As The Walking Dead prepares to air its final episodes, the universe that now exists continues to grow. We talked with actor Kersti Bryan about her career in theater and TV, including her role in the newest show in the Walking Dead universe, Tales of the Walking Dead.
Horror Geek Life: Let’s jump right in and talk about Tales of the Walking Dead. When you did the audition for this show, was it different than other auditions you had done in the past and did you even know what you were auditioning for?
Kersti Bryan: I did know the name of the show and what I was auditioning for, but I didn’t know what the role was. They give you the dummy script, and from what I could piece together, it was maybe a doctor who was killing people on her table. When you’re reading scripts where you don’t have all the information, you are kind of mining for information. You just need to make a choice on what to do; they’re not going to reveal that much information.
Horror Geek Life: How was your first day on set?
Kersti Bryan: Oh my god, so my first day on set, because of COVID, you first have to go through all the protocols to make sure you are ok, then I had to go in for makeup testing because my character Sandra has quite a dramatic change. It’s a new spinoff, so the producers just wanted to make sure everything was right. We were practicing, seeing what was working, what they wanted for the look of certain things.
That was really my first day on set, just working with the design team to get the pieces of my character, Sandra, together. She’s a prepper, lives in a bunker to survive, and this time is about four hundred days after the apocalypse, so she’s still doing pretty well. So yeah, the design team just wanted all those pieces in place.
Horror Geek Life: You’ve worked on many TV shows in your career. What did you find was different working on the Tales of the Walking Dead set as opposed to other sets?
Kersti Bryan: You know, The Walking Dead happens mostly at night. The zombies come out at night, so we did a lot of night shoots, and that was kind of unique for me because most of the TV shows I worked on were during the day, maybe late in the day, but never into the night, so that was one thing. Also, it’s a big universe. It’s touched all of us in a way, so everyone is familiar with it, and I certainly know it and have been trying to get on the show for years.
Horror Geek Life: Once you landed the role, what was it about the character Sandra that you enjoyed?
Kersti Bryan: I didn’t know who Sandra even was before I received the script, so it wasn’t a character or role that grabbed me from the very beginning. I wanted the role, and I felt like whatever they were looking for in this character with the dummy script, she was up to something unusual. When I got the script, she comes off as a very normal, can-do kind of gal, but then it all goes sideways. There’s kind of a Joker meets What Ever Happened to Baby Jane feel, so different than anything in the world. It’s unusual but very interesting.
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Horror Geek Life: Did you feel extra pressure walking into this universe?
Kersti Bryan: Oh yes, it was very intimidating. You’ve got Terry Crews and Olivia Munn, who are both marvelous, and I was just so excited. I mean, when do you get a role like that? I play a lot of moms, I’ve worked in the theater, and I’m really a character actor. There have been some really fun roles I’ve played over the years, but this one allows this great range that happens very quickly, so that was so fun.
Ron Underwood, our director, he did Tremors; I mean, how great is that? He was just so encouraging, basically telling us to go as far as you want, so I think that was the gift, being allowed to try a bunch of stuff. She’s a serial killer that can go many different ways; there are so many types of serial killers, so who is this person? It was great.
Horror Geek Life: You’ve done a lot of work in television. Was that a conscious choice, or did it just end up that you frequently worked in that medium?
Kersti Bryan: You know, there was a moment where I had been doing a lot of Shakespeare, and I was like, I have no money (laughs). Also, I fell in love with some filmmaker friends and was like, wow, what is this? This encapsulates some of the things I love about acting, which is storytelling. I’m going to go a little weird here, but Chekhov is the original playwright who said the story is beneath the words, so what you’re seeing and what you’re hearing are two different things, and I feel like film does that. Humans don’t ever say the words they mean to say, you kind of need to have the picture to see what’s happening, and I love that about TV and film, so that kind of got my curiosity going.
Horror Geek Life: Going back before the theater, can you talk about how you got into the acting business?
Kersti Bryan: I did a play in high school. Both my parents are in the sciences; my dad is a geologist, and my mom is a physician, so I’m a little bit of the black sheep of the family (laughs). They are a big supporter of the arts, but they don’t have a TV in their house, so they haven’t seen most of my work, so that’s a bit strange. I got involved in theater in high school, and the opportunities started flowing, and it was terrifying because my parents were like, there’s no future here; what are you doing? They’re supportive, but even when I tell them I’m working, this year alone, I’ve done two TV shows and a couple of films, to this day, they ask me when I’m going to law school.
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Horror Geek Life: Obviously, you enjoyed your time working in theater. Do you think all actors should try theater, working without that net, so to speak, or is it just not for everyone?
Kersti Bryan: You know, I’m hesitant to give sweeping generalizations of what people need or can do because I’ve met extraordinary actors who just came up through the TV and film world. It is a different sport, no question. I think it’s exciting, and also, a live audience never lies to you.
When you work in film, you really have no response, but you know when you’re not winning on stage, you know when the person in the front row is taking a nap, so you have a chance to change that as you might have lost them in Act 1, but you can get them back in Act 2, just give me a chance! (laughs). So yeah, I do think having that live feedback makes you a better performer and more aware of what’s working and what’s not. The audience is so smart, and that’s even a TV and film audience. The audience is just smart, so you have to give them a show.
Horror Geek Life: The Walking Dead universe has had many strong female characters. Have you noticed women getting bigger and better roles in front of and behind the camera, or do we still have a long way to go?
Kersti Bryan: I want to say that as of right now, the women will often carry the emotional burden of the story, but we are seeing more multi-dimensional women. But there still is this truth, you will be playing a woman that happens to be a mother, and they will say, “Ok, John, Fred… and mom…” instead of calling her by the character’s name, so we’ve got to change this.
However, I do think it’s getting better because we have eyes on it, a little bit, and also, we have women in the pipeline. We didn’t have writers, directors, or producers saying that we are missing a large scope of the story. I just worked alongside Lori Singer of Footloose fame. I played her daughter, and she played a widow. It’s kind of like a character study of grief, and I’m just so excited to see women of a certain age get their stories told because we need to hear their stories.
Horror Geek Life: What other projects do you have coming up?
Kersti Bryan: So upcoming, I’ve got HBO’s Perry Mason. It’s a 1930s design, so just get ready, it’s so exquisite, and I’m a recur on that, too. I’ve got the film coming out I just talked about, directed by Victor Nunez and starring Lori Singer. I just shot a film directed by Neil Burger, and he did The Illusionist and some episodes of Billions. He is incredible, and that one is bonkers. I’m not going to reveal why. That one has Phoebe Dynevor, I play her sister, she was the lead in the first season of Bridgerton, and her dad is played by Rhys Ifans, who is in House of the Dragon. If you could spend a day with Rhys Ifans, it would be a very good day, I’m not going to lie.
And now, I need a job (laughs). I do try and keep my creative energy afloat. I have a couple of children’s books I’m writing. My first directorial debut just came out, it’s now online, so that’s exciting, and yeah, I just keep the boats moving.
