Laurie Holden is currently starring in AMC new TV series “The Walking Dead”. Laurie is quite familiar with the horror genre having worked on “The Mist”, with “Dead” creator Frank Darabont and films like “Silent Hill”. Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Laurie about her career and her new role in “The Walking Dead”.
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Patty Gencarelli: Tell us about your role of Andrea in “The Walking Dead”?
Laurie Holden: Andrea is a gal that before the apocalypse has dedicated her life to defending and protecting the lives of others. So in this apocalyptic world there is no court room but she continues to fight injustice. She has this strong moral compass and this passion to help others. Her journey is an interesting one. A lot of things happen to her that test her mentally and also test her faith. She is a survivor and a natural born leader. Throughout everything that happens she find that she has this strong resilience that she never knew she had.
PG: How was it working with such an amazing cast?
LH: It has honestly been a dream come true. Across the board everyone has been incredible. Greg Nicotero and KNB have done such amazing work. My cast are the most hard working people. Each and everyone is ridiculously kind and supportive of one another. I a just lucky to be working with such a wonderful group of people. Plus our crew in Atlanta rocks.
PG: What was the most challenging aspect for you working the show?
LH: I think the most challenging part for me was working in the heat. We were shooting during the summer in Atlanta and they had a heat wave there. Sometimes it was like a 115 degrees with humidity. There were two days were we shot on the roof of a skyscraper, they measured the heat and it was I believe 152 degrees. But at the same time, it was the end of the world in the show.
PG: How was it getting to work with Frank Darabont again?
LH: He is an incredible artist. This is my third collaboration with him. I did “The Majestic” and “The Mist” with him previously. It such a privilege, honor and a pleasure.
PG: You have done quite a bit of television work, how does “The Walking Dead” compare?
LH: You know it is night and day different. All of my TV work seems to be night and day different. I did a western period piece on CBS called “The Magnificent Seven”. I was wearing corsets. Then I did “The X-Files” and I was in business suits. I was on the “The Shield” where I played an ICE agent and I was shooting in gritty downtown LA. Now I am just a gal trying to keep it together at the end of the world. They all couldn’t really be any more different.
PG: What was your most memorable experience from working on “The Mist”
LH: I think what I loved the most about working on “The Mist” was that had three camera operators. We never knew where the camera was. We shot the whole film in the super market. Literally you had no idea when you were on camera. It really keep us actors on the edge of our seats. We had to be on at all times. It felt like live theater. It was really exhilarating.
PG: Tell us about working on the film “Silent Hill”, Where you a fan of the video games?
LH: That was a really amazing experience, I shot that in Toronto. Our director was such a visually stunning creative. No I didn’t know anything about the video games. I didn’t know anything about “The Walking Dead” either before I started. I found out it is this international phenomenon. I feel very blessed.
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