Fear the Walking Dead: Update on Production Shutdown – Talking Shop

The entirety of The Walking Dead universe is on hold, for now. The second spinoff show is now expected to arrive just before the end of the year. The flagship show delayed its finale indefinitely. Fear the Walking Dead, meanwhile, was just getting deep into production on its sixth season when everyone was sent home. For the cast and crew who were hard at work in Austin, Texas when things shut down and everybody was sent home, the process from full-on production to being at a complete halt was a quick one but not one which came out of nowhere. Fear star Danay Garcia joined ComicBook.com’s Talking Shop to discuss, as can be seen in full in the video above.

“It didn’t happen overnight,” Garcia said. “So, we got a letter first, to set, saying, ‘Hey, keep washing your hands, keep things clean, this is happening.’ But, I’m always covered in dirt! I can’t wash my hands. If I wash my hands, all my make-up, dirt make-up would go away. And Luciana cannot go out all covered and clean hands. So, I was like, ‘Oh this is gonna be a problem.” And the whole social distancing as it started coming… We kinda knew that it was coming to an end. Because, Fear the Walking Dead or any production were minimum 80 people, minimum, on a light day. Imagine with all the walkers and background artists, it goes into 150 people. It just became obvious that we’re gonna shut down, for sure. It just happened in a matter of two weeks, to be honest.”

When the cast and crew do get back to work, the sets are going to look different as new precautionary measures go into place.

“I’m assuming that for things like lunch together, we’re not gonna be able to be in one place eating lunch,” Garcia points out. “I’m assuming that the whole entire process of work will change completely. Because one of the reasons why actors, we can say we’re like a family is because we really are. When we go to work, we going to the same trailer and we then do our make-ups together, and then we go to work together, and then we have lunch together. And that is for eight months out of the year. So you can’t help but to turn into a family. And now this entire situation of like social distancing and all that, I’m sure when if we come back, the rules are gonna have to change, 100%.”

There is no word yet on when Fear the Walking Dead will resume production on its sixth season. For now, fans of Garcia can catch her in Sam Raimi’s 50 States of Fright horror series on Quibi. The 50 States of Fright series is available now.