Aliyah Royale plays as Iris on The Walking Dead: World Beyond. Iris is the sister of hope and these two have a great bond with eachother that we will see when World Beyond debuts in a matter of weeks. During my set visit tour, I got a chance to speak with Aliyah Royale about her role on World Beyond and her love of The Walking Dead in this exclusive set tour interview.
Aliyah on being casted on The Walking Dead: World Beyond
Aliyah: “It was absolutely insane. Wednesday I got this call to go in this room super early in the day. At the same night when I was with my friends at Benihana’s and I get a call to be in New York tomorrow. I tested for it that day with Alexa, and I was in New York for 12 hours max. And on Saturday morning, me and my mom were heading to the movies. My agent called me while we were in the car at the parking lot. He told me that I got the part and My mom was clearly the first person I told.”
“It was so crazy because we both told eachother that we were going to the movie and to also remain calm. But we were there jittery and we could not stop moving. We then decided to leave and go to the cheesecake factory to talk about this. It was so exciting and I got to share it with my mom.”
Do you remember what movie it was? And did anyone in the theater notice that you were very excited?
Aliyah: “It was Stuber. We sat there for the first two minutes and I could not stop moving or pay attention to this movie. There were people looking around in that theater like ‘who the hell is this’, ‘who won’t stop talking, and ‘who won’t stop shaking the whole theater with her legs.’ I do have to watch Stuber at some point.”
Aliyah on describing Iris Bennett
Aliyah: “I like to describe her as a really good friend. She is very sweet, loyal, and a giver. Iris is ready to do anything for anyone at anytime and she does not need to know you. For example, the first time she meets another character, everyone else is asking ‘who the hell is this guy’ and Iris gives him a snack after she asks him if he is hungry. I like that about her because she always gives people the benefit of the doubt.”
Does Iris have a weapon of choice?
Aliyah: “Yes! her name is shilo. I am the only character that named their weapon. My favorite character on the main show is Negan and he has Lucille. So I wanted to name my weapon because of that. Shilo isa pole with a triceratops horn attached on the top of the pole. It belonged to Elton at first and he wanted to make the weapon cooler. And then Shilo was born!”
Has the name of Iris’ weapon made it to the show?
Aliyah: “It has not made the show, but it has made it to the crew which I am very happy about. Like when they hand me the weapon in the props area, they know that it is mines because I have the weapon’s name on a card where it is placed. Shilo is also the same name of my husky I had when I was eight years old. I associate both of them with the same level of coolness.”
How long have you been a fan of The Walking Dead?
Aliyah: “I would say ten years ago, but I was very young. I was too young to watch it at the time, but my brothers love the show. I became obsessed with The Walking Dead because of my brothers. My brothers also still do not believe I am on the show. They are in denial even after I told them. But I technically have no proof to show them because I can’t share any pictures at the moment (laughs).”
What kind of conflicts will we see Iris go through?
Aliyah: “I think one of the biggest conflicts Iris has, is making hard choices. She is trying to find the line between putting everyone in danger vs. doing the best she can to find her father. Her and her sister went on a journey to their father. During that journey, Iris has been put in situations that potentinally put people in danger that nobody expected to be in. If someone gets hurt, she does not want them to be left behind. She wants to make sure that none of the people that she brought with her on this journey serve the conciquences because of her decisions.”
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