The Walking Dead: Get to know Lauren Ridloff

Lauren Ridloff’s character Connie is already a fan favorite on The Walking Dead. Here are some fun facts about this newcomer to The Walking Dead.

On The Walking Dead anyone that saves a baby is going to get a lot of love, and Connie is getting a lot of love for saving the baby that the Whisperer mother abandoned to be killed by walkers. Her harrowing rescue of the child which was shot from her point of view was one of the best scenes the show has presented this season.

When Connie insisted on going with Daryl to retrieve Henry and rescue Lydia fans were on board for this unusual pair teaming up and they do make a great team. Connie’s seamless transition into The Walking Dead, along with the rest of Magna’s crew, is even more of a feat considering that she had very little TV experience before joining the show.

She’s been in five films, but only had appeared in one episode of the TV show The Five Under Five Project before she took the role of Connie. She does have some serious acting chops though. She was nominated for a Tony award for her gig as Sarah Newman in a revival of “Children Of A Lesser God” on Broadway.

She was hand picked for the role of Sarah Newman by the director of the revival, Kenny Leon after she had worked with him for about a year teaching him American Sign Language. Ridloff has been deaf since birth, and her husband and two sons are also deaf. To be nominated for a Tony award with a fairly small of amount of acting experience is an extraordinary feat, and it speaks volumes about the heart and soul that she brings to her performances. She brings that same presence to her character on The Walking Dead and immediately felt like part of TWDFamily.

Teacher And Advocate

Before jumping into The Walking Dead world and the world of acting Lauren was a kindergarten teacher who worked extensively with programs designed to encourage kids to explore the creative arts. It was while she was working as the Deaf Liaison at the Lexington School For The Deaf in New York City that she first got involved in theater. She started working at the New York Deaf Theater where she co-directed “Sign Me Not” and directed the first deaf version of “The Vagina Monologues”.

The Walking Dead

Ridloff’s character on The Walking Dead, Connie, is based on a comic character but in the comic the character of Connie was not deaf. On the show Angel Theory, who is partially deaf, plays Connie’s sister Kelly. Magna’s group all know ASL which has come in very handy for communicating when there are enemies or the dead around. Luke, who was being held prisoner by the Whisperers, saw Connie in the cornfield behind them and was able to sign to her that there was a baby in trouble which prompted Connie to rescue the child.

Lauren Ridloff may not have the extensive acting experience that some of the other actors on The Walking Dead have but she has fit into the cast seamlessly and made Connie a character that the fans love. Hopefully Connie will make it to season 10 and beyond because Lauren Ridloff is a fantastic addition to the cast.