The Walking Dead: Katelyn Nacon on a 'f—ing crazy' season 8

Remember when Enid kept running away from everybody on The Walking Dead? Yeah, those days are over. Now Enid is running to the fight — along with her friends from the Hilltop, Alexandria, and the Kingdom. “She’s not just looking out for herself anymore,” says Katelyn Nacon. We spoke to the newly anointed series regular to find out what’s in store for Enid in a huge season 8 that she deems “f—ing crazy.”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First off, tell me how exciting it was to be made a series regular for season 8.
KATELYN NACON: I’ve been so excited. I never thought that I would actually get this opportunity to be a series regular because I was just cast as this local role, and I’m pretty sure it was like, “If we like her, maybe we’ll keep her.” But I’m really happy and really thankful that I’m able to be where I am today and be a series regular on one of the biggest shows on television. It’s crazy.

Let’s talk about the evolution of Enid in terms of where she is as we head into season 8. Because when we first met her, she didn’t really want to be a part of any community, but that changed last season. So now that we are headed to war, how does she see her role in the community moving forward?
Well, she’s definitely a bigger part of the community and the fight and everything. She doesn’t want to just sit by or be by herself. She’s not just looking out for herself anymore. She’s made connections with people now, which in previous episodes in the season, she was very adamant about not doing, but now you see her start to actually become a part of the community and the army and everything, and she really wants to help, and she really wants to win this.

In terms of those connections, we’ve seen Enid and Maggie start to get really close. Is that something that will continue in season 8?
Maggie has taught Enid a lot of stuff and a lot of new things really about leadership and relationships and community. Because Maggie’s such a strong solid character that I feel like in a way she’s taught a lot to Enid about being strong and being a good leader, and we start to see that kind of rub off on Enid as she starts to become a bigger part of the community. She starts actually taking steps to get stuff done.

I was talking to Lauren Cohan, and she was saying how that roller skating scene was one of her favorite moments of the season.
It showed the sense of purity and childishness. For once, they were finally kids, which they never really had before.

How would you say season 8 is different from season 7?
Well, it’s still going to be sad. This is a pretty sad show, but I feel like there’s a lot more courage and hope just because going into this fight where we left off in season 7. There’s going to war, but I feel like there’s a lot more courage and a lot more hope that shows up in each character. They’re wanting to win this. They’re wanting to get over this, and I feel like each character is stronger in a way this season.

I know you all are getting to do a lot of action stuff.
Oh my gosh, it’s crazy. Those are like the biggest days and they’re the craziest, but it’s definitely a lot of fun, especially because usually all the cast is there so you get to see everyone, which doesn’t really happen all the time. Those are always my favorite days when everyone’s there. It’s f—ing crazy, but it’s always super fun.

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