Warning: Contains spoilers for the series finale of “The Walking Dead.”
After more than a decade, AMC’s “The Walking Dead” aired its series finale on Nov. 20. Season 11, Episode 24 was titled “Rest in Peace.”
The series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where much of the population has been wiped out by a virus that also reanimates the dead as mindless, flesh-eating zombies (often referred to as “walkers”). Since “TWD” premiered in 2010, it has had a high body count, with popular characters often meeting gruesome deaths at the hands of either walkers or other humans.
The end of the parent series is far from the end of the franchise. Spin-offs are planned for some of the surviving characters — Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira); Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan); and Daryl (Norman Reedus). An existing spin-off, “Fear the Walking Dead,” has been renewed for an eighth season.
One of the lucky survivors was Yumiko Okumura, played by Eleanor Matsuura, who appeared in a total of 58 episodes since 2018. She made her debut in the Season 9 episode “What Comes After.”
The Walking Dead Wiki describes the character this way: “Yumiko is a weary, yet capable, fearless warrior, skilled with a bow. She is a fighter and a protector, but she’s thoughtful and knows how to keep a level head. She is fiercely loyal to her ex-girlfriend Magna (Nadia Hilker) and the rest of her group, whom she considers family and would do anything for their well-being, including putting herself in danger and breaking the rules, acting as a motherly figure to them.”
Using her pre-apocalypse training as a lawyer, Yumiko played a significant role as the main protagonists encounter a larger community called The Commonwealth, which at first appears to be a return to normal civilization but has a hidden dark side.
Matsuura is an English actress who is also known for her roles as Hannah Santo in “Spooks: The Greater Good,” Bev in “Utopia,” and PC Donna Prager in “Cuffs.” Born in Tokyo and raised in Hertfordshire, England, she graduated in 2004 from the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Matsuura worked on stage at the Royal Court Theatre, Old Vic Theatre and several West End theatres. She has appeared in several British TV dramas, including “EastEnders,” “Thorne,” “Extras,” “Holby City,” “Lead Balloon,” “Doctor Who” and “Hustle.” She is in the fourth season of the hit BBC One series “Sherlock,” playing Detective Inspector Hopkins. She has done voice acting for video games such as “Mass Effect: Andromeda” and “Dreamfall Chapters.”
Matsuura, who is married to Canadian actor Trevor White, was far along in her pregnancy with her second child during filming of the final season of “TWD,” which wrapped in March.
“It started to go and go — and things get pushed because it’s a job and it gets busy, you know, things get chaotic,” she told Insider. “All the meanwhile, my belly’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
“There was a point where I was like, ‘Am I gonna have to ask Norman Reedus to deliver this baby? Am I having my baby surrounded by walkers?’ I don’t want that to happen.”
Fortunately, the baby waited until May to be born.
In the same interview, Matsuura said of her time on the series, “It’s truly changed my life. I don’t know if another job I’ll ever have will compare to this experience.”
Many of the storylines appeared to be wrapped up in the series finale. But when asked if Yumiko might appear on one of the spin-off shows, Matsuura said, “Never say never.”