‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Series Finale: Colman Domingo Is “Excited For The Next Chapter”

As of tonight, Fear the Walking Dead has had its last scare. The eight-season long series aired a two-part finale on AMC and AMC+, ending the long-running spinoff — and other than the multiple other spinoffs, a franchise that has been running near-weekly for well over a decade.

It also ends a story that Colman Domingo has been an integral part of for the past eight years. And as he brings Victor Strand, the enigmatic con man who has seen a sort of redemption to a close, these next few months are packed for the actor. Among other projects, he’s starring in Netflix’s Rustin, A24’s Sing Sing, Audible’s The Riddler podcast as Batman, and the musical remake of The Color Purple.

This transition isn’t lost on Domingo, who chatted with Decider over the phone in advance of the finale.

“I’m excited for the next chapter,” Domingo said. “As a journeyman in this industry, it’s very rare that you’re on a long, long-running show. That’s very rare. I never expected that. I come from the theater where you do a show for three months and you move on to the next company, the next journey around the country, around the world. So this is the longest that I’ve been a part of any company. I think I’m ready to flex my muscles and see what’s new.”

Don’t worry, we talked about where Strand ended up as well. Domingo broke down shooting his final scene, how that emotional showdown with Daniel Salazar (Ruben Bladés) changed on set, and also — spoilers — how he fought for the return of Alycia Debnam-Carey in the finale.

And be sure to read our other Fear the Walking Dead series finale interviews:

• Co-showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss
• Kim Dickens and Jenna Elfman
• Rubén Blade and Danay Garcia

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I wanted to jump all the way to the end… We see Strand. He’s with his new family, he sees Madison and Alicia and Tracy walking away. Did you feel closure there, both you Colman and the character Strand?

Absolutely. The beautiful thing is [co-showrunners] Ian [Goldberg] and Andrew [Chambliss] were very collaborative with us about our final moments and what could be useful on our journeys. And one of my favorite things is the bluebonnet flower showing up, which says so much. It says so much about our journey. Our journey of season four. I don’t know, it reminds me of Frank Dillane’s character, who I started my whole journey with. That’s what I took in. I thought that it was this gentle reminder of the chosen family that I’ve been a part of for seasons.

And even having Kim [Dickens] and Alycia [Debnam-Carey] and that scene in the mirror, in the rearview, which is very poetic that they would be in my rearview as a character, to let go and then go to the future with this other new chosen family. I think that’s what Victor had been searching for a long time. People who truly loved him and saw all the beauty and love that he had, what he could be, and the possibility.

That doesn’t say that Victor isn’t all those other things that he was for the past eight seasons, but he has something a bit more that anchors him and roots him, and something that he fights for that feels personal. So I thought that that whole last moment was so beautiful, and that was the last stuff that I shot. The very last moment was actually of me reaching in for the purple flower and taking that in. That was my very final moment on set.

Oh, that’s lovely. I think you just addressed this a little bit, but I’m curious to talk about it a little bit more because Strand has been thrust into this very different position in these last few episodes where he’s in the good guy role, and Madison is almost the final boss of the season. Given all that, do you think Strand has changed for good at this point, or will there be a little bit of the old trickster always in there?

The beautiful thing is, I think now that we understand all that makes up trickster Strand for eight seasons, we can deduce that he’s all of those things, and it all depends on where he is in his life and what he has. Right now, I feel like we’re finding him at this very peaceful place of understanding. ‘Cause I think a lot of times in the beginning, Strand was doing things because of what he just needed, looking at what was in front of him, and using whatever strategic skills he had, undermining things, not telling people the full truth, you name it, being a bit vicious at times. But he was really working with being in the moment.

Now I think that he’s been able to take stock of all of that and look at all that he’s done and also really honor the fact that he still survived after all of this. So that wasn’t all bad. He’s learned how to survive, but now I think that he knows how to use his powers for good in some way. But I think, even if he needs to do some terrible things, he understands why he’s doing it now. And he’s trying to do it for something higher, a higher ideal, ideology that he has now. And he’s not just doing it because it’s just right in front of him, if that makes sense.

Yeah, I think so. And this actually gets into one of the scenes that I wanted to talk about that was one of my favorite scenes in the finale, which is you and Ruben, Daniel and Strand, where basically Daniel is like, “I don’t like you, and we don’t like each other, and that’s okay,” which is a very different thing than you expect from closure from TV characters.

[Laughs]

Yeah, usually you expect them to be like, “We like each other now, and now we’re friends going forward,” and that’s not what you get here.

Well, there was a version of that. That scene was rewritten probably 10 times. When I tell you Ian and Andrew did not let up when it comes to trying to get all of our arcs right. Ruben and I, because we have such ownership of our characters, we push back here and there when sometimes things were maybe a little too flowery, a little too easy. And we’re like, “No, no, no. Characters like these two, they could have respect for each other, but they don’t have to like each other.” There’s something bigger. They can understand each other and say, “You know what? I get it. Maybe one feels one way, one feels the other, but at least we know each other, and we have some civility.” And I think that that’s a great message… How can we have strong opinions and ideas about the way things must be in the world and not hate each other?

We could still be civil with each other and understand each other and listen. I think that the show has always been a mirror to our society in some way. Every episode, I’ve always considered it’s about some bigger things that we’re dealing with in the world. It’s never just about walkers, but it’s about human beings, and how do we build bridges to each other? How do we love more? How do we help each other and heal, especially because we’re human and we have all these different ideologies, a way of being, and a way of doing things? That makes great television, where you have an ensemble of characters that have very different ways of doing things, but at the end of the day, we all want the same thing, but how are we going to get it? We’re going to fight it out, we may kill each other, or we may take a breath, listen to each other, and say, “I get it. I see you. Carry on.” And that’s what Strand and Daniel do very well.

You got closure with Daniel, you got closure with Madison. Was there a character that you would’ve wanted, before the end, to see Strand get a little more closure with? Or do you feel satisfied across the board?

I feel satisfied across the board. It’s funny because even… I remember that Danay [Garcia] and my character didn’t have any closure, but we figured out how to have one with just a hug and a look. Some closures, which I love, are not everyone doesn’t need to tie everything up or say goodbye, but they just say, “Take care of yourself and keep going.” And I felt that was beautiful.

But I felt like Strand had the closure with the ones that he needed to have closure with. There were some characters that I think were in his world that he operated with that he didn’t need that with, and they didn’t need it from him either, which I thought was great. You know what I mean? I don’t think he has the closure with Sherry, or Dwight, or June. They were all a part of the same sort of company of people, but they were cool with just being like, “Okay, cool. It’s time to move on.”

Strand gives a little bit of a nod, sees Alicia in the distance. But did you Coleman get to hang out with Alycia Debnam-Carey at all on set?

Oh, of course, yeah. Oh, absolutely. Listen, I was the champion to bring her back and to bring Kim Dickens back. So I wanted to make sure that if they’re coming back, I’m working with them in some way. Even if I don’t get a scene with Alycia Debnam-Carey, at least it was important for us to have a moment in the rear-view mirror that was so special for us, which was great. But also when she was there, of course we had good food in Savannah, Georgia, and we hung out. Me, her, and Kim, we’re as thick as thieves.

Oh, nice. Since Strand’s ending is pretty open-ended like everybody else on the show, and they are digging into spinoffs on AMC, is this a character that you would want to return to in some way someday?

I never say never. Right now my plate is pretty full with all the things that I’ve been doing. And I like the idea of, if it’s an interesting story, if it’s challenging to me… I wouldn’t want to see Strand the way he is. I would love for the universe to be expanded in a very unique way and really built around the way Victor operates. I think that would be exciting. So if there’s room for that in some way, shape, or form in the universe in the future, I’d be willing to talk about it. I’d be willing. But I know for sure I would want to be part of the creation of it. I feel so much ownership of Victor Strand’s story that I wouldn’t just want it to happen without me having a strong opinion about the entire world.

Yeah. One more and then I got to let you go. And this is a little bit of a broader question, but you touched on it. You’re wrapping up a show you’re on for eight years, just as in this, I think, two-month period, you’re starring in Rustin, Sing Sing, the Riddler podcast as Batman, and The Color Purple. What is it like closing this major chapter of your life while others are just starting in such a short period of time?

Oh, man. I’ve always been the actor that I’ve always worked even in off-time after The Walking Dead. So it always just made sense that I kept producing and directing and acting in other things ’cause it also fueled my work on Fear the Walking Dead. I felt like I was always flexing my muscles on other sets and doing other things. So now I have more bandwidth. I’m not on lockdown for seven months out of the year on location somewhere. Now I can actually think about some other things, and I have these other seeds that I’ve planted and these other beautiful films. And I have another television series that I’ve been doing with Netflix called The Madness.

I’m excited for the next chapter. I think as a journeyman in this industry, I think it’s very rare actually, that you are on a long-running show. That’s very rare. I never expected that. I come from the theater where you do a show for three months, and you move on to the next. You move on to the next company, the next journey around the country or around the world. So this is the longest that I’ve been a part of any company. I think I’m ready to flex my muscles and see what’s new on the horizon.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.