Conversations with the Cast of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’

​Fear the Walking Dead returns to AMC this Sunday, October 17, 2021 (9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CST) and in anticipation of its arrival, we had the opportunity to sit down with several of the cast members to talk about their journeys on the show and season seven in general.

Lennie James and Karen David

John Betancourt: What did you as actors do to prepare for material that is, quite frankly, the darkest that The Walking Dead Universe has put together thus far?

Lennie James: Held hands.
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Karen David: Hope for the best.

Lennie James: I think when we prepare for any season, I mean, we've both been at this long enough now, that what we try to do particularly with the particular storyline that happens between Morgan and Grace, at the start of this season, is to do it justice, and to and to take both what we wanted to add to the scripts and what the scripts were encouraging us to do to the most realistic and logical kind of sense in a post-apocalyptic world. What does it mean to have to lose a child? What does it mean to, you know, to have a child in not just one apocalypse, but in a double apocalypse? That has to be the biggest gamble on hope and the positive sense of what the future might be. And to have that taken away? What real effect would it have on people regardless of the apocalypse, and we had to try our best to do justice to how a mother might feel about that and how a father would, however, much removed in in Morgan's case, but he's still connected because it was his dream to father that child. It was his dream to be husband to Grace and father to Athena and that you know, when he has a loss, what that loss looks like, and feels like, but how he also supports Grace. So, I think for me anyways, and I believe so for Karen, that what we tried to do was be honest about it.

Karen David: Yeah, this was an opportunity for me to explore a different side of Grace, which Grace as we know is a very methodical, factual, kind of pragmatic being. So, to see her go on this emotional journey with losing her baby. And going through postpartum depression, there was a lot of research that I spent months doing during the pandemic before going back into season six, we had that break, so I had a lot of time to, to really dig deep and to go on different forums, and organizations that provided support for mothers and fathers that were going through infancy loss. And just to hear the stories from these very brave and courageous families who are willing to share their experiences, for me, was so important to infuse into Grace’s and Morgan’s storyline. So, it was it was deeply humbling and as an actor was really for lack of a better word, exciting to delve into. Especially for Grace.

John Betancourt: What are you both most excited for fans to experience this season? Without spoiling Of course,

Karen David: Oh, without giving anything away. I'm most excited for fans to see just how Epic each and every episode is, from the cinematography to the sets that our team have created. Just taking in this double apocalypse as Lenny said before, and the scope of it. I'm just so excited for fans to see because this season is truly much darker.

Lennie James: Firstly, I'm looking forward to everyone seeing Coleman Domingo's costumes this season, because they are off the charts, just saying that, while everyone else is in a hazmat suit, and, and I directed two episodes this season, and I'm really looking forward to the fans seeing that.

Jenna Elfman and Keith Carradine

John Betancourt: John and June are characters that have a lot of issues with abandonment and trauma in their past. Do you both think this is the year that they finally confront those issues?
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Keith Carradine: I think the quest for peace will continue. I think that John's searching for some kind of healing, some kind of center that he can find in himself, that justifies his own survival, and not to mention his, whatever ability he might have to aid in other people's survival as well. This is a guy who has been fighting for the law for his entire life. And that idea of the morality of adhering to the law, that there are laws for a reason and that we must obey them to have a civil society. Well, what's left of that now, that's a big question. And whether or not he can continue to have a positive effect in his own life and on the lives of anybody that's around him, especially considering the amount of loss that he has experienced.

Jenna Elfman: I think there's, you know, through each one of those evolutions that we've already seen them go through lessons have been learned, you know, so not every trauma is the same, because each trauma they encounter, they've got a backpack full of lessons they've learned. And there's a learning curve of them digging themselves out of those traumas, and they come away with some knowledge. So, this is now a brand new one with this nuclear apocalypse and the damage it does to them emotionally and spiritually and so I think that it's probably like the most extreme you can go that we can all think of, aside from the actual planet just exploding, and so it's, it's great, because I love that the writers chose this because it takes everyone to literally the edge of the earth, of who am I? Who am I going to be? Which pocket am I going to dig into? Which pocket of experience? Which pocket of knowledge, which pocket of emotion? Which pocket of purpose am I going to dig into to get myself through this to find my friends? Or, you know, do people need to not look for their friends? Is it just about that, like, where does this take them? It changes people when it gets this extreme. And so, I think that it's not necessarily about finding peace. Peace is a relative term, what is the new normal?

​Which cloak do they have to put on to move forward, and I think each character's choice of cloak is going to be very revealing moving forward, and also beautiful strings that connect to the greater Walking Dead universe of story of things that go on, and the phenomena that occurs with each of these characters sort of establish some new territory that inform the greater whole moving forward, which I find thrilling. And I love June's thing. So, I think we saw a dose of all this, with her taking it upon herself to kill Ginny. And giving no F's about it, you know, it's her sort of going in and deciding what she needed to do, not what John said to do, not what Morgan said to do. This is what she needs to do. And she has that right to think for herself, and to make a decision for herself of what needs to happen. And I think we're going to see more of that moving forward, which I really enjoy.

Christine Evangelista, Mo Collins, and Alexa Nisenson

John Betancourt: I've noticed over the past couple of years for all of your characters that each and every one of them is searching for something in their respective seasonal arcs. Without spoiling, what are your characters searching for in season seven?
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Mo Collins: They're searching for Wendall. You know, because they got on that helicopter or she got on the helicopter, he didn't, so you know, in that search in and of itself, it turns into an introspective for her because without Wendell, who is she? So that is what is being discovered is who is she without, you know, like, when we lose someone, whether it's, the ultimate loss or just through a relationship breaking up, whatever it is, it's like, you kind of have to rediscover yourself, and find out how you proceed, right? And you have to look at yourself. And that's the hardest damn thing, isn't it? To look at yourself, you know, and grow, God help us. But that's really what Sarah is confronted with, as much as she loves and appreciates the people around her. And they're great support. It's really, how does Sarah do it without them? What gets her up when her reason for living isn't around?

Alexa Nisenson: I think this season Charlie is really searching for some semblance of a better life and more hope and a better situation. And she, of course, is searching for the rest of the group and wanting answers if they're okay, where they are, you know, because everybody is kind of in their own situations, you know, they really don't know if everybody's okay and if everyone made it out, so I think she's searching for that. But she's also searching for a chance to be happy, which I think is really special and we really get to explore that, which I'm really excited about, Charlie's happiness.

Christine Evangelista: I think Sherry physically or externally I think really is just searching for somewhere safe. I think we all are looking for somewhere safe, somewhere where we could breathe – literally breathe, you know, because everything is just so dangerous. And I think internally you know, very similar to what Alexa said, I think Sherry's looking to be happy and I think Sherry is looking to continue to heal herself and apply everything she's learned from last season and looking to you know, be with Dwight and do it with Dwight in this new way, the best way that she can, given everything that she's learned.

John Betancourt: I want to say, first of all, that you all have made an amazing impact on the show, in a very short period of time. And with that in mind, what are you most proud of as an actor when it comes to your contributions to Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead Universe?

Christine Evangelista: Thanks. I was proud of telling this story about a love not being lost and reunited and hope and when you hold on to hope, you can will things to happen in your life and I think that has been such an uplifting story and I've loved how people responded to that and being a part of that was emotional, also. I think also, I mean for me as an actor on the show I just think the physicality of it is really, really rewarding and I pushed myself beyond the limits that I thought that I had and the strength that you need you know, emotionally, but really physically on a show like this and it's totally empowering. I've been very empowered by the show.

Alexa Nisenson: Adding onto what Christine just said, I think one of the things that I'm the most proud of is how I have pushed myself over the past couple of years. I've never done a project like this at all where there's you know, so many intense stunts and things going on and the physicality to the show is such an important and huge aspect of it. It's not just about the dialogue, it's the whole picture and that is something that I had never done before and I think we have all pushed ourselves to do some crazy intense amazing things. But in the end, it's so worth it because when you watch it's just like, “wow, like we all did this we all create created this and did it in real life.” You know, we all have to do those things, but it's so worth it when you watch it. And I think we have all pushed ourselves and made each other really proud.

Mo Collins: Thanks, by the way, that's a really nice compliment that you gave to all of us. We appreciate that. Um, I think for me, you know, one of the things I'm super proud of is being a source of light in this dark world. That was my assignment as a comedian to come in and I do believe it sounds a lot easier than it is, because drama is not the same world that I come from. And so, to come in, you still have to be taken seriously. And so that was a really great thing. And I'm very proud of the way I handled that. And the things that I've done with Sarah, to not only bring in that comedy but to have a truly authentic character going on. She's more than just funny, she is heartfelt. And she is authentically Sarah. So, I'm really proud of what I've learned how to do, you know, to come into the world of drama and you know, to do to do something so completely different for myself. I'm not – it's just it's so far off from doing like Joan Callamezzo from Parks and Rec, which is all dressed up and makeup and heels and everything and to like, settle into this. She's the realist. And she's the closest character I've ever played to myself. And so, learning how to do that as an actress has been really, really satisfying. And I'm… I'm proud and I feed myself cake because of it.

​These interviews were lightly edited for clarity.