Frank Dillane, who plays Nick Clark on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, talks about his character’s easy adjustment to the apocalypse and relationship with his sister.

Q: What drew you to playing Nick?

A: Strangely, it’s hard to tell what draws you to a character. I think it’s safe for me to say he just seemed to choose me.

Q: How would you describe him? Is he troubled? Complicated?

A: I think he’s certainly a lost boy. I think that’s the best way to describe him.

Q: You’re the first character to come across an infected person. Can you talk about filming those first scenes in the church during the series premiere? Was it scary?

A: Yeah. A lot of the main driving force for my journey is dictated by that first scene. My girlfriend has turned and ends up going for me. That informs everything else and there was a lot of preparation for gearing myself up for being in love with this girl and then just being taken by surprise when she turns. A lot of the stuff that drives Nick and makes him so troubled is his father dying and his girlfriend turning. He doesn’t really have much to live for.

Q: You’ve mentioned that although he’s a drug addict, Nick would have the easiest time adjusting during an apocalypse. Why do you think that?

A: I think it’s important to distinguish that Nick isn’t a drug addict, he’s an addict. “Drug” is neither here nor there, really. It’s just a solution to a problem. I guess if you’re an addict and you only really have one problem in life, which is where to get your next fix from or burst from life, that single-minded conviction and willpower would put you in good standings. He’s already concerned with life and death.

Q: Nick is really close to his little sister, who has taken on a caretaker role. Did you grow equally close to Alycia Debnam-Carey? How did you two create your sibling relationship?

A: It came quite naturally. She’s very easy to work with and talk to. It just happened very naturally.

Q: You took a gap year to hang out in a caravan, so you kind of have experience camping out. Would that help you during an apocalypse? What would be the hardest adjustment for you to make? What would you miss the most?

A: That’s a good question, but I don’t know!

Q: It’s hard to say until it actually happens, huh?

A: [Laughs] Yeah.

Q: Would you prefer to be fenced in like the Clarks are in their neighborhood, or take your chances in the outside world?

A: I would take my chances on my own, I think. I’d get a dog, a car and a gun.

Q: A lot of people know you from your first movie role in the Harry Potter films. If you could come up with any spell to survive the apocalypse, what would the spell do?

A: I’d guess it’d turn zombies into not being zombies anymore…

Q: [Laughs] Well, that’s simple yet effective!

A: [Laughs] Or I’d come up with a cure.

Read an interview with Alycia Debnam-Carey, who plays Alicia Clark.

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