TWD: World Beyond: INTERVIEW JULIA ORMOND, ALEXA MANSOUR & ANNET MAHENDRU

TWD: World Beyond: INTERVIEW JULIA ORMOND, ALEXA MANSOUR & ANNET MAHENDRU

September 25, 2021 Off By Katie Harden

TWD: World Beyond is the big feature for this week, and not something any of my readers are estranged to. If you are currently living under a rock, then I can tell you–The Walking Dead has spin-off shows. Two. To be exact, and a few more are on the way. One of those two is World Beyond which airs on AMC + in mere hours, and officially to everyone on October 3rd.

 

I was treated to a few hour’s worth of digital press interviews via AMC,  with the entire cast (sans Aliyah Royale, unfortunately.), and they made it nonstop fun. Of course, when you get me and my friend Annet Mahendru in a Zoom together, it’s over, anyway.

PREVIOUSLY ON LOS–THE WALKING DEAD: WORLD BEYOND.

When we last left off on Season 1’s finale, Jennifer “Huck Mallick (Mahendru), her mother Elizabeth Kublek (Julia Ormond), and Hope Bennett (Alexa Mansour) all boarded a chopper, set for the Civic Republic Military compound in Ithaca, New York.

 

Felix Carlucci (Nico Tortorella) had just reunited with their boyfriend Will Campbell (Jelani Alladin) with Iris Bennett (Aliyah Royale) along for the journey. Will was sheltered from the CRM with the help of a new hunting group.

Are they against the CRM? Are they allies? Only time will tell!

 

MR. MALLICK, DADDY DEAREST…

If you watched specifically when Hope and Jennifer went to seek supplies in the high school, you will remember a little conversation between Hope and Huck. She states how getting into the Marines was the only time her father was proud of her. And then again later on in the show when Elizabeth gives her the watch. “Dad left us.”

So, naturally–you know that it had to be a messy divorce. He abandoned the family. So in a way, that was abuse on all its own. When you think of broken homes, you always think of abuse, alcoholics, etc, especially in a city. Well, that was not the case here.

 

KATIE HARDEN: WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED WITH ELIZABETH’S HUSBAND? WAS HE ABUSIVE? ALCOHOLIC?

 

JULIA ORMOND: (Surprised.) Where did that come from?!

KH: I mean, I don’t know! (Laughing.)

ANNET MAHENDRU: (Cracking up hysterically in the background.)

 

ALEXA MANSOUR: (Chuckling slightly.)

AM: (Continues to laugh.)

KH: Shut up, Ann! (Also laughing now.)

ALM: (Deadpanned.) She’s really going for it. She’s really going for it.

AM: (Dying of laughter by this point.)

JO: … No.

 

HOW DID ELIZABETH FINALLY FIND JENNIFER WITH THE WATCH?

(My goal was to get the details for post-Marines/pre-Omaha, but I feel like the question may have been bounced around because of spoilers. That was my actor’s intuition, anyway.)

 

JO: How? So she’s got certain points that she checks in with. They have predetermined times when they’re going to meet up. That’s how I always understood it. Annet, do you have a different understanding of it?

 

KH: Right, right. Because she basically booked it with the Marines (after having to kill Drake to save the survivors in her flashback in episode 7: Truth or Dare.) So I’m wondering how she got back in touch with Elizabeth again.

 

AM: Yeah, that’s a tricky one. There’s certain points, though. There’s CRM points. God and–

JO: There are certain points that Huck can get in touch with them by certain points. And then they’ll go to points where they’re able to arrange stuff. They don’t have constant communication while she’s actually in Omaha.

KH: Right, I mean before. Before she went to…

 

AM: She goes off. Remember? She leaves them at the campsite? The kids? And she’s like: “Oh, I’m gonna go on ahead and scout.”

 

KH: But–yeah—but, Annet–I mean, she was in the wilderness for years, and how you got back in touch with each other. (Literally trying to drive the point home. But Manhendru did say and I quote ‘we’ll get into the dad stuff’ in our previous interview.)

Annet Mahendru
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“Hey, Elton. Sorry I had to shoot your fr–PERCY?!”

 

AM: She has the radio to get in touch with Percy and Elton?

 

KH: (Relenting) Right.

 

AM: Cause’ I’m going awff’ (off, in her Queens accent. Sound familiar?) behind the–to take a pee behind this canister.. (and we’ve entered dork-ville, ladies and gentlemen.) Or, whatever. To walkie the CRM to say, “Hey, I got her.”

KH: Right. Right. Okay. (Yup, giving up.)

 

WHAT WAS ELIZABETH’S REACTION TO THE TRAGEDY OF THE MARINES? DID SHE EVEN LIKE DRAKE TO BEGIN WITH?

AM: We were in Afghanistan together. For this mission. He was her sergeant. He helped her to get that warrior morale in place. Right? That you sort of can’t take things to the heart. You have to truck through it and not look back. Not think back. She’s still thinking about Afghanistan and the civilians, what went down because of their mission. She obviously doesn’t let go of these things. That’s what happens again.

Drake
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Toy soldier. Drake (Gil Perez-Abraham)

JO: My understanding is that Elizabeth celebrates her (Jennifer) for doing what she’s done. And the choices that she makes. She feels that it’s the right choice. I don’t know if Elizabeth thought anybody (Drake or otherwise) was good enough for her.

AM: She wants her all to herself. (Foreshadowing?)

 

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM THAT JENNIFER CREATED BEFORE SHE LEFT FOR OMAHA?

(NOTE: Finale: “And that incident you pulled before you left for Omaha put your judgment into question. At least in the eyes of others.”)

JO: That’s just one of those you have to wait and see…

KH: Knew that was coming!

 

DOES ELIZABETH ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT HER DAUGHTER? OR IS SHE JUST TREATING HER LIKE A WEAPON FOR HIRE?

JO: I believe that she cares about her. Yeah.

 

WOULD YOU SAY GENERAL COMMANDER BEALE CALLS ALL OF THE SHOTS? ELIZABETH DOES CRY WHEN THEY TOTE AWAY BARCA, SO IT SEEMS LIKE THERE’S MORE THERE.

JO: Beale is definitely someone up in the higher ranks.

 

“I do believe that Elizabeth is signed on for the agenda, for the political agenda. The philosophy that the CRM has, and believes in it. Thoroughly, thoroughly believes in it. But believing in it doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t these really hard moments. ”

 

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What have we done?

JO: I think what she’s feeling is very genuine. But it also hits your sense of self. It’s–you know. It hits you in different ways.

 

IS IT SAFE TO SAY JEN IS EXPENDABLE ONCE SHE SERVES HER PURPOSE? THE GIRL LOOKS LIKE SHE COULD MAKE A NERVOUS WRECK OF THE MONTH CALENDAR.

AM: She has some things to iron out still. She’ll get around them. Because she always gets around stuff.

“There’s a lot they still need to get out of Jen, and Jen needs to get out of them. I don’t think anyone’s going anywhere yet.” – Mahendru on Jennifer Mallick getting that intel to save everyone.

 

WHAT IS THE BEST PRANK THAT HOPE CAN PULL ON THE CRM?

ALM: Maybe a bunch of stink bugs? Or putting laxatives in stuff that she would make. I think that would be pretty funny. They would be so caught up on the toilet. That they really wouldn’t have the chance to get out.

AM: (Cracking up.)

KH: (Also cracking up.)

AM: Do you know how hard it is to get out of those CRM uniforms?! They’d just be–

JO: I know!

ALM: Yes!

JO: Instead of having big guns or being arrested–just give them food poisoning!

ALM: Don’t cook the chicken all the way through would probably be a good idea.