‘The Walking Dead’s Emily Kinney Speaks Out About Finally Returning as Beth in ‘Dead City’ Season 3

Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 3, Episode 6.

When Beth Greene (Emily Kinney) unexpectedly died in Season 5 of The Walking Dead, it seemed likely that would be the last time she’d appear in the franchise. That is, until Episode 306 of The Walking Dead: Dead City, when showrunner Seth Hoffman created an alternate reality that brought Beth back into Maggie’s (Lauren Cohan) life. From sharing a hot chocolate on a chilly stroll in Central Park in New York City to singing in a bar for a crowd, it was nice to see a Beth that was happy about her life and hopeful for the future. She’s even left in a place of possibilities of what could come next.

Collider recently got the opportunity to chat with Kinney about why she loved the idea of returning to the character and what made the experience so memorable. During the interview, she discussed how cool it was to see who Beth might have been as an adult in a world without Walkers, why it was easy to slip into the character again, what made her so emotional when she read the script, the ease of working with Cohan, getting to perform one of her own original songs in the episode, and that she hopes the Beth fans will have a better sense of satisfaction with where things are left.

Emily Kinney Had a Great Time Revisiting Her ‘The Walking Dead’ Character in ‘Dead City’ Season 3

“It was cool to get to explore that. I loved it.”

COLLIDER: What was your reaction to learning about this episode and what they wanted you to come do for this? Was it an immediate yes, or did you need some clarification as to what this would be?

EMILY KINNEY: When I got the offer, I think it was first, “Are you interested? If so, we’ll send you the script.” And so, I did get to read the script pretty quickly, before officially deciding, and I loved it. It’s been so much time since I’ve gotten to revisit Beth. I thought it was really, really fun, the idea of getting to work with Lauren [Cohan] again. I’ve seen her throughout the years at conventions and things like that, but I love getting to spend time with her and work with her. So, it was a little bit of an immediate yes. I was like, “Yes, of course, I want to come say hello to everyone again.” They’re people I care about. But then, I also thought it was just a really smart way to see Beth again. Rather than it just being a dream, it was like, “In this alternate reality, she hasn’t died, so who would she be now, in her 30s?” As opposed to me trying to play a teenager, I could play her as an adult and what kind of person she would have turned into. It was the questions that I had, as the actor and when I was playing Beth of, “What kind of adult will she turn into?” It was cool to get to explore that. I loved it.

What was it like to actually walk onto the set as this character? Did it feel like you had to find her again, especially because this is the happy version of her in this alternate reality? Were there pieces of her that you still drew from?

KINNEY: I felt like a lot of it was still there pretty automatically, which is crazy because it has been so many years since I played her. It’s the longest I’ve ever played a role. I was on the show for maybe four or five years, so it did become a big part of me. Honestly, I felt like it was easy to tap into who she would be as an adult. We had done so much work so many years ago, about things like her styling, so going, “Okay, if there wasn’t a zombie apocalypse, what would she be wearing?,” came pretty naturally. We did, so many years ago, set up a certain style that she had, with her braids and the necklaces she would wear and all her bracelets. Tapping into that seemed pretty obvious. She loved music, and now she’s doing music in New York City. It all made sense to me. It wasn’t a struggle to figure out who she was.

It’s funny because we sometimes sit around and wonder what it might be like to find yourself in a zombie apocalypse, but that’s the only way you know this character, and you had to think about what she was like in normal life.

KINNEY: Yeah, that’s a good point.

Lauren told me that you guys shot the scene at the fountain together first. What was it like to shoot that scene and to have that be that first moment that you guys were back together? She said it was really moving for her to work with you again and especially to do that scene. How was it to find that moment? Was it also emotional for you?

KINNEY: It really was. I’m not trying to be dramatic when I say this, but when I read the script, I started crying. I think the show has just played such a huge part in my career and in my life and in all of our lives. Me and Lauren started the same day. We met at the hotel. It has always been so easy to do scenes with her. There’s a real natural ease to the scenes. If we have to do something emotional or do something, like in the past, that’s very violent, it has always come in a very calm, easy way. I don’t know why that is. It does naturally feel like a sister vibe. They did amazing with the casting. It’s just something that came naturally. So, honestly, reading it was emotional. And then, filming those scenes was easy. It felt natural.

Emily Kinney Got To Perform One of Her Own Songs As Beth in ‘Dead City’

“It just seemed to fit so well.”

Image via AMC

What was it like to sing and perform in this episode? How was it to shoot all of that with Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, just hanging out and listening to you performing music?

KINNEY: Honestly, I loved it. I got to sing one of the songs I wrote, which is the first song I’m singing before the Christmas song. It’s a song called “Reasons to Stay Alive.” In the script, originally, it just said, “Beth sings a folk song.” And so, when they were planning the episode and I first met with the writers, they were like, “Do you have thoughts?” And I was like, “I do have thoughts,” and I pitched my own song. It just seemed to fit so well. The first thing I thought of was that song. So, it was really satisfying to get to sing that song and incorporate that part of my life. That was one thing I always shared with Beth. We both sang and loved music. In my real life, I’m a musician and songwriter, so it was cool to be able to incorporate that into her, as well.

My favorite moment in the episode is when you and Lauren are walking down the street singing “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” together. That was such a special moment for those characters. What was that moment like to do?

KINNEY: I think that made the moments on stage make even more sense and gave them even more power to realize, “This is something Maggie knows is important to Beth, and it’s something they grew up doing.” It called back to long ago when we found the prison and everyone was sitting and singing around the campfire. It was a moment of rest. It’s not just, “Oh, why don’t me and Maggie sing?” It’s something that is a throughline, back from The Walking Dead and into now. Clearly, part of how they grew up was singing together.

I love that we got that little moment with Beth and Luis (Raúl Castillo). It was fun to think of what could be for Beth. Was it nice to leave her in a place of future possibilities, instead of where you had to leave her before?

KINNEY: Totally. I feel like it was very satisfying for me, as an actor, to be like, “Okay, she’s okay somewhere in some other timeline. She got to grow up and live a life and be an adult and follow her dreams.” It was very satisfying. That’s one thing that was so cool about this episode. If it’s the apocalypse and you’re running from zombies, the little moments of life that are normally so fun and special maybe get steamrolled over because you’re trying to survive.

They thankfully didn’t kill Beth again, so what was it like to finish the episode and say goodbye to her again?

KINNEY: It was so cool to come back. It felt like such a celebration, the whole shooting experience. We shot near Boston, and then also in New York City. I used to live in New York and now I live in L.A. And when I was shooting The Walking Dead, I lived in L.A. It just felt like a celebration of Beth, so it was really, really fun. Of course, in my mind, I’m going, “In this timeline, the zombie apocalypse hasn’t happened yet. Let’s keep going with a new spinoff.” There are always those questions in my mind. But mostly, I just thought it was a really cool way to get to celebrate that character. The Beth fans online have always been so supportive. I knew because of being on Instagram that people were going to be excited to get a moment with her again.

The thing that stood out the most with this episode was not hearing the sound of the Walkers. It’s so glaringly obvious that you’re not hearing that noise.

KINNEY: That’s funny. When I was watching it, I was like, “Oh, the sound design feels different in this episode.” It’s so interesting.

Emily Kinney Hopes Beth Fans Will Be Satisfied With Her ‘Dead City’ Story Arc

“There’s possibility and hope.”

Image via AMC

What do you hope fans take from this episode and from getting to see Beth again?

KINNEY: I hope the Beth fans will feel a little more satisfied with seeing who she would have been. People would be like, “But she was just becoming this kind of person.” So, hopefully, they’ll get a little more satisfaction of getting a window into who she could have become. I also think there’s possibility and hope. You’re getting to see a different side of Maggie, and the possibility of who Maggie and Negan could still become. There was a core message in this too, with the idea of there being certain lessons to be learned in life and fate and things being a little bit out of your hands, so you have to take the leap. I really liked that about this episode. It’s that idea, not just for the show but in the world of, how much can you control? What can you be learning from our time on earth as humans?

The Walking Dead airs on AMC on Sundays.

Release Date

June 15, 2023

Network

AMC

Showrunner

Eli Jorne, Seth Hoffman

Directors

Kevin Dowling, Loren Yaconelli

Writers

Brenna Kouf