poignant,” Fleming said earnestly, “I don’t know what that means.”

“Neither do I. I just heard someone say that word,” McDermitt quipped. Fleming could only reveal Michonne gets a “really, really great exit.”

“I’m excited,” she added. “I’m really excited.”

Executive producer Denise Huth recently told RadioTimes imagining an exit strategy for the series veteran was “really difficult to do,” but showrunner Angela Kang and her writers’ room crafted a “satisfying” story shrouded in mystery.

“To send a character off the show, and [decide] how we wanted to do that… I know Angela and the writers spent a lot of time discussing it in the build-up to this season. It is tricky. It’s a very difficult thing to do,” Huth said. “I think it’s going to be great — I think it will ultimately be very satisfying and also raise a whole bunch of other questions.”

Fittingly, Gurira’s final season puts extra emphasis on the relationship with her children, Judith and RJ (Antony Azor).

“[Michonne is] dealing with the massive threat for her community, and that involves taking a lot more comprehensive responsibility,” Gurira said on TWD Season 10 Preview Special. “And at the same time, really feeding into her daughter. There’s a lot of great stuff that connects her and Judith, into Judith really becoming her mother’s daughter. That’s a very beautiful thing, in terms of, ‘How do you deal with an enemy, and how do you raise a daughter in this world?’ It’s a very cool sort of journey they’re taking together.”

That journey is one that commanded the most attention from the writers in Season 10.

“She’s been such a huge part of the series since season 3, just such a force of nature, [she] really demands excellence and brings excellence every day that she’s on set. And so we really wanted to do right by that character and by the actress, so we worked really hard on that,” Kang said on Talking Dead. “I think we have a pretty cool journey for her, and Danai has just been killing it, killing it. Just everything we’ve seen come back has been so exciting, so I can’t wait for the fans to see all of that.”

Gurira has already wrapped on the series. Michonne’s final season of TWD premieres tonight at 9/8c on AMC. For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.