Interview: Fear TWD star Maggie Grace talks stunts, Pride

Maggie Grace gives a powerful performance in Fear the Walking Dead 505 and we talked with her about those stunts, moral compasses and Pride.

Althea is one of the toughest women of the apocalypse and in Fear the Walking Dead 505 she proved beyond a doubt that she’s a total badass. However, the pursuit of the story also revealed some key insight into Al’s past while also shedding light on one of the other huge mysteries of The Walking Dead universe after Al found herself stuck with a member of the Helicopter Community. I had a chance to break down the episode with Maggie Grace and our conversation covered everything from stunts to cracking Al open, and even how Pride plays into “The End of Everything.”

After crashing (or crash landing) the plane, it’s striking that Al is the kind of person that is ready to get right back into a helicopter and try again, especially since it would allow her to save her friends. I asked Grace about Al’s instinct to jump back into the helicopter so soon after the plane crash. “Yeah, I think she’s definitely a problem solver. I think it was more like a Star Trek moment, ‘I’m not a miracle worker, Captain!’” But, she noted, she was willing to try.

Having visited the set and that exact cliff where Al and Isabelle were making their ascent, I can tell you that it is straight up with very little room for error. Grace hadn’t been able to talk about her specific scenes during the visit, but she did hint that there was a lot of dangling in the early morning hours. Now, after viewing 505, it all makes sense. I asked how much of those scenes were done on location and on a set and Grace noted that it was a combination of both.

"We had some scenes on the cliff and I have to hand it to the crew because they had to haul all of that stuff up there and it’s heavy! They just hauled it all up there and got everyone rigged and we got some scenes that way, and then we shot the moments where Isabelle was hanging on a set. But some of it was on that real cliff. And I don’t know for sure but according to local lore that cliff was part of a buffalo run."

When it comes to Al and Isabelle, Isabelle is viewed as the bad guy but in her eyes she’s doing important work that can’t be compromised, and understanding her point of view is important. “Everyone has their own perspective and priorities. And even our declared priorities lately show that there is a need for a moral compass as a way to a better reality. None of the people in this group has made it through without doing things that they very much regret and have a hard time living with.” She added that the tension that this dilemma has caused helps the group work together so that they can eventually thrive.

Now that Al knows about the Helicopter Community, she has to keep a massive secret from her friends and secrets have a tendency to be corrosive. “It’s really a challenge. In this episode it simultaneously cracks her open and closes her off from her immediate community. She’s so much more clear about how important they are to her. She was trying to find a way out to make sure their lives are protected. I don’t know if the secret is supposed to be corrosive or empowering, because it gives her the most hope that she’s ever had, that somewhere this organization is out there continuing humanity.

Grace had no idea that 505 would air in June, let alone on the final day of World Pride Month. 505 filmed so long ago that there was no indication of when it would air. Having Al’s onscreen kiss with Isabelle coincide with Pride Month was “really cool timing that it worked out that way and I’m excited about that,” she said, adding that ”I doubt that was intentional because it was filmed so far in advance but I love that it happened.”

There’s no question that “The End of Everything” is setting up a huge story in The Walking Dead universe and we can’t wait to see what happens for Althea, and Maggie Grace, in future episodes.

Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.