Julia Ormond Discusses The “Burden of Responsibility” in Joining the ‘Walking Dead’ Universe

Julia Ormond is no stranger to large productions, like Legends of the Fall, or joining ongoing franchises, like her roles on CSI: NY and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. But even she was given a little pause jumping into the role of Elizabeth Kublek on The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

“What I have found for myself, as an actor, that there’s this kind of burden of responsibility,” Ormond told Decider. “Or, am I going to be big enough to fill the shoes of the character?”

Though Kublek is a new character introduced on the premiere episode of the new spinoff, to Ormond’s point there’s been an enormous amount of build-up behind her. It started on The Walking Dead, which first teased a mysterious helicopter with a three ring symbol, one that eventually took away fan favorite character Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) to parts unknown. That organization then popped up again over several episodes of Fear the Walking Dead, where we learned they were a highly organized military force. And when they’re finally introduced on World Beyond‘s premiere, titled “Brave,” we’ll be able to put a face to the so-called CRM (Civic Republic Military), the conglomeration of three cities that includes Portland, the Campus Colony in Nebraska (the setting for World Beyond), and the CRM itself (somewhere in the Midwestern United States).

“There’s such a big build up around the CRM and the three circles and the black helicopter,” Ormond continued. “And this unforgivable action of removing Rick Grimes — not just from family, and taking him away in a helicopter in the series The Walking Dead — but also from the series. Not only is Michonne [Danai Gurira’s character] and all the people from The Walking Dead not ever going to forgive her, but the fans are struggling with it. You’re stepping into a situation where there’s a ton of bias against you.”

That said, Ormond is also stepping into a franchise where some of the most beloved characters are the villains — or eventually reformed villains. Think The Governor (David Morrissey) or Dwight (Austin Amelio), or most notoriously Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Even recent, outrageous bad guys like Alpha (Samantha Morton) and Beta (Ryan Hurst), leaders of the zombie skin wearing Whisperers, have their loyal, devoted fans.

Kublek, with her long black coat, short-cropped hair and imposing demeanor seems ripe to join those storied ranks of characters viewers love to hate. But Ormond, once again, looks at Kublek in a surprising way.

“I wanted there to be a sense of ease around it as well,” Ormond said. “That part of her experience has delivered her a level of: ‘I know this is intimidating for you, but this is just my kind of every day.’ As empties [the show’s name for zombies] are being taken out around them, it’s not really something that’s new to them. … I guess a parallel would be if you’re playing a royal figure, it’s the people around you that give you the authority. You can’t really play authority. It’s played off the people around you.”

That ease, and the duality of Kubleck’s demeanor versus her actions is something that Ormond worked hard to portray on screen. “There’s a political philosophy or conclusion that is driving this person that’s part of the military, in terms of an executed agenda, or executing an agenda,” Ormond continued. “And then there’s the individual that Elizabeth is within that context. It’s going to take, I think, or I hope, until the very end for you to really have a conclusion around what the agenda is and whether it’s for the better. For good, or for nefarious reasons.”

As for that conclusion, despite COVID delays on production, you won’t have to wait as long as usual on a Walking Dead show to find out what Kublek is up to. Unlike the previously open-ended The Walking Dead (AMC recently announced the show will be ending with an extended Season 11) and Fear the Walking Dead, World Beyond is planned as a two season long, twenty episode total limited series, something that Ormond didn’t know going in.

In fact, she signed on to the project based on the same way she always signs on to TV projects: quickly.

“I think all television… the way that goes down, or that it has traditionally for me — is that you are quite often expected to respond to a given answer to something very promptly,” Ormond said. “The deals go down incredibly quickly. You’re going, ‘Do I do this? Do I don’t?’ All within the space of the week. You’ve signed your life away, probably for something like seven years. And it’s mostly a one-sided deal. You could be booted out, or you could be called back.”

Because of that intensely quick turnaround, Ormond has learned to look at a couple of factors before joining a show. “What I have learned in terms of signing on, is to look at the actual show. Do you trust those creators and those writers? Do you trust that they have been able to give actors an environment where they can deliver a good performance? Does that seem to be something that’s important to them? Have they been really truthful and devoted to a rulebook and a world and a universe? Because I think the best shows come out of when the creators have a rulebook, and they adhere to it. They have a logic that they stick to. Do you like the performances that the other actors have? Because sometimes you only see the pilot. Mostly, you sign on with the pilot. You don’t know where they’re going to go after that.”

Noting that the two season plan allows the writing staff the opportunity to “write towards a known timeline and ending,” Ormond also felt that perhaps having that concrete running length might allow a greater resurgence for the whole franchise, now that the series are ten plus years down the road.

“I hope that it might resuscitate audience,” Ormond said. “I know that there’s a legitimate call, in terms of: this has gone on for a long time. Is there still more juice in it? Does this still actually have legs? I gotta tell you that from my perspective, I was drawn back to it. I want to see more. That’s all you can go on as an actor, is, ‘Did I watch this? Did I get engaged? Do I find it compelling?’ Yeah. Yeah. And I still do.”

You can check it out for yourself when The Walking Dead: World Beyond premieres on AMC on Sunday, October 4 at 10/9c.

Where to watch The Walking Dead: World Beyond