Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Episode 7 of The Walking Dead this season was major. Not only did we learn that Glenn is somehow magically alive, but we also saw the return of Enid, who previously fled Alexandria to make it on her own. Luckily for Glenn, she is around to give him some water after he spends the night sleeping under a dumpster waiting for walkers to disperse. It's a key moment in Glenn's survival — and it feels important that Enid is the one to help him.
There's something really promising about her character. The Walking Dead has never shied away from giving females the space to be total badasses, but Enid is the youngest woman we've seen in a while. (RIP Beth. Miss you every day.) So, it was nice to see that she seems to be taking a strong, powerful route like the other, more mature women on the show. Her involvement with Glenn seems to prove that.
Just minutes after the episode aired on the East Coast Sunday night, we had a chance to chat with Katelyn Nacon about Enid's story line, what it was like to pull a gun on Glenn, and how the women of The Walking Dead bring something special to the table.
I don't even know where to begin. What was it like being in such an important episode for the series?
“It was pretty amazing. When I found out that I was working with Steven [Yeun] and that he was still alive, I was freaking out. I was so excited, oh my god. That was a really good day.” I think one of the most jarring moments tonight was seeing you pull a gun on Glenn. What was that like?
“I’m sure that pissed a lot of people off. It was actually pretty fun. It was hard to get the gun out. It was in the back of my pants. But I thought it was pretty fun to point a gun at Steven. I liked it.” Something really awesome about the show is its strong female characters. How do you feel about that?
“I love that because you get to see kind of different sides to women and this different view of them. Every woman character in the show has their own badassery to them, which I love. I really love that. They’re not all just that one, strong lady, which I think is in a lot of [other shows]. There’s always that one, kind-of badass lady. But here it’s everyone has that aspect to them, but in a different way.”
What’s interesting about Enid in episode 7 is that she’s normally so rough around the edges, but we got to see her be a kid again for a bit with Glenn.
“Yeah, she’s not just all edge and backlash. It’s not all that. There’s actually insecurities hidden behind all that, and now just seeing the walkers surrounding [Alexandria], it kind of brings those insecurities again and that scaredness. And being around Glenn, who’s kind of an older figure, it kind of brings that childlike sense back out of her.”
Over the past few weeks, on Twitter especially, have you seen the different theories of what’s happening with Glenn?
“Oh yeah, definitely. And then some people were right on the spot like, 'Oh yeah, Enid’s gonna go and save him and distract the walkers or something.' And I was like, darn it!” What about the other aspects of Enid’s life back in Alexandria? It seems like Carl’s interested in her.
“I think that kind of scares Enid, because one of her main defense mechanisms is to stay away from everyone and not really let anyone into her life. That’s one reason she’s really defensive and she doesn’t want anyone to care about her, because she may end up caring about them. The whole Carl thing scares her, because she doesn’t want to have the whole thing with her parents happen again to her, like she loses someone she cares about. That’s really what got to her.” I remember the episode with your backstory where we see you eating a turtle, and it made me wonder: What was your audition like?
“It was actually really simple. It was just a script and it was kind of to show what that character was like. It was even a different name. The name was like Jenny or something like that. It was a fake script, just to kind of give a sense of the character.” What’s the most challenging part about being on the show?
“It’s a lot of attention. I’ve never really been one for that. So that’s kind of weird. I don’t know if it’s challenging, but it is weird. A lot of tweeting. It’s really sweet and endearing and really nice, of course, it’s just weird to have it happen all of a sudden.” You probably can’t say much, but can you say if Enid and Glenn are going to be separated from the group for a while?
“I don’t know. The next episode is kind of like everyone’s figuring out their own stuff. I’m not really sure. We’ll have to figure it out as we go.”
I don't even know where to begin. What was it like being in such an important episode for the series?
“It was pretty amazing. When I found out that I was working with Steven [Yeun] and that he was still alive, I was freaking out. I was so excited, oh my god. That was a really good day.” I think one of the most jarring moments tonight was seeing you pull a gun on Glenn. What was that like?
“I’m sure that pissed a lot of people off. It was actually pretty fun. It was hard to get the gun out. It was in the back of my pants. But I thought it was pretty fun to point a gun at Steven. I liked it.” Something really awesome about the show is its strong female characters. How do you feel about that?
“I love that because you get to see kind of different sides to women and this different view of them. Every woman character in the show has their own badassery to them, which I love. I really love that. They’re not all just that one, strong lady, which I think is in a lot of [other shows]. There’s always that one, kind-of badass lady. But here it’s everyone has that aspect to them, but in a different way.”
What’s interesting about Enid in episode 7 is that she’s normally so rough around the edges, but we got to see her be a kid again for a bit with Glenn.
“Yeah, she’s not just all edge and backlash. It’s not all that. There’s actually insecurities hidden behind all that, and now just seeing the walkers surrounding [Alexandria], it kind of brings those insecurities again and that scaredness. And being around Glenn, who’s kind of an older figure, it kind of brings that childlike sense back out of her.”
Over the past few weeks, on Twitter especially, have you seen the different theories of what’s happening with Glenn?
“Oh yeah, definitely. And then some people were right on the spot like, 'Oh yeah, Enid’s gonna go and save him and distract the walkers or something.' And I was like, darn it!” What about the other aspects of Enid’s life back in Alexandria? It seems like Carl’s interested in her.
“I think that kind of scares Enid, because one of her main defense mechanisms is to stay away from everyone and not really let anyone into her life. That’s one reason she’s really defensive and she doesn’t want anyone to care about her, because she may end up caring about them. The whole Carl thing scares her, because she doesn’t want to have the whole thing with her parents happen again to her, like she loses someone she cares about. That’s really what got to her.” I remember the episode with your backstory where we see you eating a turtle, and it made me wonder: What was your audition like?
“It was actually really simple. It was just a script and it was kind of to show what that character was like. It was even a different name. The name was like Jenny or something like that. It was a fake script, just to kind of give a sense of the character.” What’s the most challenging part about being on the show?
“It’s a lot of attention. I’ve never really been one for that. So that’s kind of weird. I don’t know if it’s challenging, but it is weird. A lot of tweeting. It’s really sweet and endearing and really nice, of course, it’s just weird to have it happen all of a sudden.” You probably can’t say much, but can you say if Enid and Glenn are going to be separated from the group for a while?
“I don’t know. The next episode is kind of like everyone’s figuring out their own stuff. I’m not really sure. We’ll have to figure it out as we go.”
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.