"That is special to see what Carol has been able to overcome. And we were talking about it. Melissa, she actually called me last week, or a couple of weeks ago. That's my girl, I love Melissa. Melissa started in Atlanta, and I would actually audition for Melissa because she was a casting director for commercials in the past.
“We had the same agent in Atlanta and Frank Darabont called our agent and personally requested Melissa McBride because he remembered her from The Mist, and he asked her to be Carol. And she had no intentions of acting anymore. I was asking her about that, I said, 'How crazy is that, Melissa?' I said, 'Are you planning on doing some more acting after The Walking Dead?' She's not in search of it.
"She's like, "I'm not really in search of anything, but if something falls in my lap, maybe.' But otherwise, I said, 'You had no intention of acting anymore, ever again, and that opportunity came.' Look at her now, I'm so happy."
- IronE Singleton (April 2020)