Nacon, who has been on the show since season five, and was promoted to series regular before the start of season eight , spoke with INSIDER about when she first learned there was a possibility of Enid getting killed off the show and how she was a bit bummed the zombie drama threw Enid into another relationship after her last one with Carl.
She also shared how she was barely in an early draft of the episode's script and the next project she already has lined up on Hulu.
Nacon found out Enid was getting killed off the show not long before filming Sundays episode.
Kirsten Acuna: When did you first find out the big moment from the comics was happening and that your time on the show was coming to an end? Katelyn Nacon: I had the general discussion with [showrunner] Angela [Kang] in the beginning of shooting. It was in April or May of last year. We had a general meeting and she said that there was a possibility that it could be my character. I mean, they weren't too sure until August. I kind of went throughout the season knowing there was a chance, but not really knowing. So [it was] kind of in limbo for a year. Then I think, it was around November or so, and episode 15 was going to shoot in a week. I still wasn't sure if my character was going to be gone or not. So, I emailed them and they gave me the call and told me that it was my character. Acuna: OK, so when we spoke in December , you knew. Were you surprised that you were among the characters on the pikes? What was your reaction? Nacon: I mean, I always knew there was a possibility, I just never knew for sure. I kind of let myself go through the season with optimism, but having a sense of realism at the same time that it could be me [on the pikes]. I mean I was a little surprisedbecause it came so last minute. But either way, I already knew it was a possibility, so there's not much I could have done. It was a week before we started filming 9.15, this episode, I found out.
Nacon and others thought more people and more series regulars, like Christian Serratos and Khary Payton, were going to be on the pikes.
Acuna: Were you surprised by anyone else on the pikes like Tara and Henry? Did you know or was that secret, because those don't happen in the comics.
Nacon: Honestly, I was surprised that it wasn't anymore series regulars other than me and Alanna. Because when we first discussed it in the beginning of the season, it had sounded like there was going to be a lot of big people with their heads on pikes, but I was honestly kind of surprised that it was just me and her out of all the series regulars. I thought there was going to be more.
Acuna: I think the big thing for this episode was fans wondering whether or not Ezekiel was going to get killed. He receives the big death in the comics, and it went to Henry. How do you think people are going to respond to the changes? Or how do you want them to respond?
Nacon: I don't know. I know a lot of people were surprised to hear that it was me. I know, even Khary [Payton] and Christian [Serratos], they thought that it was going to be them up until the episode came out for all of us to read. They kind of really went the entire year, too, just wondering whether they were going to die or not until they actually got the episode and saw it wasn't them."
Acuna: OK. Nacon: So I think everyone was a bit surprised.
Nacon thought her character was going to die years ago and was bummed her character was shoehorned into another relationship
Acuna: Did you ever have the impression that maybe you were going to be around longer on the show? Or did you feel like your time was up on the show?
Nacon: I thought I was going to die in like season six. I didn't think my character was going to last as long as it did. So I'm glad I made it as far as I did. But I mean, I don't know. I think around season eight, things started to slow down a lot for [Enid]. She was kind of in the background a lot, and her story wasn't really progressing. Even with season nine, she became a doctor, but the show didn't really progress more with her character other than her becoming a doctor and getting a boyfriend. So I think, honestly, it was just running out of content for her, or something? I'm not really sure. Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
Acuna: That was something I wanted to ask you about. I wanted to ask if that was a pain point, or a point of frustration at all, when you found out there was the possibility. When we spoke in December, you mentioned you had felt like Enid didn't have her own storyline in season eight. It was kind of in tangent with Maggie's. You had said Enid kind of became Maggie's puppy dog, and the show kind of lost sight of the original Enid that we first met. The one who was independent, who looked out for herself. I think we saw some of that on season nine, but, did you feel like the show ever got back to that this season? Nacon: I mean, at the beginning of the year, I thought it was going well with her learning how to be a doctor and everything. I thought there was going to be some exciting things to come, but I was a little bummed out with the second [half] of the season of her just kind of being pushed down into a love interest role.
But there's a lot more to her than going back to where she originally started. Yeah, I was a little bummed because my storyline still carried, or centered around someone else's character.
How did Alpha kidnap someone like Enid whos motto from the start of the zombie apocalypse has been "JSS" "Just Survive Somehow"? Not even Nacon knows.
Acuna: This is what I was wondering watching this episode because I've watched the episode a few times now. How on earth did Alpha kidnap or convince a person like Enid to come with her? I feel like that goes against Enid's character completely. Enid isn't a fool. Her mantra has been JSS: "Just Survive Somehow."
Nacon: I honestly have no clue. They never explained to us how we got there, or when we got there because I was also with Alden the entire time during the fair. I don't know how I ended up there.
Acuna: Yeah. I wasn't sure if maybe you guys had filmed anything, or if there was anything that didn't make it.
Nacon: No, we kind of just cut to the sequence of us fighting and our severed heads. Originally, I used to have not as much as I did, [until] the second rendition of the script. Originally, I had two lines or so [in the episode].
Acuna: Interesting. I'm glad we got to see more of you in the episode. For some others, like Frankie, we see them for one split second, and then you're like, 'Oh, they're on the pike. I forgot they were people who were still alive in the apocalypse.'
Nacon: Yeah. Very interesting. Acuna: I thought maybe it was a testament to just how dangerous Alpha is. The fact that she's just able to grab people like Tara and Enid, but I really would have loved to see you with Samantha Morton. Otherwise, the only scenario where I saw Enid getting captured and taken against her will is if chlorophyll was involved or if someone snuck up behind her and stabbed her.
Nacon: Yeah.Well, they even show... Alpha comes up wearing a dress. She's under disguise at the fair and everything. So, [Enid] could have easily just been taken by force. I don't know. I'm in the dark just as much as you are.
Enid doesnt blame Henry for her death.
Acuna: Well, a less serious question. Do you think Enid knew it was all Henry's fault at the end, or would she blame him for her death?
Nacon: No. I don't think in any way that she would ever blame Henry. I don't think she would ever blame anyone for her death. I think she lived a long life of blaming her parent's death on herself. I feel like she finally got to the point when she realized that there's not much you can do, or control, in all these situations. I think she knew that it wasn't his fault, and she did care a lot about Henry, so I don't think in any way she would ever blame him.
Acuna: What do you think Enid's final thoughts were? Because we don't see them. Do you think she was thinking of Carl or Alden. Would she be finally happy to be with Carl, or something totally different?
Nacon: Oh, do people have final thoughts or something?
Acuna: No. We didn't get to see any final thoughts that you guys may have had. But I'm just wondering, if we had gotten to see you in your final moment before you were killed, what do you think was going through Enid's head?
Nacon: I think she'd be excited to see her parents and see Glenn.
Nacon: A little silver lining.
Whos running the Hilltop now? Nacon guesses Daryl.
Acuna: Well, who runs the Hilltop now with both you and Tara dead, and Jesus dead, and Gregory dead, and Maggie AWOL. It seems like it's not a great role to take on.
Nacon: I guess it's going to be Daryl. I don't know. I guess it's just kind of in limbo right now. I thought it was going to be either me or Alanna but they never even really cemented that. Then, Darryl came in all of a sudden and swooped up [the Hilltop].
Acuna: Yeah, he kind of spoke for you guys when Alpha just showed up with The Whispers at the Hilltop, but I don't know, he kind of seems to just be doing his own thing as well.
Whats next? Nacon already has another show lined up on Hulu.
Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
Acuna: What's next for you? For the past four years around this time, you've been gearing up for the next season of "The Walking Dead." You're at Walker Stalker Berlin right now. Are there other movies, shows, music, that you're working on or that you're excited for? Nacon: Yeah, actually, I just moved to California. So I've been living there for two months, and I just booked a new job. So I'm going to be on season two of " Light as A Feather " on Hulu. Acuna: Oh, exciting! Congrats. Nacon: Yeah, very exciting. Yeah, so I start filming on April 7.I already go back into work, which is very good, very exciting.
