The Walking Dead‘s incredibly sincere Laurie Holden has spoken out about the criticism she’s received from portraying Andrea, but calmly explains the differences and reasons behind Andrea’s decisions in The Walking Dead season 3.

The Walking Dead‘s Laurie Holden, who stars as Andrea, has gone from one of the most loved characters in the television series to one of the most disliked in such a radical change as The Walking Dead season 3 has slowly unravelled.

Andrea has found herself cast aside from Rick’s group after being separated at the Greene’s farm at the end of season 2, and this season we’ve seen Andrea shift into Woodbury, the enemy’s camp. Laurie Holden has seen a tragic backlash from proportions of fans labelling her a “slut” after fans disagreed with Andrea’s actions. Holden gave a humble, honest and incredibly sincere interview with The Walking Dead ‘Cast to explain the actions and motives behind Andrea.

“I did not expect or anticipate such incredible backlash. That’s been upsetting at times.”

Holden begins by explaining how Andrea has changed from The Walking Dead season 2 and why this has aggravated fans. Andrea was once the character fans rooted for, but now she has landed on the complete opposite end of the spectrum.

Holden said, “I think because it’s been such a character extreme and I think because she was someone we were rooting for at the end of season 2, and to have this woman who you believed in that was strong and exhibiting characteristics of heroism for her future and for the sociopathic victim, does not rub people the right way.”

“Now, it was never supposed to, it is what season 3 is all about but I did not expect or anticipate such incredible backlash. That’s been upsetting at times.”

Holden has seen an incredible backlash of fans making personal attacks to her Twitter feed, and we’re all very sure that can make anyone feel incredibly upset and uncomfortable. Holden was quick to dispel any notions of Andrea and herself being the exact same person.

“I’m not Andrea and that’s the thing and it’s been hard. It’s a compliment in a way because obviously it’s resonating because they see no difference between me and the character but at the same token and I get things on my Twitter feed that are attacks on me personally because of the things they’ve done to Andrea, that’s when it gets uncomfortable. This is storytelling, I’m trying to bring to life this character, love her or hate her, everyone is entitled to an opinion and I don’t judge it, but I’m just the actress who is doing the best job they can.”

Holden continued, “I’m not her, but I also love her. She’s a character I’ve played for three years and I don’t think Andrea has a mean bone in her body. There were times at the beginning of The Walking Dead that she had very bratty behaviour because she was grieving and she was not her best self. When she was hard on Dale, that was very hard for me because I loved Jeffrey DeMunn and it’s just such an unattractive part of someone to lash out in that way. I have lost people and I’m sure a lot of the viewers have as well, and there are stages of grief and anger is one of them. Sometimes you take out your pain on the ones you love, which doesn’t make it okay, but that’s human.”

“I think that because the storytelling has gone the way it has at times it has made Andrea look like an idiot, and she’s not.”

But where is Andrea right now? Andrea almost shot Daryl assuming he was a Zombie; Holden described that moments like this have made Andrea “look like an idiot” when merely Andrea just hasn’t had all the information available to her that the audience has.

Holden said, “Let’s fast forward to Andrea now, and some people have said that she almost shot Daryl, well she thought he was a Zombie, so you’ve gotta forgive me for that! In terms of season 3, I think the unfortunate thing is that it’s been crucial for Andrea to be caught in two worlds because each season is about this brewing war. I think that because the storytelling has gone the way it has at times it has made Andrea look like an idiot, and she’s not. She just hasn’t had all the information, whereas the audience has. It can get very confusing.”

And with Andrea not having all the correct information it’s easy to see where Holden is coming from. Andrea is caught in two worlds and has landed on her feet by living inside the walls of Woodbury. She has a roof over her head, clean clothes, food and water; but what she didn’t expect to happen was to fall for someone, who again is definitely the wrong guy, which would of course rifle fans.

Holden commented, “I think that in an apocalyptic world I think that she is a woman who is living in a town filled with innocent people who fell for the wrong guy and slowly but surely things are unravelling and she’s trying to catch up and figure it out. I don’t think she ever chose The Governor over Daryl and she was disgusted and horrified but it’s not black or white, it’s not easy. It’s finding out the truth, and the prison story and what is real, and what is a lie and trying to get to the bottom of it before she can make a difference.”

“She’s the girl that you want to shake and say, ‘Why are you with that douchebag?’ That’s Andrea.”

And in that man she’s fallen for, The Governor, it’s the alpha-male qualities that Andrea has found herself seduced by.

Holden noted, “Andrea does have crappy taste in men, she always has. To me it’s so unbelievably human and one of her flaws is she’s attracted to alpha-males that show leadership qualities. She’s the girl that you want to shake and say, ‘Why are you with that douchebag?’ That’s Andrea.”

Holden continued, “There’s a fine line between love and hate and there’s a lot of people angry with Andrea, or have been, but there’s also a lot of people that believe in her. It does balance out at the end of the day, thank God!”

Where Andrea has come to have significant backlash against her is that she’s had sex with two characters now, which again is causing controversy with fans of The Walking Dead. Holden quickly examines Andrea’s situation and calmly describes the thinking behind Andrea and the circumstances she’s fallen into.

Holden thoughtfully described, “In terms of the whole sex thing, she’s been with two guys since the end of the world. She has lost her entire family. I don’t necessarily think that means that she’s a slut. I think she’s a woman seeking comfort and sometimes it’s been in the wrong persons arms. It’s reality. When terrible things happen and people are in crisis, people look for comfort and sometimes it’s not healthy. People would have sex in an apocalypse, they don’t just kill zombies. They also want love.”

And as we all know, Andrea has spent almost the entirety of The Walking Dead season 3 within the walls of Woodbury. But how has Holden coped with settling in away from filming with her established co-stars and friends? What does she think about being the one character who brings Michonne and The Governor to the forefront of the season?

Holden answered, “For a while I loved it because it was neat to be part of this storytelling that deviated a little from the world I used to live in and to introduce these incredible characters, especially Michonne and The Governor. It was such an experiment for us because we didn’t know if it was going to work. When you have episodes that are the prison and then Woodbury, it was a roll of the dice. Are viewers still going to love the show not seeing all of the heroes? It worked and now this means that The Walking Dead can go anywhere. It’s opened up a world of creative possibilities. I have to say though, at first it was nice and then I couldn’t wait to get out of there.”

What do you think about Holden’s work as Andrea? Has Holden come under fire for the right reasons? And how do you think Andrea will change as The Walking Dead continues?

Holden is set for an impressive episode that is surely to win back the hearts of The Walking Dead fans in tonight’s episode 3×14 “Prey” over on AMC at 9 p.m. ET/PT.