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The Walking Dead: Dead City: Mahina Napoleon on Finding Ginny's Voice

Mahina Napoleon (NCIS: Hawai'i) spoke with Bleeding Cool about The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2, Ginny's struggles, Negan, and more.

Sometimes, the biggest victims of chaos and war are our youngest, as is the case with Ginny, who had to deal with the trauma of her father's death, which largely left her meek and mute with minimal communication skills. Mahina Napoleon has taken on the challenge as an actress to emote with her body language, building relationships during the apocalypse in the AMC spinoff series The Walking Dead: Dead City. As her second on-screen role after CBS's NCIS: Hawai'i, she spoke to Bleeding Cool about the pressures of taking on her second major TV franchise, how Ginny is trying to deal with the reality of what happened to her father, challenges of playing a mute character and finding her voice, working with stars Lauren Cohan (Maggie) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan), and creator Eli Jorne, and what she misses most about NCIS: Hawai'i'.

The Walking Dead: Dead City Star Mahina Napoleon on Ginny's Challenges, Bonding with Maggie & Negan

Bleeding Cool: You're two seasons in the 'The Walking Dead' franchise with 'Dead City'. Did you feel nervous when you started, and how did you get into this season?

I felt a little nervous because I've always been a fan of 'The Walking Dead,' but it has been a fun experience, especially stepping into season two. With Ginny finding out that Negan had killed her father, it's been fun to figure out how to express those emotions, how she's grown so much more, and convey it to the audience.

What are the biggest challenges for you playing a character that is largely mute, who was largely shaped by her trauma?

One of the biggest challenges is that my life, not Ginny's, but my life as Mahina, is totally the opposite. I have such an amazing and supportive family, not to mention the amazing people surrounding me. I tune into the traumatic as Ginny, and find those emotions, and pull it off, has been fun.

What's it like working with Lauren and Jeffrey on set, and what did you learn from being around them?

Working with them is super fun. They are absolute legends, and they've taught me so much, especially Lauren, working with her this past season. She has taught me how to pull out my emotions and give more into the scene. Not only just Lauren and Jeffrey, but all my other co-stars like Gaius (Charles), Logan (Kim), Zeljko (Ivanek), I have learned a lot from them too.

What's it like having Eli as a creative?

Eli is the best. He is hilarious and one of the best writers I've worked with. We have a great connection, not to mention, he is a great karaoke singer.

What are the biggest challenges Ginny will face with season two, aside from obviously trying to come to terms with what Negan did to her father?

Yes, one of the biggest challenges is her taking in the fact that Negan did kill her father, but not only that, she also doesn't have anybody, and her coming to the realization she has to accept that, and find a way to take on this world on her own, find her own strength, and now, with her words.

Did you have like a favorite Ginny scene so far from either season?

One of my favorite scenes in season two is my fight scene (from 201, "Power Equals Power"), because that was fun. I got to work with stunt crew and Lauren, and it's one of my first stunt scenes, and I did it all by myself. It was really fun.

Final question: What do you miss most about working on 'NCIS: Hawai'i '?

Oh man! What do I not miss?! We created such a strong ohana, which means "family" in Hawaiian. Vanessa [Lachey] and Kian [Talan] are like my actual mom and brother, and the craft services were amazing. Everybody was super nice, and it was such a great environment to work around.

The Walking Dead: Dead City, which also stars Lisa Emery, Dascha Polanco, and Keir Gilchrist, airs Thursdays on AMC and streams on AMC+.

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