Entertainment- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Fear:
TWD " season six, episode three, "Alaska." - Christine Evangelista breaks her silence on returning to "TWD" universe with Insider on Sunday's episode during an emotional reunion with Dwight (Austin Amelio).
- Evangelista's Sherry was last seen on "TWD" in 2017. Though she thought there was a chance of returning to "TWD" at some point, scheduling never worked out.
- She learned last winter she would reprise her character on "FearTWD." Sunday's episode, directed by "FearTWD" star Colman Domingo, was shot pre-pandemic.
- In an effort to keep her return a bit more secret, she was taken to set separately and hidden under umbrellas. She didn't even hang out with her costar, Amelio, until they were filming scenes.
- Though we see her for the first time on Sunday's episode, Evangelista voiced her character on the season five finale.
- Evangelista said we'll learn exactly what happened to Sherry since leaving "TWD" and refers to her character as "Sherry 2.0." She has some PTSD from never getting closure after her experience with Negan and the Saviors.
- "[She's] somebody that is definitely more assertive and strong and tough, and she is on a mission," Evangelista said. "She's trying to find her way back to who she was with Dwight. That's a theme that you'll see throughout the season."
After years of searching for his wife in the zombie apocalypse across multiple states, Dwight (Austin Amelio) finally found his "Hunny" on Sunday's "Fear TWD."
In what was one of the most satisfying moments in "The Walking Dead" universe in a long time, Dwight and Sherry, played by Christine Evangelista, were finally reunited at the episode's end, culminating in an emotional alleyway embrace.
The moment was all the more satisfying because fans weren't expecting a Dwight and Sherry reunion. In fact, Dwight was trying to help Al reunite with her own lost love for all of Sunday's episode.
It's been three years since Evangelista left the flagship "TWD" show. After helping Daryl escape from the Saviors on season seven, she fled Negan's group out of fear she or Dwight would be killed. Initially, she told Dwight not to come after her. But somewhere along the line, Sherry had a change of heart as she started leaving tiny clues for her ex to try and find her across the US. She had no idea if he was even looking for her.
Insider was one of the first to speak with Evangelista about her return to "TWD" universe as she's been filming more of "Fear TWD" season six in Texas.
Below is part of our nearly 40-minute phone call from Friday where we discussed how the show tried to keep Evangelista's return secret, how we heard Sherry's voice on the season five finale, and why she refers to this fully-realized version of her character as Sherry 2.0.
Evangelista knew about her return since last December.
Kirsten Acuna: This is one of the most satisfying reunions we've had in "
Christine Evangelista: I found out last winter; I'd say around December or so that I was definitely coming back. I knew, over the years, there was some [idea of] trying to go back to "The Walking Dead" at some point. I know there were some scheduling things and I think when they transitioned Dwight over to "Fear the Walking Dead," there was going to be, I think, a conscious effort to really unite them in a way that was just really earned and really dramatic. So I think the timing really worked out. I mean, it's been a really long time since the first time we saw Sherry and Dwight on "The Walking Dead." All that time and all that history, I think, has really added to this dramatic moment where the two of them are united again.
Was the timing of your return affected or impacted by your time on "The Arrangement"? Were there scheduling conflicts there where maybe you thought you could have been back on "The Walking Dead" at some point and that didn't work out?
For sure. "The Arrangement" was a very grueling schedule for me. It was a very big commitment. So I think that had some things to do with scheduling along the way, but again, I just think it makes everything else that's happening right now just so much more earned. And [it's] this moment that I [not only] think is really fulfilling for me creatively, but I think for fans too. It's nice to have something like a glimmer of hope. It's really something to hold on to and hope for. And in the world of "
Absolutely. If "The Arrangement" wasn't canceled, do you think we would have seen Sherry again in this universe? Do you think maybe they would've just wrote you off or killed you off?
Yeah, I don't know. I have no idea what would have happened if that show didn't happen. I don't know where I would be. I don't know where she would be. I mean, who knows? I can't even think about that, but I certainly like where I am right now.
Here's why Dwight and Sherry's reunion, and big hug, may feel a bit more emotional to watch during the pandemic.
To circle back to what you were saying before about giving fans hope: This was one of the first times in a long time that I've cried some really hard tears watching an episode in "The Walking Dead" universe. The moment we heard Sherry say Dwight's name, I think that was when I lost it.
Oh, really?
Yeah. I mean, maybe I'm a little sentimental because I've been in quarantine by myself for six months...
I was just going to say that. Honestly [I'm] thinking that too.
It's just this moment of being united with somebody and having everything that we've been experiencing as a society at the same time, and feeling alone and isolated and holding on to hope and holding on to connecting again with somebody, whether it's somebody we lost or meeting somebody new again...There's so many human moments on a show like this. Often times people chalk these shows up to being about zombies or apocalyptic, but it's not. It's about humanity and it's all about our human experiences. I think this compelling love story between these two people has a lot of the same things that we feel in our own personal lives and I think that's why it's so emotional.
I've watched that episode and I was even really emotional about it. Colman Domingo directed the episode and it was such an earned moment. In such a vast episode where there was so much going on, everything just really seemed to slow down at that moment in the end. And the music I thought was really great, but it was just this really beautiful moment of just being united again with a lover. That's a really beautiful thing for people to see, especially now.
They tried keeping Evangelista's return to the show secret by hiding her under umbrellas when she went to set last year.
What was it like for you to read through the reunion scene in the script for the first time? I don't know if you ever mulled over what the perfect Sherry and Dwight reunion would have been like, but I wasn't sure if you imagined it would have been like that.
Yeah, I don't think so either. We shot that obviously before everything happened in the world. We shot that early last year, but I didn't know what it was going to be like. I knew that it was going to be heavy and emotional.
Shooting that scene, I didn't see Austin [Amelio] before we started really filming. So it wasn't like we hung out. They were actually keeping my character really kind of secret. I was transported to set separately. They even hid me under these umbrellas in case there were fans speculating that Sherry was coming back to the show. So there was a lot of effort managed to kind of keep me physically separate from everything going on.
I didn't see Austin until we started rolling. To see a friend of mine, you know, we started — both onscreen and offscreen — this journey together so long ago, [and] to be united again that was a really sweet moment in itself. There's something of just that moment, somebody running towards you, there's something just so beautiful in that. You see those moments in life sometimes either at the airport or something, where these two people embrace who haven't seen each other for a long time and it's such an emotional, sentimental moment. I really felt that when we were filming it.
How long were you keeping this a secret for — that you were coming back? You said you found out last winter.
Maybe three months, but I haven't really spoken to anybody about it until now because we've been trying to keep it low. Nobody knew to what capacity she was going to come back or what her journey was going to be, or what it is going to be on the show. I think fans know she's going to come back, but they don't know how, and they don't know if it's real. They don't know if it's a dream sequence. So I haven't spoken about it at all, to be honest.
I'm hoping this won't be one of those situations where we see Sherry alive for two seconds and then she's killed like a minute later.
I hope it's not that either.
That would be devastating.
I don't think so. I don't think so.
This wasn't the first episode where we heard Sherry's voice. She also made an appearance on the season five finale as the woman Dwight heard on the walkie. Was that a hallucination or real?
This is your first physical appearance on "Fear," but did we hear your voice on the season five finale at the start of the episode? I saw it noted that you may have had an uncredited role and I couldn't figure out whether or not that was true. I didn't know if that was like a hallucination of Dwight's or if that was real. What can you say about that moment?
I think it was my voice, but it wasn't my voice if that makes sense. So I don't know what they ["FearTWD"] intended for it. Maybe it was like a hallucination. I do know that the notes were left by Sherry. That is true. And I think that was a way to keep the love alive between these two characters, but that wasn't technically my voice.
I do think this was a conscious decision by the writers to keep this storyline, to keep the fans interested, and to keep this going so that at one point these two characters would be united again. It's been this slow build and I think they're really good at laying these Easter eggs that fans speculate on. Is this real? Is this not? I think that's what keeps the level of engagement so high and that's what keeps the show so exciting, and, again, all holding on to hope.
We will learn what Sherry has been up to for these past few years since escaping Negan. She's now, what Evangelista refers to as, Sherry 2.0.
Now that Sherry's back, where has she been? What has she been up to? Are we going to learn more about where she's been since escaping Negan and the Saviors?
Yes. You will find [out] all of that. With Sherry comes a much deeper connection between the two worlds, the two shows of "The Walking Dead" and "Fear the Walking Dead." Obviously, [there] comes this really compelling love story between these two characters, but you're really getting what I call this Sherry 2.0 with this woman in a way that we haven't seen her before. [She's] somebody that is definitely more assertive and strong and tough, and she is on a mission.
I call her Sherry 2.0. Everything that's happened to her in her life — all of the pain that she's endured, the loss, the abuse that she went through, especially with Negan, and then, ultimately, not having any closure from that whole experience because she had to flee — she never ended up seeing what happened and she never got to see really any of the light at all. Her ex-husband did.
Dwight's character really did see the fall of that empire in a way and she didn't. She's really carrying all of those experiences and it's been really heavy and [you'll be] seeing how that has changed her as a woman. It's hardened her in a way and you'll see her struggle to sort of fight against that.
Absolutely. Let's talk about this Sherry 2.0. Back on "The Walking Dead," Sherry left Dwight this heartfelt, sad goodbye letter in season seven, where you were kind of beating yourself up for deciding to marry Negan to let Dwight live. She said to essentially let her go. But then she decided to start leaving Dwight these breadcrumbs and a trail that eventually led Dwight to Texas. So what made her change her mind? Is this part of the Sherry 2.0 mindset?
I think she's stuck. She's constantly torn between these two versions of her own self and she's really fighting back. She's trying to find her way back to who she was with Dwight. That's a theme that you'll see throughout the season. Dwight is now reformed or more reformed than he was back on "The Walking Dead." You know, he's a part of Morgan's mission — that of like a peacekeeper for the most part.
I don't think that's where Sherry is right now. Her leaving the Sanctuary, initially, was just a self-sacrificial act in a way. She knew if she stayed, she'd be killed because she let Daryl live. But leaving those breadcrumbs along the way for Dwight, you know, just because she left the sanctuary doesn't mean that she doesn't still love him.
The last time she saw Dwight he was this maniacal evil guy that was like an assistant to Negan. That's not the man that she knew. That's not who she fell in love with. And I think [that's] another one of the burdens that she's carrying. She feels that blame. She feels responsible for what happened to Dwight. She feels responsible for everything that he's doing because it was her decision to go back to the Sanctuary [and be one of Negan's wives].
Those love letters and those notes are ... to just keep, again I go back to saying this, but to keep hope alive and keep love alive. In a universe like this, that's all you have. If you don't have that, what are you doing? I think these characters in their own individual ways are just creating and carving out hope where they can as a means to just go on. Otherwise, everything is just living in the darkness.
What about Negan? There's definitely some PTSD there.
Well, I hope Dwight goes and gets that beer from the roof and finds some pretzels that he and Sherry can share. And I hope Sherry can realize that he's been trying to go back to that man who she did fall in love with. Circling back to another thing you had brought up: How would Sherry feel knowing that Negan's kind of had this redemption arc on "The Walking Dead" when he was forcing women to marry him to be safe in the apocalypse> He was jailed, but now, he's kind of a good guy and Sherry isn't aware of any of that.
Yeah. She's not and I think that's, again, not having that closure. She hasn't seen any of that. She's not aware of any of that. So that's a part of the whole burden that she's carrying. I think that's why Dwight, now, is able to see the light because he's been able to have that closure. When you don't have that closure and you're carrying around the pain and you're carrying around the blame, that stuff gets heavier and heavier.
If she knew that, that everything has turned around and maybe she might've had something to do with it, I think it would really lighten her load and sort of help her psychologically. But unfortunately she hasn't been made aware of any of that. So what that does to her emotionally and physically and even on the path that she is now, it's like this hell hath no fury sort of thing. It's an extremely difficult place to be. There's some serious PTSD there, fighting a war that you don't know you've won. That's hard.
Dwight and Sherry's love story won't continue to be easy moving forward.
Before I let you go, what are your overall feelings on being back and what can you tease about what's coming next?
I'm really excited to be back. I'm nervous. Having this character on the evolution that she's been [on], I'm anxious to see what fans think of her and how they can, or can't relate, to what she's been going through.
Over the next couple of episodes, you'll see just how complex the love story is with Sherry and Dwight and how it is not as easy as one would think to just be united with your lover again. There's been so much of that emotional baggage and a lot of damage done. How do you begin to repair that?
It's going to be really hard and I hope the fans stay held on to that same hope. That's what I'll be anxious to see.
You can follow along with our "Walking Dead" coverage here. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.