Avianna Mynhier – The Walking Dead

By starrymag | March 14, 2021

By: Kelly Kearney

 

 

 

Q) Fans know you from your Oceanside character “Rachel” in The Walking Dead. How did that opportunity come to you and what was the auditioning process like?

 

A) [excited] Oh my gosh! It was such a whirlwind! I had recently moved to Los Angeles after graduating from school and had recently switched career tracks. I was in the Sciences and suddenly was switching to artistry. At the time I was working for a surgeon part-time and got the call while I was at that job. I was trying to work in acting and trying to find work and there was this audition that my manager knew about and I was like, “I’m at work right now, but I’ll do it.” So, I literally recorded the audition. She sent it to me and said, “You have to get it to me in two hours. By the end of day,” and I said, “Today? That’s bonkers!’” So, I talked to my boss and I was like, “I just need the day off!” So, I recorded the audition on voice memo and played it in my car speakers as I drove to someone who is going to help me self-tape it. I was memorizing while I was driving and creating the character in my head as I was going there. When I got there I just had to do it to get the tape out on time. It was so instinctual and so meant to be in that way because when we sent it off later the next morning, I was at work again and my manager called and was like, “We have to get you on a plane this afternoon,” and I was like, “What in the world?”

 

Q) We saw you in the season 10B finale defending the tower from Beta’s horde, and now the show is back with its bonus episodes heading into the final season. Any chance we will see Rachel again and get an update on how her, fellow Oceansiders, are doing after the war?

 

A) You know what is so frustrating and beautiful about The Walking Dead is that they are so secretive even with cast members. So, I wish I could say something, but it keeps it suspenseful for viewers and for people collaborating on it. I can honestly say they keep us really in the dark. As we left it, there was a lot of contention in the original season 10 finale, before the bonus episodes, and so you know my character is alive as of then, so we’ll see.

 

Q) Your character is armed with a bow and arrow on the show. Talk a little bit about the weapons training you went through, what that was like, and who you think is most proficient with their weapons on the show?

 

A) [laughs] Oh these are the most fun questions! I love it! Archery training was the highlight of getting to train on the show. There’s so many things that make it exciting, one of them being the make-up process – like let me rub some dirt on your face and throw your hair in a ponytail and you’re good. That’s pretty dope. But the weapons training was exciting because they really do take it seriously. They bring in professionals and we get targets out in these giant back forests of Atlanta where the sets are built into the terrain. So, you have this open land where you can really practice. You know you’ll be scheduled for weapons training by yourself or maybe with a fellow castmate on the show, but oftentimes I have experienced other castmates who happened to have a few hours off or have the day off want to join in on weapons training because it’s so cool and so fun. Becoming more proficient is such a luxury when you have great teachers there. You know, it’s funny. Cooper Andrews is really proficient because he has done stunt work in the past. He has experience outside of acting and he’s always been such a mentor in my archery. He was one of the people who just tagged along to help and has such beautiful guidance and skill technique with a bow and arrow, and other weapons like swords.

 

Q) Between the walker fights, the blood sprays, and the down and dirty apocalyptic struggles, filming for this show must be a blast. What has been your favorite part of working on The Walking Dead?

 

A) That community feeling has to be one of my favorite parts of working on The Walking Dead. I joke sometimes about the casting director’s casting The Walking Dead and how they must also screen for personality because I’ve never worked on something where everyone is so gosh darn lovely and being genuinely sincere and hardworking. So, I think that has to be what makes this show go on for so long and make it so special. It’s definitely a huge part of it.

Q) How do you shake off a long day of filming such intense scenes and dealing with the Georgia heat?

 

AM: [laughs] Wait! This is such a great question because it’s so specific and true! I’m not sure all the viewers can process how hot it can be. Like even when we were filming that training scene on the beach at the beginning of Season 10, that was the most oppressive heat I think any of us have ever weathered in our lives. It was bonkers! People were jumping like flies just to get water and try to cope, but I think to recoup at the end of the day the best thing about The Walking Dead is how it’s been on for a decade and everyone is so close knit that instead of going back to the hotel and being alone and trying to recharge yourself. It’s kind of a community where you go back to the hotel…I remember one night Cooper had ordered everybody Italian food down in the lobby and everybody just sat down in the lobby by the fire and just hung out for hours. And that’s just a special way to recoup that I haven’t experienced on other shows. So, I think that kind of community, specifically on The Walking Dead, really helps recharge and excite me about the next day, even if I’m tired.

 

Q) We have to talk about your podcast “Uprising.” How did this idea come to you?

 

A) Frankly, I was so disenchanted with the status quo of the last year and I was saddened by the leadership that I saw and all the discord and all the division and I wanted in some small way to contribute to the culture I wanted to see in the world. For me, that meant creating a space that elevated inspiring voices to ignite any small positive cultural change. I wanted to bring together a diverse group of people, like from Tony winning actors like Dan Fogler from The Walking Dead, or like Michelin star chefs, or teachers, or castmates or tech entrepreneurs – just a whole gamut of people of diverse interests and diverse backgrounds. I was really intentional about that, just so we can start hearing from all different kinds of people because I truly believe it’s harder to hate someone if you’re looking them in the eyes. When I saw all this division in the world I thought, you know, audio and podcasts are such an intimate format. I intentionally ask about people’s life and not just the pinnacles of their career, so people can empathize and understand these trajectories and then maybe be less discriminating when experience different kinds of people in the real world. So, that’s how it was born, and it’s just been a pleasure ever since. I think podcasting has a special way of highlighting that because you’re not caught up in external aesthetic – visual factors, you’re focused on their narrative.

 

Q) What sets “Uprising” apart from the growing list of podcast options for listeners?

 

A) I think what one might also call naive is also its strengths. So, its strengths I believe is what differentiates it. A lot of people creating podcasts would say you should be specific, but that wasn’t my mission. My mission was to have a huge diversity of guests and diversity of interests and passions and you can tune in and hear something you care about. Maybe it’s hearing from a Michelin star chef and you’re a cook, but you might also, in the next episode, hear from someone who’s an activist and cares about immigration and that will open your eyes to something you never thought about before. So, it’s kind of like it’s knocking down these echo chambers that we live in and I think that’s what differentiates it.

 

Q) Who are your dream interviewees for the podcast?

 

A) There are so many rights now on my mind, but Mae Jemison. She studied at Stanford, she was an astronaut, she studied physics, she has a PhD and she danced with Alvin Ailey. She’s had like five careers in one and so few people know about her. *She’s somebody that would be a dream to speak with and just spread awareness on her incredible life story.

 

Q) I love that you stand behind women and push them forward, so we have to talk about your work with empowering women and fighting for equality. Why is it important to you, now more than ever, that we keep pushing through that glass ceiling to make spaces for women, both in the media and beyond?

 

A) It’s important to me because I’ve experienced it in so many ways small insidious ways and also major ways. I mean, when I was growing up, even as young as high school I wanted to be the editor of the school newspaper and the professor who ran the newspaper told me, “Oh, I’ve never had a woman be Editor-in-Chief before.” And I was like, “That’s your justification? Because it’s never happened before? That’s ridiculous!” So, I marched right to the principal’s office and I said, “That can’t be the justification for -me not being able to do this role!” And then when I went to college and I studied Science and Tech at Stanford I faced it everywhere. I was oftentimes one of the few women in Science and STEM classes, in the specialized engineering classes, and especially in these neuroplasticity classes. I was always faced with prejudice about my capabilities. Really, in college is when I finally said, “Enough! I need to be proactive in participating in this.” So, I started going to these conferences. And I would say anyone who is interested in the women empowerment space or activism in general, seek out a specific conference that helps you to really learn about it. So, then I started going every single year to these conferences that focused on this and the health rights and wellbeing of women globally. A78nd you start hearing from the mother of the revolution in Yemen how health issues in her country are trickling through different villages and you start understanding how much responsibility the United States has, as a leader in advanced technology info and in health and what we do socially and how we pay women or move closer and closer to equal pay, and so it kicked off in college and ultimately I care so deeply about it because I’ve experienced it. I’ve seen it. I understand how much the U.S. has a role in affecting the whole world and moving closer towards gender equality.

 

Q) Where, or from whom, does that advocacy inspiration come from?

 

A) [laughs] I have a really passionate mother and she and I attend these conferences together. She is now getting a PhD at UCLA, after raising all three of us kids. She’s focused on education of girls in Africa, so she’s a huge advocate herself and so I think this partner in crime in my mom helps me have the confidence to understand that my small impact is worthwhile. You know, oftentimes people lose that energy because they think, “It’s just me. How much can I really do?” But I think my mom was probably the source of igniting the realization that my actions, my voice and my impact over the span of my lifetime could really matter. So, it was time to start now if I wanted that sort of impact long term.

 

Q) Wow! Well, shout out to moms everywhere because they are always the ones who inspire us, right?

 

A) It’s so true! All of the women who have come before us. When things were so much more daunting and their equality was so much further behind than it is even today and we saw them pioneering forward with such bravery that whenever I need a little bravery, I just think back and think, “I stand on the shoulders of the generations before me.” It just seems like a responsibility for me. I don’t even second guess it.

 

Q) Now that Hollywood seems to be working well within the confines of COVID-19 restrictions, are you working on any new projects the fans can keep an eye out for?

 

A) Yeah, I worked on this show called Panic. It’s a new Amazon original and it will be coming out this year as long as COVID things go to plan. I finished working on that during the pandemic and yeah, to your point, it was tough! Everyone constantly made sure everybody on set was safe and somehow we successfully did it with nobody spreading COVID throughout the shoot! It was remarkable. So, yes Panic will be out on Amazon. It’s a drama-thriller and it’s pretty exciting.

 

Q) What would you like to say to the fans and supporters of your work?

 

A) This is so simple, but you know I didn’t expect to feel such a welcoming spirit when I started acting. Everybody told me this space was one where you had to grow a thick skin and, knock-on wood, so far I haven’t felt that I needed that. Everyone in The Walking Dead community, especially since that was my first experience into this universe that has already this built-in fandom connected to it; I’ve only felt sincere welcoming energy from everyone involved. So, just huge gratitude for that because it made the work so much more pleasurable and so much more exciting to do when it felt like I was doing it hand in hand with this mass of people who wanted to see it succeed rather than tear it down.