Just now that The Walking Dead is nearing its end since last August 22, 2021 with the transmission in three parts of its last 24 episodes corresponding to season number 11, there are many expectations from fans for its outcome and what will happen later. Especially since it became known that two of its most important characters, Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) will appear on screen in a spin-off.
Both characters emerged as the most interesting of the cast from the moment of their appearance in the first season of The Walking Dead, with the peculiarity that Daryl does not appear in the homonymous series of comics written by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard and that Carol outlived her counterpart in the original play, as she was supposed to die at some point in the season 3 episode titled “Killer Within”.
Currently 56 years old, Melissa has a long artistic career that was transformed in 2010 by her almost exclusive work on The Walking Dead series and the rest of its derivatives. The narrative growth arc of Carol Peletier’s character throughout the 11 seasons has meant many of the best moments of the famous series.
Carol, played with great strength and talent by McBride, has stood out in the iconic American post-apocalyptic horror fiction, for presenting herself at the beginning as one of the weakest characters in the narrative who knew how to be reborn after suffering the loss of her daughter Sophia, Carol went from an unassuming, abused housewife to a true warrior survivor and queen of the Kingdom.
After the creators of The Walking Dead series wisely knew how to exploit the potential of showing the future that a survivor with Carol’s profile could have in a world full of zombies. Instead of letting her past destroy her, as it did in the comics, they decided to use Carol’s trauma to empower her, which also ensured her permanence well beyond the show itself.
Although it is true that many of the cast members of The Walking Dead achieved the status of international stars that few interpreters achieve in a professional life, of its actresses, McBride is one of the most recognized worldwide. It goes without saying that beyond her experience as a professional, it is also rumored that the financial gains she achieved per episode is cause for envy.
McBride landed her regular role on The Walking Dead from the second season and at that point from earning an estimated $8,500 she went on to earn $110,500 per episode. In 2021 it was learned that the star signed a three-year contract that is estimated to reach at least $800,000 dollars per episode. Once the spin-off scheduled for the year 2023 is broadcast, it is projected that the negotiation will exceed one million dollars.
But nothing is perfect, the problem that Melissa faces once the spin-off ends with her co-star Norman Reedus is to be able to overcome the barrier that Carol left in her artistic life, something that for any acting professional, no matter how talented they may be. It is a difficult goal to achieve and that in the long run could become a problem, it is a very uphill job (although not impossible) to be able to once again achieve a character of such a level of international projection for more than a decade.
