“We owed it to the fans to break their hearts one last time,” says the actress.
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for the series finale ofThe Walking Dead.
Perhaps no show has had as prodigious a body count asThe Walking Deadover its 11-season run.
Christian Serratos in ‘The Walking Dead’ series finale.Jace Downs/AMC
She dramatically and heroically emerged from the pile, fighting off attackers, but the damage was done.
I just want to remember this moment," before also informing him of her fate.
Her final moment was spent with Eugene at her bedside.
Christian Serratos on ‘The Walking Dead’ series finale.Jace Downs/AMC
“I’m glad it was you in the end” she muttered before then drifting off.
Why did producers decide to kill off Rosita?
Well, it turns out, Rosita’s finale death was not actually the producers' idea.
Christian Serratos in ‘The Walking Dead’ series finale.Jace Downs/AMC
Rather, it was pitched by the woman who played her,Christian Serratos.
So why then did Serratos want to see Rosita die?
When did she hatch her nefarious plot?
Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, and Seth Gilliam in ‘The Walking Dead’ series finale.Jace Downs/AMC
And what was it like filming those final scenes?
“I was so proud,” says Serratos of watching the scene play back.
“It was so good.
Christian Serratos and Seth Gilliam on ‘The Walking Dead’ series finale.Jace Downs/AMC
I was so proud of me.
I don’t often watch me and go, ‘God, that woman is great.’
And I watched me and was like, ‘God, I f—ing nailed it.'”
Indeed, she did.
What’s that all about, Christian?
CHRISTIAN SERRATOS:Yeah, it was.
I didn’t know that they were going to be so forthcoming about that.
I’m so happy I get to talk about it.
It tugged at your heartstrings.
People constantly say, “Oh gosh, I don’t know.
It’s a show about walkers, or it’s a little sci-fi.”
And people and fans argue that’s not the first premise of the show.
It really is about family and heart and survival and what you’ll do for your loved ones.
It tugging at your heartstrings was something that I really fell in love with about the show.
And I just really wanted people to have that emotional experience in our finale, especially.
So when did this start percolating in your brain?
I started thinking about it probably when we wrapped our last season.
And I think all of us collectively were going, “I wonder who’s going to go?
Who’s it going to be?”
And slowly, I think we started to realize that it might not be anybody.
And also, for me, it just made so much sense for my character.
I love these people.
And honestly, I wasn’t ready to go.
You spend so much time pretending to be this person, and you grow very close to them.
It’s like bonding between you and the character.
And then, all of a sudden, you just never see them again.
There’s so much talk about spin-offs and stuff, and I couldn’t live in limbo.
I couldn’t not know if she was going to ever come back or not.
It was going to drive me insane.
So it really helped me, Christian, have closure.
And I really think it made sense for Rosita.
So how in-depth was the pitch in terms of the circumstances?
What were your thoughts and what did you convey to them?
I knew that she would have to go saving her family.
And then, there were a couple different versions of what was going to happen.
This industry, everything changes a thousand times.
And I mean, even while we were filming it, I think it was changing.
Not necessarily the way she goes out, but details, and those things matter.
We care so much about the details.
How can we make it more realistic?"
And so, I think it became that she died saving her daughter kind of midway through the season.
At this point, everyone’s leaving anyway, so you’re all leaving, just under different circumstances.
Do you think that made it feel different at all?
But I got a bit of that in my death scene.
And it’s nice.
And actually, I haven’t really talked to anybody else who had gone before me.
Me and Alanna [Masterson] chatted about it a bit, but again, the circumstances were different.
And me, I got to stay to the end, which I was really grateful for.
I think if I had gone in the second-to-last episode, I would’ve been pretty pissed.
[Laughs]
How would you describe Rosita’s reaction to the bite?
Yeah, it made so much sense for her.
I think, in a lot of ways, she considered herself dead already.
This was such a terrible thing that had happened to the planet.
She’s kind of a tough egg to crack.
So it wasn’t an uber-emotional thing for her.
It was kind of something that she always expected would happen, right?
I think if she hadn’t found Coco, the performance would’ve been much different.
He’s such a great actor, and everyone on that show, we talk about it constantly.
We can’t say it enough.
Everyone’s just so generous, and we’ve created such a family there.
And every actor gives a million percent.
And coming in with him, Ihadto do my final scenes with him.
It just made so much sense.
And I know the audience is surely going to love that.
And so, yeah, there was a lot to unpack there.
And those were all real tears for us, 100 percent.
That was so brutal.
Even talking about it makes me want to cry.
These characters have just been through so much, and that was like her brother.
That was kind of her safe space.
So it was a beautiful moment.
Was the death scene the last thing you shot?
Yeah, they series wrapped us right after that, and it was horrible.
F—, it was so horrible.
We were crying so hard.
And no, of course not.
So we had gone through kind of trauma bonding with each other.
And then, again, you’re just robbed of these people.
You’re never going to see the people again.
They’re gone, and it’s hard to put aside.
We knew every crew member was waiting for us.
I think Lauren was still in there.
We couldn’t walk outside.
I can’t even think about it.
Have you watched it yet?
But I was so proud.
It was so good.
I was so proud of me.
I don’t often watch me and go, “God, that woman is great.”
And I watched me and was like, “God, I f—ing nailed it.”
And I just am so excited to see the audience’s reaction.
I’m just so proud of us.
