‘Walker: Independence’ Star Matt Barr Previews His Character in New Series

The CW’s new series “Walker Independence” takes the Walker universe back to the 1800s to explore the roots of the Walker family led by Jared Padalecki’s character from the hit series “Walker.”

Set in the late 1800s, an origin story of The CW’s current hit series “Walker,” “Walker Independence” follows Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara, “Arrow”), an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West. After crossing paths with Calian (Justin Johnson Cortez, “911: Lone Star”), a curious Apache tracker, Abby arrives in the town of Independence, Texas, where she encounters diverse and eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets.

The cast and executive producers of Walker: Independence, held a press conference where Matt Barr gave some insight into his character. “Walker: Independence” premieres on Thursday, October 6 after “Walker.”

The stem of the series came from killing off a fan favorite Walker character, Hoyt Rawlings, played by Matt Barr.

Says the series co-creator and executive producer Seamus Kevin Fahey on the creation of the series, “Anna [Fricke] and I were working on “Walker,” and basically 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. And, and so we started to think about what did we do wrong with our lives, but also with that creative choice. And so it kinda started with just a text to Anna saying like, well, what if we went back to the first generation Walkers and, and Hoyt Rawlins was part of the, part of the ride. And a couple texts later and all of a sudden Jared’s on the hook and studio’s excited and it kind of just went from there, and we just built momentum and developed the pitch. And, and so there’s a lot of Easter eggs with Walker that we’re gonna do more and more. But, you know, we wanted it to kind of stand on its own and be its own thing, be the first generation and figure out like, what are all the expectations people might have. And how do we, how do we subvert them? How do we kind of have a fresh approach, new take to, to the proceedings and kind of just kept building with that in mind and that approach.”

The actor, he talks about the differences between modern-day Hoyt and the Hoyt from the 1800s.
“I always thought of the modern-day Hoyt as like a golden retriever with an unloaded gun,” said Barr. “And 1800’s Hoyt is maybe like a, like a German shepherd, you know, he’s, he’s nice until you cross him. And then he is, he’s gonna bite. 1800’s Hoyt’s more dangerous. I think in the wild west you kind of had to be to survive. So I wanted to see that sort of DNA in him. But I also liked the idea that you can’t really outrun your fate. And so, there was that consistent kind of recklessness in the Rawlins’ DNA that just, you know, as we meet Hoyt 150 years later, they’re still, you know, still trying to figure things out and get in his own way. Um, and they’re equally charming, aren’t they? I mean, they have to be right? (Very charming).”

The premiere episode finds Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara), an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian, embarks on a journey out west with her husband Liam (guest star Brandon Sklenar), when her husband is murdered before her eyes. After crossing paths with Calian (Justin Johnson Cortez), a curious Apache tracker, Abby arrives in the town of Independence, Texas, where she encounters diverse and eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets. Abby also literally runs into Hoyt Rawlins (Matt Barr), a slippery rogue, thief and con artist with a dented heart of gold who quickly eyes Abby as a mark, until she turns the tables on him. In seeking justice for her husband, Abby encounters Independence’s noble deputy sheriff, Augustus (Philemon Chambers), and his new boss, Sheriff Tom Davidson (Greg Hovanessian), who she has reason to believe is a very bad man indeed. Abby and Hoyt soon find themselves precariously aligned, both seeking to uncover the truth about the identity of Abby’s husband’s killer, and vow to save Independence – a frontier boomtown where nothing is what it seems. The episode was written by Seamus Kevin Fahey from a story co-written by him and Anna Fricke and directed by Larry Teng (#101). Original airdate 10/6/2022.

Check out a sneak peek below: