The spin-off show Fear the Walking Dead is going strong with its own identify from the original show The Walking Dead. The show led us to the beginnings of the zombie apocalypse in California and trekked down across the border to Mexico.

In season four, the survivors licked their wounds and tried to settle in Austin, Texas for a new life. With every season, there are plenty of twists and turns. Like previous seasons, unexpected deaths and new friends will emerge as the story of survival continues to progress.

LRM Online spoke with Danay Garcia who plays Luciana Galvez on the show. She was introduced in season two and now promoted to be a regular and main character. Originally from Cuba, she has performed in many short films and indie projects. She was a regular on Prison Break as Sofia Lugo.

Garcia spoke with us about season four, particularly the drastic change to her character and the relationship with her love interest of Nick Clark.

Season four of Fear the Walking Dead is out on Blu-ray and DVD today.

Read our interview transcript below.

LRM: Well, thank you for speaking to me about the fourth season of Fear the Walking Dead.

Danay Garcia: Oh, of course. It’s a pleasure.

LRM: Tell me, in your opinion, why do you think this show is so successful right now?

Danay Garcia: I think one of the reasons why the shows is successful because whether consciously or unconsciously–the show the deals with that part of humanity. Right now, we were dealing with issues in our world. Imagine what would it be if we have no Internet, no social media and no technology. We didn’t take away the layers that could be a way to not deal with things. Imagine taking all that out. Now deal with who you are. What you’ve done. And who you could be. It’s this possible version of you and how you will deal with the world. If you want to get to a place you, there’s no easy way but to just go for it. On top of it, if you have to deal with walkers, you cannot use nothing to save yourself by dealing on how to save yourself.

You want to be creative. They need to be very smart. You need to be strong. In a way, we put the audience in that perspective of what if everything that I have is taken away from me. Everything that could possibly make things easier. It’s gone. We’re not talking about the past anymore. We’re just talking about what is now. Everything’s gone for you. For example, one of the things that I keep finding fascinating for me personally on the show is the fact that money doesn’t exist. It is just paper. What exists is who you are and what you could contribute. That’ll get you next to the people that are worth being around. Whether it’s a conscious or unconscious message, people receive that mindset. That is fascinating.

I think that’s why people like it. Walkers are just an obstacle. They’re just a way to come to establish that kind of world. We need to have something that establishes that. It needs to be an obstacle that we have to deal with, which will be the Walkers. That also establishes the universe. I think putting yourself in that perspective that’s what people keep finding fascinating to follow up.

LRM: I checked this show out since the first season. You joined the show in the second season and only seems like you’re the only survivor from the second season. A lot of the main cast members have already died. It’s very unpredictable. How do you feel being the one of the main cast members now on the show?

Danay Garcia: [Laughs] It goes to tell you that you just don’t know until, you know. If he would’ve told me this is what’s going to happen when I joined the show–I’ll be like that’s not gonna happen. It’s a universe, in which these characters Madison, Nick and Alicia established the show so much. They really set the tone for what the show is and it keeps going. I found out that they were gone in season four, especially with Nick since he was the love interest for Luciana. I realized this that the only way I can make it okay for me, personally, it is to really honor the work they’ve done.

To do it everyday. I hope that Frank Dillane, who plays Nick, and Kim Dickens as Madison turn on the television to watch this show. I want them to feel proud of what they created. I wanted them to feel like, “Yes. This is something that they are proud of.” When you are part of this kind of show, you really become a unit. You are usually dealing with so many hours of work. So much comes out of you in this and you go through it together. So when one of them go, it’s like a huge loss. Only way you can make it okay, if I keep honoring on what they did, on what they’ve done and to keep that alive. With the audience, they will respect. That’s something I don’t take for granted. I never thought in a million years that could possibly happen. That’s how I kind of handle it.

LRM: Why do you think season four so different from the previous seasons? For me, after watching it already felt different in style and mood.

Danay Garcia: First of all, it’s in a new place. It’s new universe, right? It’s new country. It’s a new set of problems. [Laughs] It’s also a story that starts with two timelines–the present and the past with the future. It’s also the fact that we lose huge characters. You’re going to have massive transformation from the show. Not just only the show, but the characters that are going through it. Luciana, Alicia and Strand are the three characters that will go through it the most. Now the audience are able to see how they will survive out them. That’s something that nobody ever imagine. Not even myself. To be able to see those three come up together–it’s fascinating and interesting.

It’s unusual, because it’s the losses that nobody expected. [Laughs] That’s including myself. I really worked so hard to honor and to put out there in a good way. That’s what makes this [season] different from the rest. It also demands so much physically. I remembered doing fighting sequences and then the next day I was crying so much. Oh, my God. This is like the two extremes everyday. This is different from before.

LRM: Do you miss those settings for the show in Mexico and California?

Danay Garcia: Well, yeah. In a way. Whenever they put you off in a place, you made up that place as your home. We were in Mexico for two to three years. I made that place as my own. I loved it. The fact that I had to leave, of course, it was a huge adjustment. Sometimes we joked around on set like, “Oh! Remember the time we were in Mexico.” It sounds like so far away, but it wasn’t that far. [Laughs] It wasn’t that long ago. There’s certain things that we do miss in Mexico like the food and the culture. We created a lifestyle there. It was fun. There’s a part of me that misses it. There’s a part of me that also love being in this new world. It’s part of the journey.

LRM: For some people who haven’t seen season four yet, talk about the transformation of Luciana throughout this entire season. Nick is a big part of that.

Danay Garcia: In season three, basically, I left the ranch because I couldn’t handle the way things were handling there. In a sense, that created a funny, little cute storyline for me that leads to season four. Nick is afraid that I will leave him again. He teases me a lot of you’re going to leave again and are you coming back? Are you going now? [Laughs] It is a cute comedy relationship that I loved and we didn’t have before. That was the really good stuff with Luciana. She could set herself up. She set her terms with a family, in the Clarks and with herself, including their relationship. That was really nice. From there, we were able to start a relationship from scratch. For season four, we left Mexico and we started here in Austin, Texas from scratch.

It’s a second chance with this relationship. It is a second chance of surviving. It’s a second chance to be happy and to be content with who we are in the circumstances. Now that that’s how we started.

Now the reality is, on what was about to happen, that was coming for me. [Laughs] It’s something that I never expected, which is to lose basically everything. There is the beauty and the hard part of the season. It is dealing with the loss of things that she’s brought so much to keep and to hold onto–the good and bad times. That’s the journey that we were going to be seeing in Luciana, the two extremes. How long can she go for this? How far can she go after she’s done? She’s lost it all.

LRM: They introduced Lennie James as Morgan Jones from The Walking Dead onto this show. Do you look forward in the future that, these two shows or rather these two worlds will eventually collide?

Danay Garcia: I never thought it would. I stopped watching The Walking Dead, because when I found out Lennie was coming as Morgan–I didn’t want to know his character. I just didn’t want to like him or hate him or empathize with him with his back story. I just didn’t. I wanted to have an impression. I want it to be organic. I wanted it to be more of the writer intending to have.

The main thing is that Lennie is incredible. He’s so good at what he does. Getting to know Morgan was such a great experience. We were going through such a rollercoaster emotionally and physically with the story. By having this man with so much truth in his eyes, it so intriguing to me. Who is this guy? I was pleasantly surprised in the presentation of him. Then I understood why he’s on the show. He really contribute to that part of it.That’s beautiful.

LRM: Let me start wrapping things up. Can you talk about some of your future projects that’s not related to The Walking Dead? I understand you have a short film.

Danay Garcia: Yes, I do! I wrote and directed a short film called La Cura or The Cure. Right now it’s being released in festival. We are waiting for to hear back from some of them. On the other hand, I think involved on other projects. I’ve been creating my production company called This Is Happening. I’m creating videos of stories worth telling. They’ll short videos that it will be released. I basically love telling stories. I learned so much from whomever has a story to tell. It’s fascinating to me. I’m creating a platform that we can share a story worth telling with the audience.

LRM: I know you can’t reveal much on season five, but can you give us a little bit of a teaser on what we could look towards.

Danay Garcia: After watching season four, you’ll realize how you know that we’re left with kind of the best version of ourselves. I think that’s what we think we are. [Laughs] We are basically starting from zero to as a unit. Now we know each other. We know this new group is. We know what we believe in. We’re more of like a group now. After season four, we kind of have a history together. That’s a good place to start. Will it see calm and an easy journey in season five? Absolutely not. It wouldn’t be Fear the Walking Dead. [Laughs] Things always go sideways. It’s a good. It’s a good place to start. That’s what I can say.

LRM: One last fun question. So many people have died on this show already. If you had a chance to resurrect of person from the show, not quite as a Zombie, but who would you love to interact with?

Danay Garcia: I would pick Nick. I feel like we have so much unfinished business. I think I will have a long talk with him. I really loved working with him. I think he’s brilliant, Frank Dillane. He was my first introduction to the show. Because of him, my character is here. It was a beautiful experience. My second favorite person would be Madison played by Kim Dickens. I really would have loved to explore a lot more with her.

LRM: Thank you very much. I love your name, by the way. Thank you for this conversation.

Danay Garcia: It’s a Greek name.

LRM: Thank you for letting me know that. I appreciate this. It’s lovely.

Danay Garcia: Thank you.

Source: LRM Online exclusive