Although there shouldn't be direct comparisons between the characters of The Walking Dead and its new spinoff show Fear the Walking Dead, it's difficult not to wonder who will be portraying the next Rick Grimes. The cast of Fear the Walking Dead was revealed earlier this summer, but AMC has been releasing more details about the actors and the roles they are taking on in anticipation of the show premiering on Sunday, Aug. 23. And though the zombies will always be a huge and integral part of The Walking Dead franchise, the reason fans stick with The Walking Dead and want to watch Fear the Walking Dead is for the human element.
As with The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead has a diverse cast of actors, and the spinoff will be placing a huge emphasis on the relationship between a blended family. While the gang of The Walking Dead are skilled zombie killers, the group of Fear the Walking Dead will be going back to the beginning when the apocalypse first happened. So before you tune into see what this companion series is all about, get to learn about the characters and the cast portraying them, since you never know who will be dead — or a walker — before you know it.
Kim Dickens
Dickens will be playing Madison Clark, a high school guidance counselor and widowed mother of two. Dickens should be familiar to fans of TV and film as she has been in the TV series Lost, Treme, Friday Night Lights, and Deadwood, as well as the films Gone Girl and The Blind Side. Her most recent foray into TV was as Kate Baldwin in Season 3 Netflix's House of Cards , but she's moved on from taking down Frank Underwood to taking down zombies.
Cliff Curtis
Curtis' character Travis Manawa is about to discover that it's not easy to be in a relationship during the zombie apocalypse. Travis is Madison's boyfriend, who works at the same high school as her. The actor from New Zealand has been on TV before in Gang Related on Fox and Missing on ABC. And while you get familiar with Curtis in Fear the Walking Dead, he'll also be starring as Jesus Christ in the upcoming movie Risen with Tom Felton and Joseph Fiennes.
Frank Dillane
Like the actress playing his onscreen mother, Dillane is also an alumni of a Netflix show since the British actor was in Sense8. (The Walking Dead franchise sure loves their Brits.) Dillane is playing Madison's drug-addicted son Nick. In real-life, Dillane is the son of Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon on Game of Thrones) and his first acting job was as Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince — not a shabby first gig to have.
Alycia Debnam-Carey
Australian actress Debnam-Carey portrays Madison's daughter Alicia. While her brother struggles with drug addiction, Alicia is an overachieving student who wants to escape her troubled family by going to college. Debnam-Carey is best known for playing Lexa in CW's The 100, although Fear the Walking Dead is sure to help this actress gain an even larger fanbase.
Lorenzo James Henrie
Because one troubled family isn't enough, Henrie portrays Travis' son Christopher who resents his father's involvement with the Clarks. Besides small parts in TV shows like Malcolm in the Middle, 7th Heaven, and Cold Case, he was in the 2009 Star Trek movie and this year's Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
Elizabeth Rodriguez
As Liza Ortiz, Rodriguez portrays Travis' ex-wife and Christopher's mother who is going to nursing school. And as Hershel demonstrated in The Walking Dead, any knowledge of the medical profession is a plus once zombies come to town. This won't be Rodriguez's first time playing a nurse either, since she was on ER, but more recently she was Aleida Diaz in Orange Is the New Black.
Rubén Blades
Blades, who has been acting since the 1980s, is taking on the role of Daniel Salazar, a refugee from El Salvador who owns a barbershop in Los Angeles. He has been in the films The Devil's Own, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and The Counselor, but besides acting, Blades is a Grammy-winning musician of Latin music. Perhaps, like with Beth on The Walking Dead, Daniel will bring some joy to the survivors with his singing.
Mercedes Mason
The daughter of Daniel is the protective Ofelia and she's portrayed by Mason, who is no stranger to TV with roles in 666 Park Avenue, The Finder, Chuck, and Californication. And since Fear the Walking Dead seems to really be focusing on family dynamics, the show promises a clash between Ofelia and her father once the zombies arrive.
Patricia Reyes Spíndola
The last member of the Salazar family is the mother, Griselda, portrayed by Spíndola. The Mexican actress was in her first film, entitled El señor de Osanto, in 1972 and most of her roles have been in Mexican film or TV. Her character Griselda is a religious woman and I pray that Griselda doesn't go all Father Gabriel on this new crew of zombie apocalypse survivors. But fans of these zombie shows will see how the group from Fear the Walking Dead handles the walkers in California differently from The Walking Dead group in Georgia. So maybe some prayer wouldn't hurt.
Images: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC (10)
