The Walking Dead unveiled Alpha’s origin story as it pertained to rising up as one of the most barbaric and savage villains in the AMC show’s history on Sunday night which has actress Samantha Morton particularly excited.
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Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 9×10 follow. Major spoilers!
In Sunday night’s Episode 9×10, The Walking Dead gave Alpha a backstory which was unique to the TV series (complete with a husband named Frank). “It’s a dream within a dream within a flashback within a what is real? Because we all have that anyway,” Morton explained of the origin story to EW. “You can go into a room and have a meal with somebody, and both of those individuals have then said, ‘Okay, write down your versions of what happened at dinner and how you’re feeling,’ and they’ll come up with totally different interpretations.” The actress is referencing Lydia’s memory of the early days of the apocalypse which were influenced by the lifestyle which followed it.
In those sequences, Alpha took on her true-to-the-comics look by shaving her head in an on-screen sequence. “That was my real hair,” Morton explained. “What we did, my hair was kind of down to my waist, and I stupidly cut it before going to Atlanta, thinking that would help me when I went bald. But I didn’t realize we were going to go back, and that you saw the long hair. And so we decided that we were going to keep my hair, which was in a bob, and then just cut it on camera. Just go for it.”
Morton really is just going for it. By the end of the episode, she was seen in full Alpha mode, complete with eye-black and a bald head outside of the Hilltop. As a result, some of the other cast members are sometimes intimidated by her presence.
“I think people do find her scary, so that’s a good thing, I think,” Morton explained. “They genuinely do. So I’m chuffed with that because I can just be the character then. I don’t have to kind of behave like some villain. I think you just be, don’t you? And then I think all that makeup really helps. It’s a bit mad.”
Morton is certainly enjoying the darker side of her character in the present timeline but telling the story of how she became the shows next villain was a particular treat for her. “I loved it,” she said, going back to the sequence in which she cut her hair off. “It just feels very real, and what the audience is seeing is real, you know? And there’s emotions about that, but the practicalities for pre-Alpha is that the hair, she’s turning herself into something. She’s metamorphosing from a caterpillar to a butterfly, but not the nicest butterfly, you know? She’s completely changing who she is, and whether that’s trauma and something to do with the brain, or that she just found her true self that she’s able to be because of what’s happening to the world.”
What do you think of Alpha on The Walking Dead? Is Morton already nailing the role? Share your thoughts in the comment section!
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com’s After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.
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Image Courtesy of Max
