'The Walking Dead' star Lauren Ridloff thought the showrunner was calling to say her time on the zombie show was over after she briefly left to film a Marvel movie. It was to learn the show was ending.
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Kirsten Acuna
Sep 27, 2021, 08:29 IST
Lauren Ridloff finally returns to "TWD" on Sunday's episode.
Josh Stringer/AMC
Warning: There are minor spoilers ahead for "The Walking Dead."
Lauren Ridloff told Insider she thought her character was getting killed off "The Walking Dead."
Instead, Ridloff learned the show was coming to an end, something she has "mixed" feelings about.
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Lauren Ridloff was nervous last year when she received a Zoom call from both "The Walking Dead" showrunner Angela Kang and the universe's chief content officer, Scott M. Gimple.
"We're all sitting there having small talk. Whereas, inside, I was sweating. I was dying," Ridloff told Insider via Zoom with the assistance of an American Sign Language interpreter.
"I was like, wait, wait, wait. Are they calling me to tell me, 'You know, this might be the end of Connie'? I didn't know what was happening," said Ridloff, who has played Connie, a member of Magna's group, on "TWD" since season nine.
When Ridloff asked what they were really meeting about, Kang and Gimple informed her season 11 would be the show's last.
"I have to say, I honestly had mixed feelings." Ridloff said of learning about the show's final season, adding, "I'm so thrilled to be part of a beautiful story... I think it's a big part of pop culture and you see so many references to 'The Walking Dead.' It really truly has been an influence globally and I'm proud of that and I'm grateful that this show happened."
"But, of course, I'm sad about the fact that it's ending," Ridloff said. "Who knows what's going to happen? So, [it's] mixed feelings."
Ridloff wasn't the only cast member to initially think they may be getting the ax from the series.
When we last saw Connie, she had gone missing during a cave-in to accommodate Ridloff's role in Marvel's upcoming "Eternals" movie. On last year's delayed season finale, which aired in October 2020, fans finally learned that Connie was alive and was found by Virgil (Kevin Carroll) at Oceanside.
The plan was to always give Ridloff "a big episode" when she returned and that's just what they did.
Sunday's episode plays like a mini horror movie, something "TWD" has surprisingly never really done before in its 11 seasons.
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It's the best of the season's six episodes so far not only for Ridloff's performance, who offered a suggestion to make Sunday's big reveal more emotional, but for executive producer Greg Nicotero's directing choices to make it feel like you're in a claustrophobic setting right alongside Ridloff as she and Carroll navigate a spooky, haunted house filled with unexpected inhabitants.
"It was a big deal for me," Ridloff said of returning on Sunday's episode.
"I was so inspired that I was going to be able to come into 'The Walking Dead' world, again, specifically, focusing on Connie's story and working with Kevin [Carroll]," Ridloff said of Sunday's episode. "Kevin and Greg, I couldn't have asked for anything better. I just think it was the best way to come back."
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