AceShowbiz -

The fight for survival never ends on "The Walking Dead" and the rough paths the characters have taken will certainly shape them into different persons. In an interview ahead of the sixth season premiere, stars Tovah Feldshuh and Ross Marquand are willing to talk about their characters' evolution after some events in the fifth season.

Feldshuh says that after what happened last season, with the loss of her son and her husband, her character Deanna Monroe "has a complete understanding now that there has to be a shift in her reality and her point of view of how the world runs in order for her to survive." Feldshuh adds, "So we have a woman transitioning from statesman to warrior."

While she had different visions with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) last season, this shift will affect her relationship with Rick in a good way. "Not only more aligned, but I think that she elevates it. She gets it finally. She gets that he might be the one possible answer she's got to salvation. She manages to combine to take swift action and good judgment," she explains.

As for Marquand's Aaron, he will be responding to the friction among factions in Alexandria. "At the very beginning of season 6, and then throughout this season, you'll see a shift in Aaron where he goes from being polite and very deferential to really kind of taking a stronger leadership role and deciding, this is what we need to do," Marquand dishes on his character. "We need to back Rick. We need to be more active, and we need to get really honest and serious with ourselves about how we defend ourselves."

Of what causes the tension within the Alexandrians, Marquand shares, "They're all in agreement that something needs to change. There are people who after this incident want Rick and his group to leave. There are people who see the value in a strong lawman who's going to come in and, enforce some sort of law, which is a strange concept for people because, you know, what does law mean in this day and age? There's no law anymore."

He adds, "So a lot of them are struggling with that, but I think as time goes on, especially with all the threats coming at them - whether they're walkers or humans - they're going to find that they have to be unified because if they're not, people will die."

"The Walking Dead" season 6 debuts Sunday, October 11 at 9 P.M. on AMC with a supersized, 90-minute episode. It "starts with Alexandria's safety shattered by multiple threats. To make it, the people of Alexandria will need to catch up with our survivors' hardness while many of our survivors will need to take a step back from the violence and pragmatism they've needed to embrace. These reveals won't happen easily, or without conflict."