Fear The Walking Dead Stars Explain Production Changes With COVID-19 Precautions

Movie and TV productions have been getting back to work throughout 2020. Some have been able to work seamlessly to get their titles made and others, like The Batman, have run into some speed bumps along the way as health issues raise major concerns. In Austin, Texas, Fear the Walking Dead is bringing its cast and crew back together to complete production on its sixth season. As a means to keep the safety and health at the forefront of priorities on the set, some new measures have been put in place to ensure germs and viruses are not spread throughout the production. The cast of the AMC zombie show explained some of their experiences with these new measures while talking with ComicBook.com in an interview seen in the video above.

One common theme for any of the Walking Dead shows is how the cast and crew remain such close friends throughout production. They enjoy spending time together but now that time will be limited and the people who cast members can interact with will be, as well.

“Our lunch times are gonna be separate,” Luciana actress Danay Garcia explained. “We’re not gonna eat lunch together. And we’d love lunch. Lunch is like our happy moment, happy hour, you know that’s for us. And we’re gonna have to go our different, our own ways. Not just the actors, but the crew too. I think all of us, we’re gonna have to spread out. We can’t be in groups right there.”

Jenna Elfman, who plays June Dorie on Fear, is a veteran TV actress but still is headed into uncharted and sometimes uncomfortable territory. “We have to have giant Q-tips shoved up our nostrils three times a week and have your brain scrubbed through your nose,” Elfman says. “‘It was like, we did our first COVID test. He’s like, ‘I thought they just put it up one nostril. I thought they just touch it, pull it out. He goes, Alright, so this is going to be about ten to fifteen seconds each nostril.’ I was like, ‘Whoa, wait, what?’ It’s this long, like into your, and then he just sits there. It’s like, he’s cleaning the nooks and crannies of dust off the window sill. That was a unique experience. And that’s just something you have to like Zen and exhale and relax. But that’s three times a week, man.”

For James, the longest active member of the Walking Dead franchise on television as Morgan Jones, not being able to embrace his FearTWD family on set will be challenging, he admits. “It’s gonna be tricky just not being able to see people’s faces, the vast majority of people around us,” James says. “Because everybody’s gotta be wearing masks and different degrees of PPE. So, and it’s just not being able to see people’s faces, not to be able to hug people, ‘Hello,’ is going to be a flake, particularly when we all get back together, that’s going to be kind of difficult.”

The Walking Dead: World Beyond airs Sundays at 10pm ET, following new episodes of Fear the Walking Dead at 9pm ET. The Walking Dead will return for 6 more episodes in Season 10 in the spring. The 11th and final season of The Walking Dead will begin airing in the Fall of 2021.