‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Season 2B: Alycia Debnam-Carey On Alicia’s Assertiveness, Friction With Madison, And Avoiding Lexa 2.0 [Spoilers]

The back half of Fear The Walking Dead Season 2 premieres on AMC tonight. Recently, actress Alycia Debnam-Carey spoke about her character, Alicia. Expect her to become more assertive in the upcoming season, and there to be more friction with her mom, Madison. Also, the actress talked about avoiding “Lexa 2.0,” a reference to her character on The CW’s post-apocalyptic series, The 100.

Fear The Walking Dead Season 2B spoilers are ahead. If you don’t want to know any details about the characters or storyline, then stop reading.

On the last episode of FTWD titled “Shiva,” the group separated into three separate parties. As Entertainment Weekly noted, at the end of the Fear The Walking Dead midseason finale, Nick (Frank Dillane) stayed behind and Travis (Cliff Curtis) was separated from Madison (Kim Dickens). What is in store when Season 2B premieres on AMC Sunday night?

In an interview with Variety, Alycia Debnam-Carey spoke about her character, Alicia. Expect her to be more assertive when the show returns. She will have more of a leadership role due to the separation. Alicia will also be more in control than some of the others, who have lost so much in such a short period of time. Unlike them, Alicia really hasn’t lost all that much since the zombie apocalypse.

“She’s the one person that hasn’t lost as much as everyone else. It’s the first time she’s been able to step into that leadership role. She’s putting down the role of daughter, the role of the child, and proving herself as an equal.”

What else will happen now that the group has divided into three? It means more focus on the characters as individuals, Debnam-Carey explained. Until now, Fear The Walking Dead fans know the characters and how they behave and think in a group. However, people can change once they are on their own.

“What was nice is it gave us a little bit more of an opportunity to feel the characters individually as opposed to a group. While working in a group is great, on-set especially, it means you just don’t get to see the characters one-on-one. We finally get to see these characters grow on their own a little more.”

The FTWD actress also spoke about her previous role as Lexa on The 100. The character died in Season 3, which led to outrage by fans and those in the LGBT community. It wasn’t so much that Lexa died, but the meaningless way it happened and showrunner Jason Rothenberg’s response to angry viewers. Even though Lexa was strong and in control, don’t expect Alicia to be “Lexa 2.0” in Fear The Walking Dead Season 2B.

“I’ve tried to steer clear of any sort of parallels. Lexa is an amazing warrior character and I adore her, but I definitely don’t want that to seep in because that’s not what Alicia is.”

While Lexa on The 100 was an experienced warrior and the leader of a Grounder clan, fans need to remember that Alicia on Fear The Walking Dead is just a teenager. Not only that, but she is getting used to the new world and the horrors that come along with it. There is also tension with her mother, Madison, and that will reportedly continue in the back half of Season 2.

Not only does the actress want to keep Lexa and Alicia as separate characters, but keeping them slightly different will avoid her being typecast in future projects. This is a problem some actors have encountered when taking on similar roles one after the other. It will be interesting to see what kind of person Alicia is when FTWD returns.

What do you think will happen with Alicia, Madison, Nick, Travis, and the other characters in FTWD? AMC airs the premiere of Fear The Walking Dead Season 2B on August 21.

[Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for AMC]