On The Walking Dead: Dead City, Mahina Napoleon plays Ginny, the young girl with an unshakable loyalty to Negan. In this Q&A with amc.com, she talks about acting without speaking, what she learned from Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and how much she loved being around zombies.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the challenge of acting without speaking? How did you work to express how Ginny was feeling without dialogue?
A: Acting without speaking was a challenge, but it was really good. It really forced me to depend on my facial expressions and my body language to portray Ginny's emotions. It's really helped me to grow as an actor too. I also had the opportunity to work closely with the directors and their vision of Ginny and how we could best bring the voice of my character to light without using my voice. It was really fun to play off my fellow castmates and their emotions in the scenes. Like for example, when Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) would be yelling at me in a scene, I would look down or get teary-eyed, or if he really irritated me, I would roll my eyes.
Q: Was it intimidating to find out that you were going to be playing a character that didn't speak?
A: It was definitely shocking because I didn't know how I would do in that situation. But once I started filming and we started working on the scenes, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I think in my head I was like, "Oh no, what am I going to do? I don't know how to act in a scene without speaking." But once I started filming more and more, it became easier.
Q:  Negan is known as one of The Walking Dead's big villains, but Ginny is drawn to him. It helps that Negan has always seemed to have more empathy for children, so he's very caring when it comes to Ginny. For instance, he gives her his shirt when she's cold, he fixes her dino plushie, and he teaches her a whistle to summon him. Do you think Ginny has any sense of how dangerous other people think Negan is?
A:  I don’t think that Ginny is aware that people think Negan is a bad person or how dangerous he really is. Ginny only knows Negan as her protector, the person who cares for her, her savior, a father figure, and really the only person she has in this scary apocalyptic world. Ginny sees a side of Negan that he hasn't shared with others, a side that no one else sees or really knows. So not only does Ginny have a different perspective of Negan, but she will bring a perspective of Negan to the audience that they have never seen before.
Q: Did you know anything about Negan before you started the show?
A: Yes, actually, I watched The Walking Dead, so I did know about Negan.
Q: What was it like working so closely with Jeffrey Dean Morgan? 
A:  Working with JDM is so much fun! He's really funny and fun to work with. He's very, very, very kind and he is really nothing like his character at all. He’s very professional on set and really would inspire me to get into my character. It was such a great experience to learn so much from a seasoned actor who has already been a part of this incredible franchise. 
Q: Did you learn anything specific from him that you're willing to share?
A: I learned that it's very important to stay in the moment because once you break out of character, it's hard to get back into it. So, say, when the director calls cut and you need to reshoot a scene, you always want to stay in character. You don't want to get out of character too much because then it'll be harder to get back in.
Q: What do you think Ginny's opinion of Maggie is?
A:  I like this question because Ginny will give the audience a completely different perspective of Negan and Maggie. Historically on The Walking Dead, the audience is always rooting for Maggie, and Negan is portrayed as the bad guy. With Ginny, it's the complete opposite. Ginny does not like or trust Maggie. When Maggie comes into their life, Ginny is not comfortable with the way Maggie treats Negan. Negan is the most important person in the world to Ginny, so Ginny sees Maggie as the bad guy. I'm really, really excited for the fans and the audience to experience this new dynamic through my character.
Q: At the end of Episode 3, Maggie has Ginny's dino plushie and it looks like she's going to burn it!
A: That definitely makes Ginny not like her even more!
Q: Why does Ginny escape from Hilltop? Is it just because she wants to be with Negan or because she suspects that he's not going to come back for her like he promised? Or maybe it's because she doesn't like her new environment?
A: I think that all of those reasons play into why Ginny escapes Hilltop. When Ginny arrives at Hilltop, she doesn’t know anyone and the other kids bully her. She feels completely alone and uncomfortable. As I mentioned, Ginny also doesn’t trust Maggie and that’s who Negan has left with. That leads to a fear that Maggie won't look out for Negan and maybe he won't be safe and won't return to her. Most importantly, Negan is all Ginny has in the world and she wants to be with him. She feels most secure and comfortable with him. Leaving Hilltop was a move she felt was essential to her and Negan's survival.
Q: I really felt for Ginny when she was being introduced to her new classmates. You did a great job of expressing her discomfort. How were you able to portray that so effectively?
A: It's just all about getting into character and finding something within myself that can make me feel that angry — then I put that into the character. Also, I just started at a new school, so I definitely used those emotions of starting at a new school, feeling nervous, not knowing anybody, not being able to make any friends, and poured that all into Ginny. That really helped.
Q: You encounter several walkers, especially in Episode 3. What was that experience like? Did you embrace it? Or was it scary? Or maybe a bit of both?
A:  I've been watching The Walking Dead ever since I was four or five, so it was so exciting to see the prosthetics and the makeup in person and to be part of the franchise that I was already a fan of. Along with that excitement, I wasn't really scared because a lot of the stunt zombies became my friends! Overall, I would say I embraced the zombie moments and I had a lot of fun with them.

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