It ‘Felt so Good’ to Introduce Her ‘the Walking Dead’ Character

 

 

• Warning: There are spoilers ahead for season 11, episode 12 of “The Walking Dead.”
• Insider spoke with Margot Bingham about bringing her character to life after being cast years ago.
• Bingham said it “felt like the biggest release” to finally play the character on screen.

When Margot Bingham was cast on “The Walking Dead,” the actress was on a girl’s trip in Arizona with her mom and her mom’s best friend and daughter.

“It was the four of us and we were having a great time. And then I got the call from [showrunner] Angela [Kang] and from my reps and it just kind of turned the trip totally around,” Bingham said of learning she was cast on the series. “We were just all so excited.”

“I was just really grateful to be able to share that moment with my mom. It was another point in my career that I’m really grateful I was able to be with family for,” Bingham added.

But fans would need to wait a few years before they could see Bingham in action on screen.

Up until now, fans closely watching the series may have recognized Bingham as the mysterious voice Eugene first spoke with by radio in a November 2019 episode and another in March 2020 before production on the series’ following season was delayed during the pandemic.

Bingham’s character didn’t make her first physical appearance on the show until about two years later in September 2021 on season 11, episode five. However, she wasn’t the woman on the radio as many expected. Instead, Bingham appeared to be another mystery woman named Max, working for the leader of the Commonwealth, as another woman, Shira (Chelle Ramos), paraded around as “Stephanie,” Eugene’s radio pal.

 

 

Josh Stringer/AMC

It wasn’t until last week’s episode, about 28 months after first hearing her voice, that Max revealed to Eugene that she was the person he was really speaking to all along. In a twist from the comics, she also happens to be the sister of Mercer, the leader of the Commonwealth army.

Insider spoke with Bingham about what it was like finally getting to portray her “TWD” character on screen after waiting so long to do so, whether or not there’s hope for Max and Eugene’s love story to carry forward, and some hints at what’s to come for Max, Mercer, and Shira.

Bingham said ‘it felt so good’ to finally share Max with the world.

 

 

AMC

Insider: These past two weeks, we finally got to see Max and her side of the story via a flashback. This is something fans have been waiting forever to see. What was it like to finally get to tell your story on screen after being cast so long ago?

Bingham: It felt so good. It felt like the biggest release ever. Michael Cudlitz was directing [last week’s] episode and I’m such a big fan of his and I was gushing over him and trying to be as cool as possible, but it definitely wasn’t coming off like that.

It was just awesome to be this trio of Cudlitz and then Josh [McDermitt] and myself and just feeling that energy on set. It just made the wait so worthwhile. It was so sweet. It was pretty exceptional.

Max shares some similarities with a ‘Walking Dead’ character from the comics: Maxwell Hawkins.

 

 

Josh Stringer/AMC, Skybound/Image Comics

You were officially cast on season 11 of “The Walking Dead” back in 2020, but I knew by then that you were the mystery voice on the radio from the year before. I think some fans assumed you would be Stephanie, who is a pretty big character near the end of the comics.

What was it like when you learned you were cast and then how much were you told about the role? Did you know that you were going to be Max and that there would be this big twist? Or did you think that you were going to just be a version of a character from these beloved comics?

Well, as we know with this show, there are a lot of things that are left for surprise.

Whenever I found out that I got the role, I was obviously very excited and was learning as much as I could from Angela about Stephanie. And, obviously knowing Stephanie from the comics, I was really looking forward to it and just being a part of such a massive production, and one that I’m a fan of, was pretty exciting, to say the least.

As the character continued to evolve, that was evolving with me. The writers are pretty fantastic and they really go off of the people that are playing them and they allow us room to build a character and we both work in tandem. So it was really exciting to work together, but there were definitely a lot of unknowns and that’s always exciting for an actor.

Yeah. I wasn’t sure if things for your character and your role had changed at all during the pandemic. Now that we know you’re Max, there was someone named Maxwell Hawkins in the comics who greets everyone into the Commonwealth. I wasn’t sure if Max was supposed to be a little nod to that. 

I think you’re gonna see a lot of similarities in a lot of ways with Max, but it’s really all up for interpretation and fans will be able to see that as the season progresses.

Bingham had a say in Max’s headwraps and creating that look for her.

 

Josh Stringer/AMC

I love the detail of you wearing multiple headwraps at the episode’s start. It feel authentic to real life, as opposed to just seeing your character in her wig. Did you have input at all there or was that already written into the script you had received? I wasn’t sure if you maybe had conversations with this week’s episode director, Tawnia McKiernan, about that at all or the writer, Vivian Tse.

I did. Costume, and obviously our amazing hair and makeup department as well, everybody was fully working together and they were very gracious with allowing me to create this look for her at home so that we could really create the most authentic at home natural look and environment for her.

You’ll see in the episode and as it moves on that it makes sense, but it was something that I really needed to show. Obviously, as she wraps her hair at night, that’s something that a lot of women do. That’s something that I do.

Even in an apocalypse, women still want to take care of their looks and that’s not gone. So I still wanted to show that, and she’s still very much infatuated with this man. She wants to look good for not only herself, but for a potential partner. So it was something that I thought was really necessary and I’m happy that they allowed me to do it.

Bingham says Max didn’t tell Eugene who she was until now because ‘there’s a lot at stake.’

 

Josh Stringer/AMC

Why is now the right time for Max to come clean to Eugene? Why didn’t she try and tell him the truth before? Was it because he seemed happy or is there a bigger reason for her to come clean after being held at knife point and seeing Eugene upset?

Well, she has a lot at risk. There’s a lot at stake. She works for a very powerful woman [Pamela Milton] and she has family in the Commonwealth. So there’s a lot of people that she has to think about, including herself and now Eugene. So there’s a lot to consider and I really think that as we move to the finale, you’re gonna see that she’s trying everything that she can to do what she can for the people that she loves.

If Max was the person who met Eugene at the rail yards as originally planned, do you think she would’ve convinced and told his group to join the Commonwealth or run for the hills? How does Max really feel about the Commonwealth? On Sunday’s episode she describes Lance (Josh Hamilton) as a worm.

That’s a very good question. I think as we get to the final episode, you’re really gonna see how she feels about her hometown.

I think she would’ve just put his safety first and their safety first as much as she possibly can and as much as anybody can in that kind of situation when you don’t have all the power. She would’ve always kept an eye out for him and she really is. She’s trying her best.

Bingham says there’s more to learn about Shira aka decoy Stephanie.

 

Josh Stringer/AMC

What was Max’s reaction to seeing Shira (Chelle Ramos) as this decoy Stephanie? I originally thought Max was sort of in on or aware that there was maybe a decoy version of her. But it seems like that wasn’t the case at all. She was pretty upset.

I think you’re gonna see in the upcoming episodes who this decoy Stephanie really was [and] who she’s associated with.

But, yeah, Max was pretty confused and obviously anybody that’s with her potential partner — she’s pretty pissed. She doesn’t really know what’s going on, but it’s exciting to see that the fans will really get to know a little bit more about that storyline as we continue throughout the season.

We’ll learn more about Max and Mercer and Bingham is hoping ‘the best’ for Eugene’s and Max’s love story.

 

 

Josh Stringer/AMC

Things seem a little rocky at the moment for Max and Eugene, but do you think that there’s still a chance for them to mend fences and start over? He does bring Max ice cream at the episode’s end.

And then looking ahead, what can you tease for Max? Is there a chance that maybe we’ll learn more about Max and Mercer’s story and how they ended up at the Commonwealth?

You’re definitely gonna learn about their storyline, Max and Mercer.

And I think whenever there’s love involved in a conversation, there’s always hope for love, right? That’s what we hope for as fans. We want to see and root people on that we love and that we care about and that are in love. So that’s what I hope for — the best for them.

I think Eugene has been deserving of love for so long on this show.

I know. What a sweetheart.

You can follow along with our “TWD” coverage all season long here. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.