Gale Anne Hurd: The Walking Dead season 10 achieves milestone for women
The Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd reveals that seasons 9 and 10 of the show achieve major milestones for women in television.
It might be a show about the collapse of civilization and the zombie apocalypse, but The Walking Dead has always featured an amazing cast of strong female characters brought to life by a powerful group of women. Executive producer Gale Anne Hurd talked about one of the major milestones for women that The Walking Dead achieved in season 9 and repeated in season 10.
During The Walking Dead press conference at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019, I had a chance to ask the panel about whether fans can expect to see another season of strong women kicking butt in the apocalypse after season 9 gave us such powerful performances from the women of the cast.
“There’s a great thing called Reframe which is a partnership between the Sundance Institute and the Women in Film LA,” Hurd said. “They have a set of parameters that determine whether a project in film or television is gender-equal. Seasons 9 and 10 of The Walking Dead both qualify.”
The news was met with thunderous applause from the room and with good reason: The Walking Dead, along with companion series Fear the Walking Dead, have created incredibly dynamic roles for women.
Season 9 was a standout season for Danai Gurira. What she did in season 9 – and particularly in the episode “Scars” – will go down as one of her most memorable performances ever. Of course, this makes Gurira’s departure from the show in season 10 even more bittersweet.
As Gurira leaves, Lauren Cohan is slated to return to the series in season 10 as Maggie Rhee. And of course we can’t say enough about the OG of the ZA in Melissa McBride. Of all the women in the apocalypse, Carol has transformed the most and we’re expecting big things from her. And then there’s Alpha. Samantha Morton made quite an entrance in season 9 as arguably the most terrifying villain the show has ever seen and she’ll continue her reign of terror in season 10.
The Walking Dead shows no signs of slowing down, and that means fans can expect more seasons featuring strong women kicking butt in the apocalypse in the future.