The Walking Dead: Exclusive interview with Oceanside’s Beatrice, actor Briana Venskus

Briana had such great things to say about the crew and all the folks behind the camera that make The Walking Dead such a success.

I visit the Senoia area (where the show is filmed) frequently, but I didn’t go as much this summer. We would get out of the car and start dripping from the heat!

"Briana: “It was brutal!”"

It made me wonder how you actors do this at these temperatures.

"Briana: “We have one of the coolest medics in the world. Her name is Tasha and she is such a boss when it comes to making sure everyone in the crew is okay. She came up to me and was stuffing ice packs under my shirt so that I was cool underneath all the clothing. It was the best . She definitely took care of us.”"

I also have some questions about stunt coordinator Monty Simons. Did his group work with you? Did you all use stunt doubles or were you actually rolling around on the ground?

"Briana: “Oh, we did! Here’s what was really cool. The show is very big on making sure that if the actor can do it, they want you to do it. We did shoot the entire scene with a stunt double and they did work with us extensively on moves and how to make it look real and how to sell it. And Monty makes it easier than elementary school, so easy to do the way he explains it to you. You know, Alanna and I watched them do it and we were like, ‘you know what? Let’s go balls out and just get it done, just do it.'” He definitely worked with us a lot, but we got in there and our stunt doubles were like are you sure you want to do this?’ and we were like ‘absolutely!’.”"

Do you like sports or working out? Are you a physical person?

"Briana: “I am actually a spin teacher when I’m not doing acting jobs. I’m a big mover and shaker when it comes to working out.”"

What about weapons training? What did you go through for handling the weapons?

"Briana: “We had so much fun . The props dept on [The Walking Dead], they literally have everything you could every want. Its was good though. I was born in North Carolina, so I kind of grew up outdoorsy and had shot guns before. I live in LA now, but I  go to the gun range every now and then. I know how to handle guns. But, yeah, they definitely put us through the training for the show to make sure we were safe and make sure we looked like we knew what we were doing because these women clearly know how to handle weapons. It was super fun, like being a kid in a candy store!”"

I have learned that sometimes rubber knives are used or just the handle and not the actual blade. Did you have any faux weapons?

"Briana: “Oh yeah absolutely. Any time we are doing a stunt with a weapon it’s always soft of plastic. Or something that protects.”"

Did anything actually make contact with your head in that scene where Tara knocks you out?

"Briana: “You know, it did not, which was surprising! Again, Monty is a genius and somehow between the masterminds at work, like they do with all the stunts, they make it look as painful as possible and somehow no one ever gets hurt.”"

She knocked you out flat, very realistic.