The Walking Dead Created Sasha Williams Specifically For Sonequa Martin-Green

Sasha Williams (Sonequa Martin-Green) meets what is arguably one of the five best character endings on "The Walking Dead" in the final episode of Season 7, concluding a run that kicks off in Season 3. At the time, viewers suspected that her subsequent lead role on "Star Trek: Discovery" might have necessitated her exit, but Martin-Green claimed her "Star Trek" casting didn't alter Sasha's fate, describing her character's plotline as mapped out in advance of landing her "Star Trek" gig.

As fans of the "Walking Dead" comics are well aware, Sasha is unique to the TV series, and not a part of its source material. As it turns out, casting director Sharon Bialy revealed in an interview with INSIDER that the show's producers created the character specifically for Martin-Green. Initially, she auditioned for the role of Michonne, which, of course, went instead to Danai Gurira. "The producers fell in love with her so much they wrote her character for her," Bialy said. "Glen Mazzara at the time said, 'I'm gonna write something for her,' and he really came through on his word."

Mazzara worked as the "Walking Dead" showrunner on Seasons 2 and 3, so Martin-Green apparently impressed the right people during her audition, hence her brand new character becoming an integral part of the show.

While Sonequa Martin-Green's "Walking Dead" tenure may have ended in 2018, she expressed interest in returning at some point to the franchise in a 2020 interview with Entertainment Weekly. At that time, Martin-Green was actively working on "Star Trek: Discovery," but the then-upcoming premiere of "Tales of the Walking Dead," which fleshes out the pasts of some existing characters, led her to share some thoughts on how she would feel about working on "The Walking Dead" again.

"I'd love it," she said. "I love Sasha. I love 'The Walking Dead.' That was my family before this family. What a blessing, by the way, that I've been able to be in two situations back to back that were so familiar that have such reach. I would love to. That would be so much fun."

Martin-Green then revealed that Sasha's past as a firefighter, which eventually surfaces in "The Walking Dead," started off as her own invention. Presumably — since a new Sasha storyline would have to take place before the mainline series — her pre-apocalypse job could play a significant part in a theoretical Sasha-focused spin-off. Since Sasha was invented specifically for Martin-Green to play, it's unsurprising she's both so personally invested in the character and plenty willing to reprise a role tailor made for her.