‘Walking Dead’ actresses visit South Hills on Central Blood Bank’s behalf
The characters of Sophia and Enid never had the opportunity to meet on “The Walking Dead.”
But the corresponding actresses on the popular AMC series appeared together Saturday for a meet-and-greet event to help Central Blood Bank with its efforts to bolster the region’s blood supply.
Madison Lintz and Katelyn Nacon were at DoubleTree By Hilton in Green Tree to say hello to hundreds of fans who were invited to attend the event after making donations.
“A lot of people don’t recognize the importance of giving blood and how it saves people’s lives,” Madison, who played young Sophia Peletier during the show’s first two seasons, said. “If I can speed up the process, I’m really happy to do it.”
Katelyn – she’s Enid in the series’ fifth and sixth seasons – agrees wholeheartedly and said she enjoyed her first-ever visit to Pittsburgh in support of the cause.
Both young women were looking forward to seeing snow, as there usually isn’t much around their homes in suburban Atlanta, where the first four-plus seasons of “The Walking Dead” happen to be based.
Madison landed the role of Sophia at 10, joining Chandler Riggs as the two youngsters at the start of the zombie apocalypse-themed series. In Season 2, the writers came up with a plot that turned Sophia into an evil “walker,” and in turn, well, she ended up walking no more.
The way Madison views it, that’s show biz.
“I definitely liked the human form of Sophia better. She’s cuter,” Madison admitted. “But being made up as a zombie was so cool. It’s an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything.”
Katelyn didn’t particularly think that people dressed as zombies were so cool when she watched some early episodes of “The Walking Dead.”
“I thought, maybe this isn’t the best show for an 11-year-old to watch,” she said, but her perspective eventually changed. “At 11, I thought it was gross. Now I just find everything to be so amazing.”
Along with her acting career, Katelyn is a musician. Last year, she released an EP, “Love In May,” with all five of the songs composed by her.
Since being written out of “The Walking Dead,” Madison has appeared in films including “After,” “Parental Guidance” and “Newbourne County,” and she has a key role in the upcoming thriller “Tell Me Your Name.”
In the meantime, she is a regular playing the title character’s daughter in Amazon Prime’s police drama “Bosch.”
Also in the meantime, the midseason premier of “The Walking Dead” is Feb. 14. Fans might want to plan their Valentine’s Day accordingly.
In the meantime, everyone associated with Central Blood Bank was enthusiastic about the attention generated by Saturday’s event.
“We’ve had nearly 300 donors come out and donate to meet Katelyn and Madison, which means that they have impacted nearly a thousand lives,” marketing specialist Megan Lakatos said. “I think that’s very incredible. So we’re very thankful to them for coming out and helping us.
For more information about Central Blood Bank, visit www.centralbloodbank.org.