 Caesar 's niece , Atia , was portrayed by actress Polly Walker . According to Heller , while most auditioning actresses assumed that the character was the series ' <unk> , Walker made " [ Atia ] bigger than life but completely real ... She could read the phone book with that kind of <unk> and joy . " Rather than a villain , Heller wrote her to be " a real life force . Everything she 's doing is for the good of her family , her children . No matter how evil it gets , it 's always for good reason . " Walker was pleased with her " very complex character . I found it exciting to play such massive emotions and deal with such interesting , to say the least , situations . I saw it as a huge challenge , and I have huge admiration for this character . A lot of people might consider her to be sort of evil or bad , but I think she 's wonderful . She 's just a survivor , doing what she 's got to do . " 
