Fear The Walking Dead: Interview With Mercedes Mason
WC: So you're the group practical joker then?
MM: We have a fairly large cast so we really only got to know each other for a short period of time. I haven't been too horrible to them yet but Season 2, just saying, all hands are off deck. These things havent happened just yet But they will. I have to keep it light, life is too short to wallow in misery. And that makes it all the more enjoyable when you get to really go deep into it.
WC: Would you stand a chance if the world of FTWD came into reality?
MM: I'd run, but then I'd get exhausted, and if there were hordes of them, there's just no way... I'm really squeamish so if they were as gross as they are in The Walking Dead with the skin peeling off and blood I'm going to be vomiting so profusely they'd absolutely catch up with me. There's no way you could run and vomit at the same time. I'm pretty sure I would be a zombie within a good 6-8 hours of the apocalypse starting.
WC: Of course, Fear and The Walking Dead are set in the same world. Are you a fan of the 'original'?
MM: I am a huge fan. When it first came out I remember I hadn't seen the Pilot episode but my friend was a die-hard fan from the get-go and she was saying: 'Have you watched it yet? Have you watched it yet' and I was like: 'I'll get to it, I'll get to it'. So I finally sat down and watched the first three episodes and I was absolutely hooked. She and I had this long-standing date night where we'd watch it together if we could. I've absolutely been a huge fan, and what I loved about the show is that the zombies are just like a catalyst for the human condition. It's a very psychological take on what humanity would do if something like the apocalypse hit. So to me it's fascinating to watch humanity at its worst.
WC: With that in mind, what was it like when you were cast on Fear? Can you still enjoy it as a fan?
MM: When I heard I was in Fear The Walking Dead I didnt believe it. That's probably another reason why I'd die first in an apocalypse. People would be like: 'Mercedes, you have to run, dead people are chasing you' and I'd just be like 'Come on, you tease'. I do watch it, and I'm trying to live-tweet every episode because fans are so excited and have so many questions that I feel like I owe it to them to say as much as I can without giving away any spoilers. It's been a really cool way of doing it actually, I have it on in the background, and I'm tweeting very conveniently when I'm on the screen, and it feels like I'm watching it with the fans. It's like a little interactive community which I've never done before and I love it.
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