Katherine McNamara Talks Abby's Empowerment in Walker Independence

Katherine McNamara’s character could either succumb to her destiny or take arms against a sea of troubles. She chose the latter.

Ahead of the Walker Independence premiere, ComingSoon spoke with McNamara about her upcoming role in the Walker prequel series. The actress discussed her preparation for the role, the fortune of westerns and neo-westerns nowadays, and what it means to be a woman in the Wild West. The CW will air the Walker Independence premiere starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Thursday, October 6. Every episode of Walker Independence will be available for free on The CW app or CWTV.com the following day.

“Set in the late 1800s, Walker: Independence follows Abby Walker, an affluent Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West,” reads the synopsis. “On her quest for revenge, Abby crosses paths with Hoyt Rawlins, a lovable rogue in search of purpose. Abby and Hoyt’s journey takes them to Independence, Texas, where they encounter diverse, eclectic residents running from their own troubled pasts and chasing their dreams. Our newfound family will struggle with the changing world around them while becoming agents of change themselves in a town where nothing is what it seems.”

Tudor Leonte: Before we discuss your upcoming role, were you a fan of Walker before landing the role of Abby?

Katherine McNamara: I obviously knew of it because I watched Jared [Padalecki] on Supernatural for so many years, but I hadn’t really dove into the series fully. I started watching it during my audition process and really fell in love with the heart of the world and what that represents. While we’re still a part of that universe, it’s still a very different telling of that legacy and of that story. It’s in the same universe, but very much its own tone of show.

That’s true. I saw the first three episodes, and they look wonderful. In the series, you portray Abby. What does it mean to be a woman in the Wild West in the 1800s?

Well, what’s interesting about Abby is that she has so much more agency than a lot of the women that we get to see in this time period. She’s presented with a horrible tragedy and has a choice to make. She can become the victim to her circumstance, or she can use it as fuel to her fire and build a new life and gain her own sense of independence, for lack of a better word. It’s really interesting to see how this full town and these characters take her in and how that affects her journey moving forward.

Your character changes her last name. Without spoiling where does the new last name come from, how does it impact Abby’s inner self to assume a new identity?

Part of it is the function of it’s too dangerous for Abby to be who she is in town at the moment, given people in power and who they may or may not be in her past and in her future. Given the choice that she makes, it really is a step in that’s very symbolic of her choosing her own future and choosing to start fresh and start this new life just as everyone else in Independence is already done.

Neo-western TV shows are among the most popular content nowadays as we see with Walker. What’s the most peculiar thing about this genre and why do you think fans relate so much to it?

There’s something, there’s a certain magic to westerns. There’s such nostalgia that comes with them, but I think that draws from the heart and the romance and the danger and the adventure and all of these things and the grit that ties it all together. Ultimately, we just see these stories of people that are trying to survive and trying to find justice for whatever it is that they believe in. As we know, in the West, justice is not always black or white. So we get to see characters make hard choices and interesting choices and not always moral choices in order to accomplish their goals. And that’s, those are the kind of stories of flawed characters that we like to see.

For sure. Your character immediately starts trusting Hoyt even though he is a bit of a rascal. Allow me to ask you, what is it that makes Abby trust him?

I think they both recognize a similar quality in each other that they have. Even if they might be misguided in whatever way, given their differing perspectives, there’s a certain sense of justice and a certain sense of loyalty to these people. Abby’s willing to do just about anything to get justice for her husband’s death and Hoyt seems to be maybe her only recourse. What’s so great about their friendship moving forward is that they push each other’s buttons in such a way that causes them to confront parts of themselves that they wouldn’t have otherwise had to faith. They both grow from it in different ways and it’s exciting to see characters, although contently, bonded. It sort of connects in a very different way.

Did you do anything in particular to prepare for your role, considering the contest and that your character is doing a lot of incredible stuff?

Yeah, absolutely. We did a lot of training with our horse wrangling team and learning our horses as well. Abby has her own horse and you know, as we progress through this series, we get to really build that bond and that trust with the horses, but also with each other as we learn to ride. I had to learn to ride backwards on a horse with someone else for the pilot and all these different things that we get to do. It’s amazing. What we love to do as actors is learn and grow and learn new skills.

You’re used to singing your songs in your roles. Any chance will hear Abby singing this season?

Maybe, who knows, We’re only halfway through.

Well, hopefully, we’ll hear about it. You’re still shooting Season 1, right?

Yeah, yeah. We’re only about halfway through at this point, so we’re still finding things out every single day.

Is there already a peculiar moment you enjoyed shooting?

I feel like every single episode there’s something new and there’s something fresh, and there’s a new turn to the story that we weren’t expecting. What’s so beautiful about the show is that it is so cinematic. We’re shooting on these amorphic lenses and every time I see a still from the show or get a glimpse at the monitor, it is just so captivating, and I think it really brings you into the scope of the expansiveness of what the West is and the West itself becomes such a huge character in our show.

Is there anything in particular you did with your fellow actors to start bonding with each other?

Honestly, we clicked instantly. It’s been very rare that you have these experiences on a show where instantly everyone is on the same page, and everyone is equally as committed to these characters and to telling this story. That’s the magic of Walker Independence. In front of the camera, behind the camera, every single person is so excited and so happy to come to work every day and to get to tell the story together and see what the other people will bring and do and what creative input will shape the story moving forward. It’s very exciting, and it’s just such a joy.