The Walking Dead celebrates 15 years in 2025, and actress Addy Miller recently shared a nostalgic look at her scene in the series. Miller famously portrayed the Teddy Bear Walker in the opening scene of the series.
The Teddy Bear Walker's real name is Summer, a fact revealed in The Walking Dead Social Game: Chronicles in 2012. Miller was fortunate to be a part of something significant by appearing in the pilot episode of AMC's wildly popular post-apocalyptic series. The little girl is dressed in jammies, a robe, and bunny slippers and is spotted by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) at a gas station where he is searching for fuel.
Initially, Rick believes her to be a lost little girl, but soon realizes the truth, she has reanimated into a member of the undead. The look on his face is heartbreaking as he knows what must be done. Summer is the first on-screen walker kill of the series.
Below is Miller's Instagram post, which features several behind-the-scenes photos, including images of the process turning her into a walker.
The caption reads: thankful for this little life 🤍 15 years ago a little 10 year old went on set of her first tv show to film a single scene, and her life hasn’t been the same since. i will never be able to put into words how grateful i am to have grown up with you all :’)
The Walking Dead: Teddy Bear Walker
It was gutsy for Walking Dead creators to feature the death of a child walker in the opening scene. This did set the tone for the series, especially the earlier seasons. The Teddy Bear Walker is now referred to as a variant walker, as she picked up the teddy bear lying on the ground, indicating some memory retention of when she was a human.
In a 2021 interview with Fangoria, Miller shared her thoughts about her character: I saw her as an innocent child who died, and now she’s trying to survive through the afterlife by eating people. I feel bad for her, trying to eat people with braces on! She’s sad and dead.
Miller returned to TWD for the season 8 premiere, "Mercy," which was also the 100th episode of the series. She portrayed a similar-looking walker, complete with slippers and a bathrobe, seen by Rick. This was Greg Nicotero's idea that was kept secret from everyone, including Miller.
The Teddy Bear Walker role changed Miller's life and will always remain and iconic figure within The Walking Dead universe.
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