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Who’s Deanna? Tovah Feldshuh Discusses The Walking Dead

By Adam Carlson

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One of the most interesting additions to The Walking Dead’s fifth season has been Tovah Feldshuh.  Her work as the Deanna Monroe, the leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, has really been a game changer on the popular AMC zombie drama and have given the show a much different feel from previous seasons.  Although she’s only been a part of three episodes as of this writing, she’s already one of the most powerful characters on the program.

Recently, in an interview with YahooTV, Tovah Feldshuh spilled the beans about quite a few things about her character of Deanna and how she landed the role on The Walking Dead.  Here is the story of her audition:

"“What was wild was, I didn’t audition with anything from the show. They gave me a fake scene, beautifully written incidentally, where I played the head of intelligence, this powerful person who was the head of the CIA or the Secret Service, some elite group. When I accepted the deal, they disclosed who I was.”"

As fans of The Walking Dead know, the casting of the show is VERY secretive.  Actors are typically given fake scripts and are measured based off their performances on that material.  Even if they have someone in mind for a specific part, the casting process came sometimes change all that.  When it was discovered that Tovah Feldshuh would be playing the leader of Alexandria, it marked a big shake-up from the comics.  where that role is filled by a male character named Douglas.

Tovah Feldshuh ended the YahooTV by talking about Deanna’s decision to bring Rick Grimes and his group into Alexandria and whether or not she thinks it was a mistake.

"“A mistake? I wouldn’t put it that way. Deanna feels we could be in danger. She comes from a belief in democracy, one person, one vote, and all of a sudden they’re saying to me, ‘Are you nuts? This doesn’t work. If Pete is this hideous wife-beating person, he needs to be killed. This isn’t trial by a jury of your peers, innocent until proven guilty. You have enough evidence to show that you’re a menace to our society, you’ve got to go.'”"

Deanna is just trying to protect her people the way that Rick protects his.  And losing her son combined with saying they have to kill the only doctor in the community is a pretty harsh way to start things off.  It will be interesting to see what Tovah Feldshuh and her character of Deanna Monroe do on the season 5 finale of The Walking Dead.  You can catch that show Sunday, March 29th at 9:00 pm EST on AMC.  Check your local listings for time and availability.

Next: Walking Dead 50 most shocking moments and deaths

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