Fear the Walking Dead’s James, Garca & Elfman Discuss the ‘Potent Change’ To Season 6 – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Fear the Walking Dead actors Lennie James, Danay Garca and Jenna Elfman discuss the change of pace for the drama's sixth season.

In its two episodes of Season 6 so far,the post-apocalyptic spin-offFear the Walking Deadhascontinued to proveitself to be a different beastfrom its predecessor. The familiar group of survivors are now scattered to the winds, serving in various capacities across the settlements of the menacing Virginia. But, as always, there exists hope, as the group's leader Morgan is driven more than ever to bring them back together.

CBR talked with Morgan's actor, Lennie James, as well as cast membersDanay Garca (Luciana Galvez) and Jenna Elfman (June Dorie) about the new storytelling for Season 6, what we can expect from their characters, and James' directorial debut in Episode 2.

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CBR:This season ofFear the Walking Dead is taking on more of an anthology tone, focusing episodes on a select few of the separated group. What do you think about this shift in storytelling?

Lennie James:I'm really excited for the characters. It gives the opportunity to the actors, writers, and everyone involved to get a little bit deeper, and tell stories on in a slightly different way. It opens up so much more possibility, because we're not tied into moving all the regular cast over the same time span. Sometimes the episodes have only one or two people from our main cast, and I'm excited for the guest actors we get to work with.

Danay Garca:It's kind of likea first season, where you get to follow each one of us on a journey. Sometimes when the characters are on their own, you really get to know how they feel and who they really are. It's really exciting, because we haven't done that in a long time. And so much has happened in between. Even seeing Morgan's first look, you get to imagine how he's doing. You get to go in extremes that when you're on your own, you get to really know how strong you are.

Jenna Elfman:It's just potent change this season. It's potent for each person. The stories are connected to each character's history. Connecting to the characters' history really launches them. This is anti-procedural. This is like some real hardcore character storytelling. These characters are catapulted out of a cannon of life, change, and experiences that hit them. And they're slamming into a brick wall. It's going to be very dynamic and impactful. Their past experiences are sitting there like a time bomb. This season will connect to those time bombs in a way that really affects them moving forward.

CBR: We've already seen how bad of a shape Morgan is in the premiere. Lennie, can you describe the metamorphosis Morgan undergoes that leads him to attempting to reunite the group?

James:When we first meet Morgan in episode one, he's ready to die. He's on his way. I mean, he's so close to death, that even the walkers think he's dead. The only thing that's keeping him going really is a gamble on the future. And that's Grace's baby. That's, as far as I think Morgan is concerned, to a greater or lesser extent having a child. And during this particular apocalypse is the biggest gamble on the future that you could possibly take. And he wants to protect that.

That's all he's really interested in. And he's a very single minded fella. He's very good at just having one thing to hold on to and follow through to the bitter end. That's all he really needs. And then by the end of it, he, it comes to a point of realization of what he's got to do next, and who he's going to have to be. It's a choice that he's made once before, and he doesn't like who he necessarily has to become. But he knows he has to become him.

CBR: Danay, we leave Luciana in Season 5 being sent off with the children from the survivors. What's her role in Season 6?

Garca:When you first meet Luciana in Mexico, you see this woman playing soccer with the kids. Even though the times are harsh, she knows that these children are the future. Whatever love they give right now is what we're going to get later. The last thing on Season 5, they put everyone in a truck. And right before it closed, I just said, "Everything is going to be fine, I promise." And then they just take them away.

When you deal with kids that are orphans and children of the apocalypse, it's all about the future they belong to. They just bring so much light, and it's going to be taken away wherever they're going. And we're not going to protect them. It's war. And it's scary. The future is gone. And the separation obviously has a huge impact.

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CBR: Jenna, June finally found a solid companion in John, only to get torn away from him shortly after her wedding. How does that separation affect her in this season?

Elfman: I think these experiences she's had over the last couple seasons have given a strong scaffolding for her. She's a trauma nurse; she's dealt with life or death situations many times a day. She has the ability to face trauma, just maybe not our own. She's learned so much from John. And she trusts that he's competent. She's separated from him, but she has this treasure chest of experiences and lessons. When they got married, they knew they were going to be separated. So their modus operandi is to make the most out of the moment at any given time. Moving forward, she has these pieces of knowledge, pieces of confidence, that bolster the inevitable vulnerabilities and trauma.

CBR: Speaking of changes, Lennie, you got to make your directorial debut with the recently-aired episode 2. How did that come about, and what did you think of the process?

James:Admittedly, I've been asked a few times before. People have seen a director in me. And they've been encouraging me to kind of do it. There are a lot of decisions to make when creating an apocalyptic story. What do I need to do now? What are the answers I need to give? What can we shoot now? What's ready? One of the things that Colman [Domingo], who was a fantastic mentor to me during the journey of me directing the episode said to me was, "You're going to get asked loads of questions." And that is basically what the director's job is. Everything all day is questions.

One of the things I was most excited about is I've been doing what I'm doing as an actor for over 30 years. And I'm familiar with it. There are different experiences, but there's no brand new experiences,. The two-and-a-half to three weeks that I was being a director, almost every day I was doing something I'd never done before. And I loved it. When I finished it, I was like, "I'm not even sure I'll do that again. I'll wait and see." But now I can't wait to do it again and have another go at it to see what I've learned.

Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC, Fear the Walking Dead is executive produced by Scott M. Gimple and showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, as well as Robert Kirkman, David Alpert, Gale Anne Hurd and Greg Nicotero. The series stars Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo and more.

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Fear the Walking Dead's James, Garca & Elfman Discuss the 'Potent Change' To Season 6 - CBR - Comic Book Resources