Deanna Monroe

Deanna Monroe
The Walking Dead character
Deanna Monroe, as portrayed by Tovah Feldshuh in the television series (left), and Douglas Monroe, as depicted in the comic books (right).
First appearance	"Remember" (episode 5.12)
Last appearance	"The Next World" (episode 6.10)
Created by	Robert Kirkman Charlie Adlard Scott M. Gimple Channing Powell
Portrayed by	Tovah Feldshuh
Information
Occupation	Ohio US congressperson Leader of the Alexandria Safe Zone
Significant other(s)	Reg Monroe
Children	Spencer Monroe Aiden Monroe

Deanna Monroe is a fictional character from AMC's television series, The Walking Dead, and is portrayed by Tovah Feldshuh. The character is an adaptation and gender-swap of Douglas Monroe from the comic book series, on which the show is based.

The character, a former congressperson from Ohio, acts as the leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone located in Washington, DC. and assigns its inhabitants job roles based on their characteristics and backgrounds.

Feldshuh explained that her portrayal of Deanna was inspired by Hillary Clinton. She said: "I based her on Hillary Clinton. She's somebody I've admired and somebody incredibly qualified to lead the nation. She's been in service to the United States for a good deal of her life. I studied her as my immediate prototype. I looked at other wonderful congresswomen, and tried to think what I could bring to it: Where did the character connect with my character as a human being? Because there was no time. Don't forget, this wasn't my audition (character). It's not like subliminally I had prepared." On her auditioning process, she described it as "extremely tense" but also "wonderful". She considered Alexandria an "incredible naivete" citing that nothing has happened to the community since the outbreak. On bringing Rick Grimes and the survivors into the community, she said: "Deanna is clearly looking to connect with street smarts, brawn, muscle, but not hooliganism. She has to make sure these people are rational." She further commented that Deanna is a culturist who "needs [Rick's] brawn [just as much as] he needs her cultural brain."

Feldshuh explained Deanna and the community saying: "Alexandria is named after the greatest city with the greatest library in the world—it was the first great library in Alexander’s empire. And Deanna is a woman of the book. She’s a woman of high intellect and a woman who is highly cultured. She’s a woman who knows how to get a grandma to babysit little children in her 30-member society. But as a great leader, she knows they need new blood. They need new blood to procreate. They need new genetic pools to get some strong blood in there. And she’s desperate for brawn, for warriors that they can trust."