‘Fear the Walking Dead’s Lennie James Addresses Potentially Returning to ‘The Walking Dead’

The Walking Dead turned Fear the Walking Dead star Lennie James doesn't know Morgan's future, but he doesn't yet expect to return to the Virginia settlements once overseen by longtime ally Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

"I've got no idea really. It's kind of early days yet and at the moment I'm not looking for the door, but anything can happen in the next half hour," James told Metro when asked if he'll stay on the spinoff in a potential sixth season.

"I'm good where I am now. And I'm enjoying interacting with the characters that Morgan gets to play with, and I'm enjoying exploring Morgan in a slightly different vibe at a slightly different pace. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the other show and I don't keep tabs on the show itself, but also the people I know and love over there."

Rick's disappearance has since pushed the flagship series six years into the future, keeping Fear Season Five "significantly behind" in the timeline. But James admitted such a lengthy time jump is appealing as an actor that has filled the same role since 2010.

"I think after six years he'd be spending less time using the stick to fight people with, and more time using the stick to help him walk because his knees would have probably gone," James said.

"That would be a very interesting one. I think it was fantastic the way they did it on the show and for the actors over there. I know they all relished it and were excited by jumping their characters forward six years. How often do actors get to do that on a television show?

"I think one of the things I love about both Fear and The Walking Dead is you're offered opportunities as an actor to kind of learn skills and operate and exercise your art in strange and unusual places, and strange and unusual situations. You're challenged over and over again in a way you're not necessarily challenged on other shows that run as long."

After navigating the controversial departure of three-season leading lady Kim Dickens' Madison Clark when semi-rebooting the spinoff, Fear is poised for a fifth season more self-assured in its identity.

"I'm halfway through [filming] the fifth season and in a weird way, this season feels like my first season," James said.

"Because last season was so much about the transition and so much about the notion of Morgan crossing over, that there was so much circumstance outside the show we were trying to put together. This season is very much about the show re-finding its feet, and being clear about what it is that it wants to be."

Also starring Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danay García, Garret Dillahunt, Jenna Elfman, Maggie Grace, Alexa Nisenson, Karen David, Mo Collins, Daryl Mitchell, Rubén Blades, and Austin Amelio, Fear the Walking Dead Season Five premieres Sunday, June 2 on AMC.

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