MADISON CLARKKim Dickens
In many ways, the Madison of Season 2 is the same woman we met in the pilot -- a leader, a moral compass -- but in a whole new devastated, apocalyptic world. As the season plays out, Madison will be faced with a world that often has no room for empathy or compassion. Forced to navigate a deceptive and manipulative chart of personalities, Madison's success in this new world is predicated on understanding that, at the end of the world, lending a helping hand can often endanger those you love. She may maintain her maternal ferocity, but the apocalypse will force her to make decisions and sacrifices that could break even the strongest people. Madison and her family have been forced to abandon many, leaving behind friends and neighbors. She will attempt to stop this trend – and she will suffer for it.
Kim DickensMADISON CLARK
Kim Dickens has proven herself to be a versatile actress portraying a vast array of complex and powerful characters throughout her career in television and film. Dickens was born in Huntsville, Alabama and attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in communication. Soon after graduation, she moved to New York City to continue her studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. She later graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Art’s two-year performing arts conservatory in New York City.
In 2001, Dickens starred opposite Gabriel Mann in Allison Anders’s The Things Behind the Sun. Dickens’s role garnered her recognition with a 2002 Independent Spirit Award nomination. Dickens played a local rock singer in Florida whose band became increasingly popular, largely because of a controversial song.
From 2004 to 2006, Dickens was seen in HBO’s Golden Globe Award Winning drama series Deadwood. Starring Timothy Olyphant, the show was set in the late 1800s and revolved around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota, which was fraught with corruption and crime. Dickens played the depressed and self-loathing Joanie Stubbs who, aside from being a madam, was Cy Tolliver’s (Powers Boothe) former lover.
In 2005, Dickens co-starred in the Golden Globe Award Nominated satirical comedy Thank You for Not Smoking. Dickens played Nick Naylor’s (Aaron Eckhart) disgruntled ex-wife, who lobbies for the Academy of Tobacco Studios.
From 2006 to 2009, Dickens had a guest arc in ABC’s Emmy® and Golden Globe Award-winning series Lost. Dickens played a love interest to James “Sawyer” Ford (Josh Holloway).
From 2008 to 2009, Dickens co-starred in NBC’s smash hit Friday Night Lights, which depicted the trials and tribulations of a small-town Texas football team, their friends, family and coaching staff. Dickens played hair stylist Shelby Saracen, the mother of Matt Saracen’s (Zach Gilford).
In 2009, she appeared in John Lee Hancock’s Oscar® nominated The Blind Side. Dickens portrayed an insightful high school teacher who fights to allow Michael (Quinton Aaron) into the school.
From 2010 to 2013, Dickens co-starred in HBO’s award winning drama Treme. Created by David Simon, the series focused on life after Hurricane Katrina as the residents of New Orleans tried to rebuild their lives, their homes and their unique culture in the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in the USA. Dickens portrayed a struggling chef, Janette Desautel, who tries to keep her restaurant open while waiting to pay for her losses. Dickens along with the cast of Treme was nominated for a 2014 Primetime Emmy® Award in the “Outstanding Miniseries” category.
In 2014, Dickens co-starred in David Fincher’s critically-acclaimed psychological thriller Gone Girl, opposite Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Based on the bestselling novel by Gillian Flynn, the story follows a man’s quest to find his missing wife. Dickens played the tough, yet sometimes sympathetic Detective Rhonda Boney. The thriller was released by 20th Century Fox.
In 2015, Dickens became an Ambassador for the National Women’s History Museum. The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM), founded in 1996, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and celebrating the diverse historic contributions of women and integrating this rich heritage fully into our nation's history.
Dickens currently stars in AMC’s smash hit Fear the Walking Dead, the companion series to The Walking Dead. This critically-acclaimed series, set in Los Angeles, became the No. 1 rated cable series premiere on record with 10.1 million viewers. The series also smashed records internationally, premiering across more than 125 territories for AMC Global, the largest ever day-and-date release for a U.S. series. Fear the Walking Dead didn’t disappoint and set global ratings records for AMC. By the season finale, Fear the Walking Dead averaged 11.2 million viewers, clocking in as the highest-rated first season in cable history.
Vanity Fair writer Richard Lawson explained he was “intrigued by the terrible unfolding of doomsday, and further drawn in by the show’s stellar cast.” He went on to describe Dickens as “one of the most reliably appealing actors working today.”
Dickens recently completed production on Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The 20th Century Fox film is an adaptation of the classic novel and stars Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Ella Purnell, Allison Janney and Samuel L. Jackson. Based on the Ransom Riggs novel, the film follows a teenager who finds himself transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers. The film is set for release in December of 2016.
Dickens resides in Los Angeles.