Colman Domingo on Fear The Walking Dead season 4, directing, Broadway and more
Fear The Walking Dead star Colman Domingo told us what to expect from Victor Strand in Fear The Walking Dead season 4 – and about his new Broadway play.
Colman Domingo has made an impression on TV fans as Victor Strand in AMC‘s Fear The Walking Dead, but what happened to Strand is only half of his story.
When Fear The Walking Dead season 4 begins on Sunday, audiences will find out what happened to Strand after he seemingly disappeared following the flood. Will he return, and is he actually the villain we want him to be?
Not long after Strand’s fate is revealed, audiences will discover another side of Colman Domingo: the Broadway playwright. His latest play, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, has its opening night April 23.
FanSided spoke to Colman Domingo about how he perceives Victor Strand going into Fear The Walking Dead season 4, learned about his Broadway venture and revealed what he’s doing in this season of Fear that he’s never done before!
FanSided: Victor Strand’s fate was left ambiguous in the Fear The Walking Dead finale. Did you think he could be dead in the flood?
Colman Domingo (CD): I think we all did. You never know with a story. Whatever benefits the story is usually what happens. But it was a nice cliffhanger. Every character was sort of backstabbing and backbiting each other, so I feel like the only thing that could have happened was the dam falling and everyone’s fate was hanging in the balance. It made sense because I think all the characters deserved it.
FanSided: The fact we’re talking proves you’re still around in some capacity. But since we know Strand is not a great guy, what’s going to await him when he resurfaces?
CD: I think you just understand more about Victor Strand. You see what he’s trying to do. With every character, you really have to challenge who’s the bad guy and who’s the good guy, because everyone is going out for their own needs—whether it be the community, the needs of a mother protecting her children or vice versa.
I’m always like with a pause when people say that Victor Strand’s a bad guy. Madison cut off heads; what do we think about her? Nick killed the head of the Otto family, just shot him in cold blood. Is he the bad guy? Who’s a bad guy? Just because Strand is doing a little bit of wheeling and dealing as a businessman, does that make him the bad guy?
FanSided: Is that ambiguity part of what appeals to you about the character?
CD: I think you never know where you stand with him. He’s such a complex character, he’s an enigma, he’s a mystery, and I think that’s also part of his strength. He depends on that so he can gain control in some way. You see the moments he slips from that control—it’s when certain things are found out in a way.
FanSided: How is Fear The Walking Dead season 4 for Colman Domingo? You’ve got new cast members coming in, a new location, there’s a lot fresh about this season.
CD: For any actor, it’s awesome because you get new relationships, new energy, it invigorates the story. It invigorates the franchise and the series. We’re always welcoming of new people. Anytime we get guest stars and new regulars, you have so much fun. You’re challenged again, you’re on your toes again. You don’t sit back at all. You move forward with it.
FanSided: You also co-wrote the book for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, which is in previews now and opens at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theater on April 23. What made that your next theater project?
CD: [Director] Des McAnuff brought me into the project. He loved my work as a playwright. He’d seen one of my plays, and he knew that I was very in-depth at character and story. I use a lot of music in my work as well and so I think he knew it would be a great match together.
I hadn’t been on Broadway in eight years, and it’s nice to return to Broadway as I had been expanding as an actor, director and a writer. Like my comrade Danai Gurira—we sort of do everything. I probably take it even a step further, because I’m a director and work in all different mediums. I like to stay busy. I like to tell stories and I have affection for theater as well as film and TV, so I’m always going back and forth.
FanSided: You were a writer well before Fear The Walking Dead came into your life. Tell us about your history in that respect, and how much does your writing process differ from your acting process?
CR: It’s been 26 years of my career. I was actually a journalism student in college. I thought I was going to be a writer first and then I became an actor. I was always writing privately, writing small pieces, creating new work and so I’ve been doing this for a long time. I think my writing also informs my acting and vice versa.
The more that I’m trying to perform as a writer and think differently, I know it challenges my work as an actor and as a director because writing is actually a bit more personal. Of all the mediums I do, [writing is] really your point of view—how you see the world, how you see humanity, the questions that you are asking about the world. That’s what writing provides for me, which is why I will never stop writing. It’s why I’m developing even more as a writer for television and film.
FanSided: With all that you’re accomplishing, what does the future hold for Colman Domingo?
CR: I have three films coming out this year. One that just came out called First Match on Netflix, another one called Assassination Nation that was at Sundance, and If Beale Street Could Talk that’s coming out later this year. In each one, I play someone who really supports young women and their voices, and that’s the feminist in me. Anything that helps to really raise and elevate women, I’m all for it.
I float between genres, through mediums it seems, pretty effortlessly but it is something that’s the core of my work for 25 years and more. I’m creating for television, film and theater. I’m writing shows; I’m developing series for AMC and HBO. And I’m also directing my first episode of Fear The Walking Dead; I start prep tomorrow. I’m stepping into becoming a television director as well.
Next: Preview the Walking Dead season finale
For the latest Fear The Walking Dead season 4 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire Walking Dead franchise, visit FanSided’s Undead Walking.