How has your weekend been going so far? It's going pretty good, it's really busy, which is good, keeps up your energy. People in London are really nice, there are a lot of people from Germany and Scotland I noticed particularly. There's people from Hungary, Ireland.
What do you enjoy the most about events like this, and what is it like when fans kind of freak out when they meet you? Honestly. When I make someone happy, that’s the best part, I can feel good about my day. It’s weird also because I totally don’t see myself the way that someone like that sees me. It’s surreal, I don’t think I can fully take in the reality of that, because it’s too much for me. So I just sort of, put myself in a place where I can feel compassionate towards people when they do that.
Okay, so when did you first get into acting? I was 13 or 14 I think. I started doing community theatre, and then I decided to take actual lessons, take acting classes, and then I started working at 15.
Was there a particular moment when you realised that it was what you wanted to do with your life? Yeah, it was about that time. I was also, singing and playing guitar. I decided that I had to do one or the other. I chose acting because I thought “oh if I was musician then I’d have to get a band together.” That’s a pain in the ass. I wrote really bad songs, like pathetic teenage songs. I was like “I just have to rely on myself to be an actress!” Which actually isn’t entirely true, as I didn’t know what I was doing at that time. But it seems to be working out OK.
What was your first major job role, and what was that whole experience like for you? It’s hard to say, because I had been working for years. My first regular part on a TV show was when I did the show Dirt, that was after I had done the movie She’s The Man with Amanda Bynes. That did pretty well. But I had done some other things before that. It’s really hard for me to say, I don’t think I ever had a breaking point. I didn’t do a part that like you know, broke me out. So that people started to hire me all of the time. It was more of a steady climb for me. I think it’s better for your well being as a person, to not climb too fast. In this industry, people can get delusions of grandeur, when you’re just an actor really.
You didn't know who you'd be playing on the show before you signed on. So can you tell us a bit about what attracted you to being in the world of The Walking Dead? Honestly, I went in for a recurring guest star part. I was just like “oh, I need a job, this show is pretty popular, okay!” I wasn’t a big fan of the show, like a lot of other people who were working on the show were before they got their parts. I didn’t watch it!
And when they told you who you were playing, how much research did you do into your character through the comics? I was told by the showrunner not to look at the comic, because they didn’t want to play the role that way.
Okay, so what was your first day on the Walking Dead set like, and what do you remember the most from it? The first day on set for me was the scene where Jessie first meets Rick at his house, and is shirtless. Andy was doing this warm up, I guess you call it, where he screams and sort of crouches down on the ground, and says a lot of curse words. So I was just sort of like “oh, okay!” He is crazy. Later on, he told me that’s why he does it, so that people think he is crazy!