Posted in: AMC, Fear The Walking Dead, Preview, TV | Tagged: amc, fear the walking dead, kim dickens, preview, season 7

Fear the Walking Dead: Kim Dickens on Madison Leaving/Returning & More

Usually, when a series has a season finale coming up they make sure they save all "The Big Stuff" for the end of the episode so the fans have a whole lot of things to stress about during the between-seasons break. But if you're AMC's Fear the Walking Dead, you're going to mix things up a bit by letting folks know early on what the headline is for S07E16 "Gone." That's right, Morgan (Lennie James) is about to come face-to-face with none other than Madison (Kim Dickens)- but the Madison we're being reintroduced to is definitely not vibing like the one we thought we said goodbye to back during the fourth season. Now, Dickens is opening up to EW about how she felt first leaving the series ("No, I hadn't continued to watch aside from watching Colman [Domingo]'s directorial debut. I didn't keep up with it"), feeling that Madison had more stories left to tell, and her reactions to Seasons 6 & 7. Here are some of the highlights:

Dickens Was Surprised When Madison Was Written Off: "Well, like I said, it caught me by surprise," Dickens explains. "Back when it happened, I was disappointed, and I really was pretty clear about that. I kind of wore it on my sleeve. I was honest with the fan base and I said, 'Look, I didn't choose this. I thought there was more stories to tell. I'm disappointed.' And I was. Then you got to move on. That's our business. Jobs end and things change. That's part of the perseverance required of us as performers is to pick yourself up and move on." And that time gave Dickens an opportunity to explore new avenues in her career. "I went on to do great things that I really enjoyed, great projects that were really fun for me. I did some comedy, I did a thriller, I did another dark comedy, and it just was like, 'Yeah, let's just keep moving.' And then when it came back around, by then, I'd let it go.

Madison Never Wandered Far from Dickens' Mind, Though: "I'd remained friends with Colman [Domingo] and Alycia [Debnam-Carey] and Danay [Garcia] and the gang. But every so often I would have these visions of Madison, like how she could pop back into the scene or just an image would cross my mind if I was driving or something, and it was the weirdest thing because it was like it was still inside me, I guess," Dickens revealed. I would think like, 'I don't know why they don't bring her back. It'd be so cool.' That was kind of my experience."

Dickens Felt Inspired by What She Saw in Seasons 6 & 7: I started jumping in [at Season] 6 and got excited to see everyone guns-blazing and great performances. Then, by that time I also was like, 'I'm going to try to get in shape!' Because this job is more challenging than others, I tell you. But in a great way. That was sort of my preparation," Dickens shared. Then I started watching Season 7 when it came around because I wasn't getting scripts until I was in it. I was watching it like a fan then as well, and I started to get nervous. I was like, 'Oh wow, I'm on deck. I'm about to be up to bat. This is the season!' It was exciting. I thought the work they were all doing was incredible and just became beyond epic.

Fear the Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 16 "Gone": Morgan finds a new ally who turns out to be more trouble than he bargained for.. Directed by Sharat Raju and written by Andrew Chambliss & Ian Goldberg.

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