Cassady McClincy might be one of the biggest fans of The Walking Dead out there, so when she scored the role of Lydia on the show, she couldn’t believe it. During her Supanova 2020 – Melbourne panel, McClincy gave fans insight into how she went from fan to phenomenon.
GROWING UP WATCHING THE WALKING DEAD
At nine years old, McClincy started watching The Walking Dead. She recalled some of the scenes that impacted her most over the years (spoilers ahead, Supa-Fans!): “That scene where Sophia dies and [Carol] freaks out, I will never forget that, and also that scene with [Daryl] when he has to kill Merle. That was huge… a significant moment of my childhood that I will always remember.”
LANDING A ROLE ON THE WALKING DEAD
Where Lydia is quiet and fearful, McClincy is bright and bubbly. McClincy was shocked when she got the role: “I got the audition and I taped it in my garage closet with my mother, and then I heard nothing for a couple of months. I remember I was supposed to move to L.A., so I had all my bags packed and then I got a call that I was up for the role and I was like, ‘There’s no way!’ And then the day that I was supposed to fly out I actually missed my flight and then I found out a couple of hours later that I booked it and I had to be on set the next morning!”
GETTING INTO CHARACTER
“Greg Nicotero gave me this giant compendium filled with all the Lydia comics from her introduction to the whole Whisperer War. So, I read those and I kind of got an idea of Lydia and he told me it was a blueprint, not Gospel for Lydia, so I shouldn’t follow it completely by the comics. Because the comic Lydia is very different from the TV Lydia.”
THE FIRST DAY ON SET
“I had the name Lydia on my chair, I started crying and then I looked over and I saw Danai Gurira and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh Michonne is sitting right across from me!’ I remember I just looked down and I just kept pinching my arm and I was like, ‘Is this real?’”
WHAT’S THAT SMELL?
“The people that look the most disgusting and have the greasiest looking hair actually smell the best because they have all the product in their hair. So, when you see Daryl all dripping, gross and greasy and you’re like, ‘Ewww!’ He actually smells delicious.”
WHAT’S NEXT FOR CASSADY MCCLINCY?
“I really, really, really want to play a female Joker, I think that would be so cool, so that’s my new goal.”
Lead Image: Cassady McClincy at Supanova 2020 – Melbourne. Photo by Emma Wilkinson.
