‘Fear The Walking Dead’: Colman Domingo Talks Season 4, Dave Erickson’s Exit

“Fear the Walking Dead” star Colman Domingo explained why he thinks AMC renewed the series for Season 4 two months ahead of its Season 3 premiere.

“We were like, ‘Wow, we’ve not even done [with Season 3 yet],’” Domingo, who plays Victor Strand on the series, told Digital Spy of everyone’s reaction on the show when they heard the news that the network had picked up the series for another season. “That’s the enthusiasm of not only our producers, but the fans, the way people are receiving it, the way the show was building itself and building its audiences. Because I think we’ve finally found our audience. We’re no longer the cousin of ‘The Walking Dead’ and receiving their fans, but we’ve been left to our own now.”

Although there will be some behind-the-scenes changes heading into Season 4 because of Dave Erickson’s exit as showrunner, Domingo is confident that the show will be on the right direction creatively. “We’re trusting the journey of it all,” Domingo said of Erickson passing the torch off to new showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg. “Dave has been such an extraordinary showrunner, and now I consider him such a deep friend.”

“I’m trusting that AMC has their hands on everything,” Domingo continued. “And I think they’re such an extraordinary studio and company, because of the people that they have at the heads of departments. … They really do respect artists. It’s about art. It’s less about commerce. Of course, you want things to survive, but from what I’ve been witnessing with AMC, the reason why their shows have such integrity and purpose, and then develops such strong audiences — and audiences that are absolutely faithful — is because of what’s happening behind the scenes.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last May, Erickson revealed that he decided to step down from his role as showrunner to spend more time with his children. “It’s something that’s been on my mind for a time,” he told the news outlet at the time. “When you’re running a show, inevitably it’s all-consuming. Frankly, you end up not spending as much time with your kids as you would like. You sacrifice quite a bit to keep all of these balls up in the air.”

“Fear the Walking Dead” Season 3 airs every Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC.