Laurie Holden, who plays Andrea on AMC's The Walking Dead, describes her own shooting skills and attaining a Zen-like calm. Q: Now that it's approaching winter, do you miss the summer heat on set?
A: The thing that's great about our new location is that there are more trees and more of a breeze in the summer. It was not as hot and unbearable as it was last year. So we were dying when we shot it but that's the intent.
Q: Andrea looks pretty comfortable with a gun. Have you acted with guns before?
A: On The Shield, I played an agent so I used guns a little bit, but I've never... had the training I've had for The Walking Dead. I got hooked up with a shooting expert and we were going into the backwoods of Georgia on weekends for like two hours at a time. He would put bulls-eyes throughout the woods. They were tiny. When I saw that, I was like, "Come on!" He told me just to try it -- and I started nailing all of them! He said he'd never seen anything like it. I guess I have a knack for shooting I didn't realize I had.
Q: Kind of surprising for someone studying human rights at Columbia.
A; None of it makes sense! It's very bizarre.
Q: Last season Andrea was an emotional wreck. Have you enjoyed the shift in her character this season?
A: I really love what they've done with my character. Last year was awful! All I did as Andrea was cry the whole summer. She was such a sobbing, bereft, suicidal person and now she's a warrior. I am a tomboy and I love being with the boys and shooting guns and stuff. There was more acting required to be, like, scared of zombies -- it's more natural for me on the show now.
Read the rest of the interview here