Maggie Grace Compares 'Fear The Walking Dead' And 'LOST'

Joining Fear the Walking Dead as Althea in Season Four, veteran LOST actress Maggie Grace admits there are some similarities between the two TV phenomena.

"They do feel similar in terms of a strong ensemble in a rough environment," Grace told ComicBook.com. "Similarly, there's some really elevated genre moments with really grounded characters so I would say that there are definitely moments that feel similar in that way. I would just give all the credit to Damon [Lindelof] and JJ [Abrams] on LOST for making really bold choices with novelized TV. That kind of storytelling hadn't been done very much in television."

Despite the show's having a similar end-of-the-world type of feel, Grace's two characters could not be more different. On LOST, the actress portrayed the helpless survivor of Shannon Rutherford, a rich young lady who painted her nails on the beach while awaiting rescue. On Fear the Walking Dead, however, Grace gets to play the not only capable, but eager to accomplish and witty Althea, a character who would "not at all" get along with her LOST counterpart.

"I don't think Althea would really tolerate five minutes in Shannon's presence," Grace laughed. "She might knock her out. Nothing good would come of that pairing!"

While Grace is grateful for her time on LOST and enjoyed playing the part, she does find a different kind of joy in playing the post-apocalyptic journalist Althea.

"It's really relaxing and fun to be able to play somebody that's both unusually capable and emotionally deep and somebody that's driving in this world," Grace said. "It's just great to see a chick character that has an agenda! She makes mistakes. She has a transactional side. She's an interesting person that has a lot of freedom as a character in a way that you don't always see with female characters."

In fact, Grace took the role on Fear the Walking Dead over a few other offers, as a result of having such a strong desire to play the character after learning so much about her.

"I read for it but it was not with a full script," Grace said. "It was what they call dumby sides that are clearly from another world that's not The Walking Dead world but has a full sense of character. The showrunners told me about exactly who she would be and I was really jazzed. She's pretty rad but, yeah, hopefully the take I had on her was somewhere in the neighborhood of what they were going for and I had just a couple of days to decide between this and some other gigs that conflicted and I was just really taken with who she is and the plans they have for her. It's humbling what a passionate fanbase it is, so it's a lot to catch up on quickly."

The Walking Dead will return for its ninth season in the fall. Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.