Walker Independence: EP Seamus Fahey on Resurrecting Hoyt Rawlins

The development of The CW’s upcoming Western drama Walker Independence began with a decision the Walker producers had some reservations about.

“Anna [Fricke] and I were working on Walker and there was a beloved character named Hoyt Rawlins [played by Matt Barr] that we decided to kill off… and we kind of regretted it, to be honest,” Executive Producer Seamus Fahey recalled at a virtual press junket for Walker Independence held last week.  “We started to think about what did wrong with our lives, but also with that creative choice”

Fahey then texted Anna Fricke and asked a question: “What if we went back to the first generation Walkers, and Hoyt Rawlins was part of the ride?” A few texts later and fellow EP Jared Padalecki became involved, the studio got excited, and it went from there to develop the pitch. Fans of Walker will appreciate that there are Easter eggs in the new show that we will see more and more, though at the same time, the show will continue to do its own thing, ideally subverting expectations. So, audiences will get to see Hoyt Rawlins again…. just not the same Hoyt Rawlins, and more like 150 years earlier rather than two.

Audiences can meet the new/original Hoyt Rawlins, again played by Matt Barr, in the series premiere of Walker Independence airing Thursday, October 6 on The CW. See KSiteTV’s other coverage of the show – including a whole lot of photos and upcoming episode descriptions – here!