Katherine McNamara On Walker Independence’s Modern West And Career Memories

You’ve played a lot of badass characters that are also deeply empathetic. Is that something that you look for in roles? How do you think your characters like Abby, Mia, and Clary would get along?

They would get along. They’re all very headstrong women who, while they all [are] very different and have very different drives, they all want to ultimately do what’s right for the people that they love — to fight for that loyalty, and to fight for doing the right thing, even if the ways of doing it aren’t necessarily black and white. There [are] a lot of shades of gray to all of these characters, and particularly for Abby in this world of the West. You never really know what means you’re going to have to take in order to accomplish your goals. Seeing how that changes the society woman from Boston will be rather exciting.

Did you [carry] any aspects of your previous roles with you to Windy?

Yes and no. There’s a certain tenacity to these characters. That’s what I love about my job, that I get to tell a million different stories and live a million different lives and step into an entirely different person. That’s what was truly exciting about this show, is that it’s such a completely different genre and a completely different kind of character.

I’ve gone from wearing combat boots, leather, and jackets and walking like Stephen Amell to being a lady, wearing a corset every day, a giant dress, and learning to wear three skirts, jump on a horse, and do all of these different things and exist in a world of posture and a world of society and refinement that I have not had an opportunity to physically embody in a very long time.

You’ve worked with an incredible slate of actors over the years. Are there any of your former co-stars that you’d love to head over to Independence, and what kind of role could you see them taking on?

There’s so many, and truly, I’ve poked a bunch of friends going, “Hey, why don’t you come play cowboys with us?” It provides such an exciting world. Exactly what we’re trying to do with “Independence” is bring in an entire myriad of characters, both expected and unexpected. The more folks that we can bring in that might be a surprise would be rather interesting.