Antagonist-turned-general pest Troy Otto has come along way since 3.01, after almost having his eye scooped out with a spoon… With Fear The Walking Dead Season 3B on the horizon, we spoke to Troy actor Daniel Sharman about his character’s journey and where the show is heading next.
SciFiNow: Troy was pretty all over the place emotionally in Season 3A; he started out as the villain, and now he’s just trying to survive like everyone else. What can we expect from him in Season 3B?
Daniel Sharman: I think that’s interesting about what happens with Troy in this next part of the season is I think he’ll begin to understand some of his ideological fervour, and you’ll understand a bit more why he is the way he is. Also, he’ll begin to understand himself a bit more too. For the first half of the season, he’s dealing with a lot of situations that he never had the tools to be able to deal with. He always grew up in an isolated state, so having to deal with a lot of different personalities and deal with the consequences of his actions, that all becomes part of Troy’s learning curve. He learns a tremendous amount. His journey is a really fascinating one. It’s a very complex but surprising journey that he goes on.
Is it fun to play the antagonist?
I think so. It’s always interesting to play a character whose emotions and actions dictate the action of a series. That’s always such a gift as an actor, to be able to place something that has such an influence on the entire story. I love that, and it’s such a pleasure to play that. But what I think is interesting about the story the writers have written is this character is continually surprising. There’s lots of things about Troy that you want to assume, and eventually you realise that sometimes you can’t make those assumptions, and something the things you expect are not the things that happen. That’s always a lovely thing as an actor too: you never feel comfortable, you’re always in a state of trying to get to understand your own character and how to justify his actions and therefore empathise with him. It’s such a pleasure to have a character like that, a main antagonist.
They’re always more interesting when you don’t fully understand their motives.
I love starting with a character who, on the face of it, is very difficult to empathise with. It’s then my job as an actor, hopefully, to make people at least understand maybe not his actions but how he came to be that way. Making people who seem evil believable is always a great challenge and something that I love it do.
What else can we expect from 3B?
It continues to get grittier, darker and bloodier, I would say. 3B, I find, is very surprising. You’re never comfortable, which is what I like about it. You’re continually in a state of being like, ‘Oh god, I can’t believe that happened,’ and then you’re onto the next thing that’s surprising and interesting. I really love the direction of the next half of the season. I think it’s going to go to surprising places, and you see the world in this much more— the first part is about establishing. The second half is about unraveling it. That’s always a really fascinating topics.
At Comic-Con this summer, Robert Kirkman said he’d like to do a The Walking Dead/Fear The Walking Dead crossover. What are your thoughts on that?
I think that would be a bad idea. I know! Here’s my reasoning: the thing is I think what’s amazing about this world that’s been created over both shows is that the scale of it is so massive, and I think personally not only do you have to deal with the time jump, you also have to deal with the fact that if they do cross over in some way then the world becomes smaller. What’s lovely about both shows is, I think, tonally they’re very different shows, but also the fact that they deal so specifically with a certain area and certain people is really interesting. That’s a huge benefit for the show. You could pick a place in any part of the world and tell a totally different story. I think if they mix and they merge in that way, you end up making the world smaller. It’s almost too convenient at that point. What I love about it is that they don’t cross over.
If they crossed over, the groups would probably either have to stay together for a while or kill each other.
Exactly! If they did a crossover, I think it would have to be coincidental and very brief. That might be an interesting thing. But the idea that the worlds will merge and they’ll end up living among each other, I don’t know. For me, I just think it would be too obvious. A bit gimmicky.
Fear The Walking Dead Season 3B premieres on 11 September on AMC on BT TV. Get all the latest sci-fi news with every issue of SciFiNow.