'Fear the Walking Dead' star Karen David reveals how HBO series 'Chernobyl' helped her play Grace
Karen David was the latest actor to be cast in AMC's 'Fear The Walking Dead'. The 'Galavant' star was brought in as a series regular for season 5. David essays the role of Grace, a former nuclear powerplant worker and was one of several individuals trying to keep power running across the country. When the apocalypse comes she brings all her colleagues into the plant to make sure the generators are working effectively so as to help others. However, things take a turn for the worse when the generators malfunction causing a catastrophic accident killing her colleagues, families, and also spreading deadly radiation throughout the area.
Grace happens to be a victim of the exposure as well and in an interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), the actor talks about what's next for Grace, her initial reaction when she read the script and how the HBO mini-series 'Chernobyl' helped her research while prepping to play Grace.
"There are still two episodes left in the season and that gives me hope", said David. The recently concluded episode 'Today and Tomorrow' sees Grace terminally ill. Pity there was no magic involved like in 'Galavant' where she plays Princess Isabella. "When I first came on to the show, Ian (Goldberg) the creator, said there’s no magic involved. They also told me my character Grace has been exposed to huge amounts of radiation. (We’re talking Chernobyl level radiations here) and the symptoms are going to show up at any point in time".
"We knew from the get-go that her clock is ticking, it was just a question of when," she explained. "I was doing a lot of research before joining the show, I had only a few days turnaround to bond with the character which was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time because the first time to join an established show as a regular and that sets the pace. So you keep hoping its like skating on ice the first time and I told Lennie and Alisha because they were my two partners that I was going to be working with at the beginning, that I am going to brain fart all over, sliding all over, but I’ll find my feet and they were so great about it."
Talking about preparing for Grace, she opined: "Grace is resolute, and she’s accepted the fact that she’s going to die and if Chernobyl was anything to look at in my research of people that were affected by the radiation, symptoms could come up instantly, or it could happen in weeks, or months or if they’re developing cancer then it could happen over a span of four to five years. You don’t know."
"So it’s the not knowing that can be so scarring and was certainly that way for Grace. When she makes the jump to the other side, that it's almost better if she doesn’t know because that would allow her a chance to dare to live of think beyond that day."
David said she was unaware that 'Chernobyl' was being made by HBO at the time of her casting. "We’d finished my introduction episode and I was already doing research on Chernobyl and it was so haunting. So haunting to see those images where life existed, memories, moments, and milestones. People lived in this area and to see it just derelict and inhabitable and now it's gone from light to darkness it just broke my heart and I took that with me right from day 1 I set foot on set," she said.
'Fear the Walking Dead' airs Sundays at 9 PM ET on AMC.