Fear the Walking Dead’s Danay Garcia interview

The Luciana Galvez actress on the return of Fear the Walking Dead, the characters she would love to bring back and the possibility of a dark turn for Luci.

After five seasons playing Luciana Galvez, Danay Garcia is one of the longest-running survivors in Fear the Walking Dead.

She’s faced battles in Mexico, a trip to the Otto family ranch, losing the love of her life, plane crashes and lots and lots of zombies, but Luci is still standing tall as we head into the second half of season 6.

The show’s most recent run of episodes have been some of the most intriguing and emotional in its entire run and although we’re sworn to secrecy about what happens in the upcoming run, we can promise a premiere episode that ranks alongside the best in the show’s history.

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So we caught up with Danay to chat about her five years on Fear, the potential for Luciana to turn evil and which much missed characters she would love to see back for one more episode…

1. Fear season 6 has really caught the imagination of fans. Do you think this is the most exciting run of episodes yet? 

This season, season 6, has been such a profound and deep season. It’s a season that nobody saw coming. Even as actors in the show, we knew it was the right time to make it more character driven, but what came out of it was so brilliant. We really underestimated what would come out of it.

It’s been wild and crazy and honestly, we wouldn’t do it any other way. It’s been a rollercoaster of storytelling and you need that. You have to give credit to our writers for keeping us all on our toes.

The pandemic in a way helped us because they often don’t have so much time to connect everything. The writers’ room is often on a journey, but this time, they had a little break to consider how they could go crazier. It’s been a great season and very scary.

2. Luciana has been through so much over the last 5 seasons, do you have all of that in mind when you prepare for new episodes?

AMC

It’s funny because working on a show like this… in a movie you just work for a stretch of time like a month and a half, but I’ve been working on this show for so long, you have so much to hang on to. There is so much history, there are relationships in the show, there are relationships that went away, but they only connect us even more, the ones who have left.

That is so rich for an actor and so fantastic. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to still be in a show for this long and still find ways to be surprised and find moments that I never thought Luci would have two years ago. Luci’s love for Nick was very profound and when you have events like his death in the show, it really shapes you.

How are you going to handle this, what is going to happen? It’s part of the journey of developing and creating this woman. I’m very grateful for that. Imagine if nothing happened! So much always goes on with this show, it’s great.

3. She’s always been a very honourable character – would you like to see her take a darker turn?

I would not be surprised. I would not be surprised if she turned to the dark side. And as an actor I would know exactly what to do with that.

“I would not be surprised if she turned to the dark side… Bad people don’t think they’re bad.”
– Danay Garcia

On the dark side, you are still just trying to make things right, you are just trying to survive. Bad people don’t think they’re bad.

I would really understand if she turned dark and I would never judge her. I would root for her, even if she was going through a tough time.

One of the reasons I love Fear is that it’s never the same. If it comes to that I am willing to go all the way for sure.

AMC

4. What makes a great Fear villain?

What makes a great villain is when they have their own reasons and believe what they’re doing is right. A great villain can justify absolutely every evil thing they do as right for them and the entire universe.

When they make it not just about them, but for the good of everyone, that’s when they’re truly evil. It has to be justified.

Colby [Minifie] as Virginia is brilliant at it. She really has an agenda and you’re going to find out that soon. That’s what makes a good villain, even if you don’t agree with their choices, you understand them.

5. If you could bring back any character for one more episode, who would it be?

Right away I’d say Nick and Madison. I can’t just pick one.

I feel like I have so much to tell them and I never did. Even if they came back for a dream sequence I would want a monologue. I would tell them ‘shh, here is my flashback’ I wouldn’t let them talk, I would just want to talk and say how much they mean to me.

6. Do you think Luci could ever find a new apocalypse romance?

AMC

I think that’s why I need a flashback and sequence with Nick. Just so Luci can be ready. I don’t think she is. I don’t think she’s ever got closure for what she had with him. From the moment you said, who could come back, I just went there to Nick. That man brought so much beauty to her life and she wasn’t expecting it, so I don’t think she’s ready yet.

I think we should vote on that flashback sequence – I’m right with you.

7. How much does Nick’s death still factor into how you play Luci?

So much. He defined so much of how Luciana survived the apocalypse. He brought love when she didn’t think it was possible. He brought excitement when she didn’t believe in that anymore. He brought so much to the table. And all of a sudden all those beautiful things, they went away, just like that.

It was a big hole and there is a part of her overcompensating for that by trying to take care of people. That magic Nick brought to her, that love, it changes you. How can Luciana cope knowing that feeling will never come back? It’s always something that is very present with her and is very real. It’s a struggle.

Fear the Walking Dead returns with new episodes on Monday, April 12^th at 9pm on AMC.