AMC’s Major Plans

THE youngest resident of Alexandria plays a pivotal role on Sunday’s midseason finale of “The

Walking Dead” (9 p.m. on AMC). Major Dodson, who plays Sam Anderson, guarantees lots of turmoil and drama now that the walls of Alexandra have literally collapsed — allowing for a massive zombie stampede.

“You are going to see problems solved and problems that will be made after the walkers come into Alexandria,” says Dodson.

The 12-year-old 7th grader, who lives in Dallas, says it’s tough to balance his hectic acting schedule with his schoolwork.

“At times it can be hard ... so I’m home-schooled when I travel to Atlanta to film [‘The Walking Dead’],” he says. “I first auditioned for Sam via videotape then I was called in to Atlanta to audition twice in front of the producers and [showrunner] Greg Nicotero. They had me do improv as well as read from a fake script because they want to keep the storyline confidential.”

Known as the kid who likes baked cookies, Sam has a tight bond with widow Carol (Melissa McBride) — despite her harsh tone towards him.

“Sam thought Carol was tough, and if anything bad should happen she can probably protect him,” Dodson says. “In the scene where Carol tells Sam to get over his father’s death and move on Sam felt she was right.”

And since he’s moved into Alexandria, Sam is slowly becoming aware of the world in which he’s now existing.

“Sam is weirded out by this new strange world that he’s been thrown into with no information,” Dodson says. “He has heard about the ‘monsters’ but he knows nothing about them. Sam saw his mom [Jessie] kill a member of the ‘Wolves’ and saw her covered in blood. So he now has a better understanding of the outside world.” And what about Sam’s future? “He could either be like Carl [Chandler Riggs] and learn quickly, or he can take his time to figure things out thoroughly,” he says. “But I don’t think he’ll be fast enough. He can always turn to his mom for help — providing she’s there to protect him.”