Fear the Walking Dead Panel at WSC: Chris and Tobias

Lorenzo Henrie and Lincoln A. Castellanos were guests at Walker Stalker Con Chicago last weekend and entertained questions from fans at a Fear the Walking Dead panel.

I interviewed Lincoln A. Castellanos last season at the very beginning through email and he is a great person. He really seems invested in the Fear the Walking Dead story and in the cast.

He’s on Twitter and he recognized me as I was walking by his booth earlier during the con just from having seen me in pictures. He called me by name and hugged me. He loves talking about the show and he is a huge fan of the original show.

He has no idea if his character will ever return, but he loves when fans compare him to Morgan. He is quite fond of the Morgan character and of Lennie James the actor.

When talking about his character during the panel he hopes that Tobias would be doing fine somewhere. He describes his character as damaged. He thinks he was picked on, but believes that created his ability to sense things in people and situations. He thinks that Tobias probably found the internet as a refuge and a place where he wasn’t judged.

Related Story: Flashback article: Interview with Tobias

Don’t eat the pozole!

When asked what Tobias would have thought of Celia, Lincoln said, “Don’t eat the pozole!” He said he definitely would not have trusted her. She was too content with the idea of the walkers and he knows they are bad and dangerous.

Bullying was a topic for Lorenzo as well with his character, Chris Manawa. He talked about bullying in real life and how, hopefully, his character can show the effects of it and that he hopes people learn that you need to talk to people and reach out for help.

Personally, I agree with him. I also agree with Rubén Blades in that this is an interesting zooming in on the precise timing of when someone “turns” into a villain. Once they turn and do certain things, they have to be held accountable, yet there are reasons for why things happen sometimes. Not necessarily justifications or excuses, but reasons and explanations.

According to Lorenzo, Chris’ thought process was that he thinks everyone hates him and thinks he bad. Maybe they are right. So if I’m the problem, I have to leave. I have to take myself out of the situation.

What’s interesting to me is that sounds very much like Nicholas when he said, “Thank you,” to Glenn. The moderator of this panel also moderated the Revolving Door Brothers panel and read my mind.

Related Story: Revolving Door Brothers

I sense that as an actor so young, Lorenzo is having a bit of a hard time dealing with the reaction of fans and the way his character has changed. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so tough had he known he was going to play a hated character from the start.

In any case, the moderator asked Michael Traynor what advice he might give to Lorenzo or other actors who play characters who are hated in that way. Michael said something to the effect that there’s a thin line between love and hate and to try to make your acting choices compelling enough that the fans see that and you can feel the love under the hate.

Next: Flashback article: What if Chris is innocent

I would add that with The Walking Dead, people change their minds very quickly. People hated Father Gabriel, now some like him. People loved Morgan for years then turned on him in 2 episodes. Carol started to have compassion and people turned on her. You never know!

Fear the Walking Dead returns for the second half of season 2 on August 21, 2016. Comic Con is in July and should bring some exciting previews, interviews and news!

P.S. Lincoln demonstrated his dance-like and Frankenstein arm zombie walk when a fan asked. It was meant to be silly, but if Tobias ever has to be a walker, he’s going to need a lot of training!