The Walking Dead Actor Wanted to Cross Over With Fear the Walking Dead

Former The Walking Dead actor Jason Douglas, who played Alexandria resident and Carol's (Melissa McBride) romantic interest Tobin across four seasons of the show, would have switched to spinoff Fear the Walking Dead because it films in Texas where he resides. The first-ever crossover between the two shows brought Morgan (Lennie James) from the Virginia-set Walking Dead to the Texas-set Fear, where Morgan was reunited with Dwight (Austin Amelio) — an enemy turned ally who helped Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) overthrow Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his Saviors, who were responsible for Tobin's death — when Dwight was exiled from Virginia by Daryl (Norman Reedus).

"I would love for that to have happened, so I'm envious in a good way," Douglas told Fandom Spotlite of former co-star Amelio's switch from the main show to the spinoff. "But when I think of Austin Amelio, he's a Texas guy. He's literally from Austin — Austin from Austin. So he's going home at night, he's sleeping in his own bed and seeing his kids in the morning before he goes to set. How amazing is that? So I missed that one by a season or two, I guess."

But Douglas, who appeared in two dozen episodes of The Walking Dead, says Tobin had a "good run" before he was stabbed with a Savior's blade tainted with walker guts. Tobin succumbed to the infection in Season 8 episode "Do Not Send Us Astray" and his zombified corpse was put down by Carol.

"I can't complain," Douglas said. "I was in 25 episodes on The Walking Dead."

Dwight headed west in search of missing wife Sherry (Christine Evangelista), who is reunited with her estranged husband in Fear the Walking Dead Season 6. For Amelio, who starred in three seasons of The Walking Dead, exiting in its Season 8 finale, following James to Fear was an opportunity to return to his hometown of Austin, Texas.

"It's the best, it's the best feeling ever. It's come full circle," Amelio said during a 2019 convention appearance. "It's kind of trippy, you know? I started off acting there, and now I'm back. On something that's a big show, so it's nice."

In the sixth season of Fear, Dwight is among the survivors adjusting to life in one of the western settlements controlled by Pioneer leader Virginia (Colby Minifie). In the Season 5 finale, Virginia forcibly separated Morgan's group — Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Victor Strand (Colman Domingo), Daniel (Rubén Blades) and John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt) among them — after shooting Morgan and leaving him for dead.

Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 premieres later this summer on AMC.

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