Kim Dickens on her 'fiery and explosive' return to Fear the Walking Dead

Warning: This article contains spoilers about Sunday's season 7 finale of Fear the Walking Dead, titled "Gone."

Madison Clark is finally back. And back from the grave! Kim Dickens' character appeared to be killed off back in season 4 when Madison sacrificed herself by leading zombies back into the baseball stadium and then locking herself in so the others could escape. But as we learned on Sunday's season 7 finale of Fear the Walking Dead, Madison is indeed alive… but not the same woman we remember.

Madison has transformed from mother to baby-napper, stealing children and delivering them to P.A.D.R.E. to sever connections between parent and offspring. She originally did so to gather information as to the whereabouts of her own children, Nick and Alicia, but then got in so deep she was ashamed to ever face them.

However, a fortuitous meeting with Lennie James' Morgan — if you want to consider stealing his baby fortuitous — appeared to bring Madison back from the brink, and by the end of the episode, she was accompanying Morgan back to P.A.D.R.E. to help him reclaim Mo.

Dickens, who already spoke to EW about getting over the pain and disappointment of her previous exit to come back to the series, now talks about her big return episode, finding a new version of the same character, working with James for the first time, getting buried in sand, and what's next.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What's it like to come back and first off, get a handle on a character you haven't played in three years, and then play that person as an almost new person because she's changed so much since we last saw her?

KIM DICKENS: I felt like the way they were writing Madison when I just got the script, it was just right in line. It just felt like her and I loved the idea they had — how she was sort of stripped of her identity and was no longer a leader and was sort of being controlled. I thought that was fascinating and a nice challenge to play — to keep the layers in there of the old Madison that we knew, the glimmers.

It was challenging to play, and it didn't really surprise me because she always kind of had a wobbly compass, but also her decisions were ultimately based on protecting her children and her family. It was still Madison to me, albeit completely different. It was exciting to have the challenge.

What do you think it does to Madison to hear that her son is dead, and her daughter probably is too?

She's devastated, and she's definitely has given up the hope at that point, but I think then she's able to come to the realization with Morgan's help, that P.A.D.R.E. doesn't have anything on her now. If it's one last thing she does to bring herself some peace, she will help Morgan get Mo back. So there's a freedom that comes from it. There's a deep sadness, a devastating sadness. Madison feels like she's gone, but is reinspired when Morgan says the way you raised your kids is what inspired me. It kind of comes full circle for her and brings her back to life.

You and Lennie James were obviously both part of that season 4 cast, but you never worked together. What was it like to finally get to work with him here?

In season 4, we were both bummed that we weren't getting to work together. It was kind of hard to believe. We'd see each other in hair and makeup and the base camp and even at the airport in Texas. But we're just like, "How can you bring him over and we can't work together?" We were really aching for that.

To come back in this way, with these two characters, coming back in an antagonistic way, it was really kind of fiery and explosive. There's no greater scene partner than Lennie James, because we just had to jump in. My first fight back was with Morgan. No better hands to be in than Lennie James though. Through the action and the sadness — everything was great. I told him "Look, my favorite scenes are when Morgan has to carry all of Madison's props," because I had like six props this time. He's such a great guy and an amazing talent.

We talked earlier about getting back in shape and all the physical stuff. So what was it like being buried in sand?

Oh, Dalton, just a day in the life of an actor. [Laughs] It was cool. They fix it as nicely as they can. They created a wooden box for me to sit on. Then they sort of push all this sand around you and you're there. I chose to stay there in between takes because it would take so long to get out of it and back in. I think the first portion of the day I was in there for three hours straight. Then I got a break, and I went back later for another two hours.

That sand that was near my face is made by special effects because they don't want to risk you getting any sort of bacteria or anything in your mouth and exposed to anything. So they had to create the sand, and it was made from Graham crackers and Chex Mix. It kind of smelled like cake. But it was an interesting day. And an interesting challenge to read on the page and think, "Oh boy, that's going to be a day!"

You're getting me hungry talking about Chex Mix.

I think everybody was hungry when they had to come around me on set.

I'd have a panic attack being in there — not because I'd be claustrophobic, but I'd be all worried about the bathroom situation and needing to go to the bathroom while being stuck in that box for three hours.

The good thing is that they could get you out if you needed to. I decided to just tough it out and I stayed for three hours. And when they finally let me out to shoot something else, I went back to my trailer and I passed out for like an hour. I was so tired from it. But ultimately, I like that scene a lot.

It's a great scene! It must have been hard where you have to whack those zombies while you're buried in the sand. When you don't have your lower range of motion, that's hard to do.

Yeah, you don't have your quads to help you out.

How much did showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss map out not just Madison's return episode, but the larger arc for you? How much did they talk about season 8, which you all are going to start filming soon?

Yeah, we start this summer. They kind of mapped it out for me. They were generous in giving me this sort of plan. I'm excited to do it and see what other predicaments they're going to put Madison in. I look forward to working with some of the new characters. I haven't worked with Dwight [Austin Amelio] and Sherry [Christine Evangelista] and Grace [Karen David]]. I look forward to seeing the old gang as well. Danay [Garcia] and Ruben [Blades], I haven't seen in forever, and Jenna [Elfman] and Lennie, of course. It's going to be exciting. I think it's going to be a great season.

Did you go back and watch any of your old episodes at all before you came back just to refamiliarize yourself, or did you just know it well enough that you didn't have to go do that?

No, I did not. I did not do that, and I don't really know why. I was like, she's in a different place. I also thought it's kind of like the same character I know. The Walking Dead universe, it's not in like other universes, like Marvel, where these certain characters will show up in different films. I kind of felt like I'd been gone a while and it was a different show and that I was going back to a new show.

As long as I knew my character and I felt they were writing truthfully, I just show up and be in this other show. When I did show up, my day one, it was pretty nostalgic and there were some familiar faces, but I was pretty much alone that first day, character wise. But then, an hour or so in, it was like, "Oh yeah." It's like riding a bike.

You all started filming this show in Los Angeles, then went to Vancouver, then went to Mexico, then went to Texas. Now you're heading to Georgia for season 8. Do you want to go ahead and predict where season 9 is going to film?

Well, let's have Paris, right? Or Rome, or Italy somewhere.

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