Brett Dalton has seen and done it all on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. From secret agent, to double agent and to full fledged villain, Dalton’s Grant Ward has been a staple in the series since Season 1. Now with the crushing events of Season 3’s midseason finale, Dalton’s fate hangs in the balance.
Videos by ComicBook.com
If you haven’t seen the episode in question, turn back now.
Spoilers ahoy.
That’s right folks, the Grant Ward as we’ve come to love (or hate) is dead. Crushed by Coulson’s Robohand 3000*, Ward might have gotten what he deserved, considering what he put his former teammates through. However, this isn’t the first time Grant Ward has been the center of a shocking twist for the show. Remember our first big reveal that he was part of Hydra all along? Executive Producer Jeff Bell sure does.
We caught up with Bell (the full interview to run later) about how he broke the news to Brett Dalton and what it means for the rest of the show.
Speaking of Ward, when did you break it to Brett what was going to happen to him in this episode? What was his reaction?
When did you break it to Brett what was going to happen to him in this episode? What was his reaction?
Bell: Well, it’s a little like when we had to go tell him that he was Hydra. We didn’t tell him that he was Hydra from the get go. As good a actor as Brett is, he’s not a super spy who could never have a tell. It wasn’t until we got closer to it that we started to let him know. That’s a hard thing. You go, ‘Does that mean I’m dead? Does that mean my character is gone? Does that mean I’m going away? Am I unemployed?’ Really, for actors, this is their livelihood. When you’re Hydra, the first thought is, ‘I’m dead. This sucks. Baby needs a new pair of shoes.’ We said, ‘Look, you’re not dying. You’re not going anywhere, but you are this person.’
The other thing that it really affected, was it affected the family dynamic of the cast. Our cast really likes each other. They hang out together all the time, and suddenly he was an antagonist to those people onscreen, and that’s not as fun as being on the same team as … you know? When we went to him this time, it wasn’t just like, ‘Oh, you’re Hydra,’ it’s like, ‘Grant you’re just getting killed, but you’re not leaving.’
As you’ve seen at the end of 10, something else is happening. It’s always scary, but as an actor he’s really risen to all these challenges, and I really look forward to whatever’s going to happen, seeing what he does with that.
– – –
So there you have it ComicBook.com readers? What do you think? Will we see more of Grant Ward past Season 3? Let us know in the comments below.
*Not the actual name.
