‘Walker: Independence’ Retrospective: An Interview with Gabriela Quezada

In 2022, a prequel to The CW’s Walker, titled Walker: Independence debuted. Set in the late 1800s, this beautiful tale, which consisted of 13 episodes, told the story of Abby Walker, whose husband, Liam, is murdered. Abby gets rescued and brought to a nearby town, Independence, as the search for her husband’s killer intensifies and she’s aided by the people she meets along the way. The show was beautifully written and filmed, quickly becoming loved by so many people.

Sadly, the show was canceled after one season after The CW was bought by Nexstar, who decided to go in a different direction with their programming.

When the show was canceled in 2023, the WGA and SAG strikes occurred soon after, and there wasn’t much time for the people involved — or the fandom — to say goodbye.

Now that the strikes are resolved, I got the chance to talk to many of the cast and crew behind Walker: Independence, reflecting on their time on the show, and what they take away from it now, years later.

Brand new interviews will be released throughout the next few weeks, so make sure to keep checking back to read interviews from the cast and crew.

Today, we’re launching the Walker: Independence retrospective with Gabriela Quezada. Gabriela portrayed Lucia Reyes, girlfriend to Hoyt Rawlins and daughter of a rancher, who carves out her own path (and is badass in doing it.)

Editors note: This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Nerds and Beyond: How did you become involved with Walker: Independence? What was the audition process like, etc.?

Gabriela Quezada: I received a self-tape audition request back in February 2022! I remember the scenes I had to audition with feeling very intuitive but I often audition and don’t hear anything back so I taped it and “forgot” about it! I think a few weeks later I had a callback and then a chemistry read with Matt [Barr] all on Zoom. Even though I was of course nervous and Zoom can be super awkward I felt instantly at ease reading with Matt and I think that is what ultimately sealed the deal!

Nerds and Beyond: What was the first day on set like? Were you nervous, and had you met everyone previously?

Gabriela: My first day on set felt like a dream both because I was super excited and also because I was nearly half asleep! Me and Matt were the very first scene up for the whole show. I think my call time was around 4 am because we were trying to shoot at dawn so between that super early morning and the nerves/excitement I barely slept, so it’s all very much a blur. But a good blur! I had met Matt from the chemistry read and the rest of the cast the week before shooting because we were all in the same hotel in Santa Fe.

Nerds and Beyond: What was your favorite storyline from the series of your character?

Gabriela: I loved Lucia’s arc over the season. She does a lot of growing up throughout the season and really steps into her power towards the end. Filming episode 10 felt so rewarding.

Nerds and Beyond: What was your favorite storyline from the series from a character that wasn’t yours?

Gabriela: Kai’s! Similar to Lucia he starts as a very unassuming character. The reveal of his backstory I think in episode 9? is so badass. I always love an underdog or an unassuming reveal.

Nerds and Beyond: What was the hardest scene to film?

Gabriela: I don’t recall any scenes being particularly hard to film but dealing with the elements of Santa Fe certainly was challenging! There were boiling hot days, freezing cold days and extremely windy and dusty days in between! I was so happy my dresses were big enough that I was able to layer warm clothes underneath on the cold days.

Nerds and Beyond: Visually, what was your favorite scene (either of your own/another scene you saw)?

Gabriela: Oh gosh there’s so many. Santa Fe was gorgeous to shoot in, the sky was always insane no matter the time of day. Our costumes were exquisite as were the sets. I’d say I particularly loved the scene with Kate performing at Hagan’s, the scene with Abby and Hoyt in the river, the scene where me and Calian have a picnic, and maybe the scene where I show off my gorgeous golden dress to Kate and Abby in Hagan’s office.

Nerds and Beyond: Do you have an idea of what your character’s storyline was going to be if there was a season two?

Gabriela: Not specifically and I am so sad to not have been able to experience it. All I know is that Lucia left the first season taking over a saloon as well as beginning to run her family’s ranch. I was really hoping to be able to explore more of Lucia in this new empowered role.

Nerds and Beyond: Did you get to take anything from the set after the series was over?

Gabriela: I got to keep the back of my cast chair that says “Lucia Reyes” on it! But I don’t think I brought home anything physical from the set. I wish I could have kept my dresses!

Nerds and Beyond: At the end of the day, when you look back on your experience on Walker: Independence, what do you take away from it?

Gabriela: I look back and think about how fortunate I was to be able to be working on a set surrounded by such lovely people throughout the cast, producers, and crew! I really thought we would have more time with another season but I feel so lucky to have at least had those 6+ months in Santa Fe working on such a wonderful production.

You can read our previous interviews with some of the Walker: Independence cast and see all of our reviews and recaps of the series, here.