Fear the Walking Dead: Kim Dickens on Madison's drunken escapades

SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you’ve already watched Sunday’s “Los Muertos” episode of Fear the Walking Dead.

Forget about zombies… LET’S DRINK!!! That was Strand’s message to Madison on this week’s edition of Fear the Walking Dead, and while it led to some intimate confessions and introspection, it also led to some really loud, boisterous activity that couldn’t help but attract the undead.

We spoke to Kim Dickens to find out the best way to play drunk, why she thinks Madison is a bad mom, and what’s coming up next.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We got a scene of Madison and Strand getting drunk this week. I would think that acting drunk would be very difficult because if you pour it on too thick, it can be just plain silly.

KIM DICKENS: It is something to play. It is not anything to take lightly because there are different levels of drunk and there are different levels of covering drunk, because most of the times if someone’s drunk, they try to act like they’re not drunk, so there’s that in it too.

We also have so many different layers of emotions that were being exposed at different times so it was a tricky scene to navigate. Definitely not one where you would be like, “Oh, let’s have a shot before this scene,” because sometimes you hear people say, “Maybe we’ll have a shot because we’re supposed to be drunk.” No, that’s not what you do. It was like a five-page scene altogether.

Right. You have lines you need to remember.

Oh, yeah. Lines, emotions, and like I said, different varying levels of being drunk.

She really questions being a mother and says flat out that becoming a mother was a mistake. It sounds weird to say that after losing her husband and her son being a junkie, and the zombie apocalypse happening that this would be her low point, but it kind of seems that way.

I think she’s hit her bottom. I think she feels responsible. I think she feels selfish that she had children. She probably felt like she wasn’t the best candidate. She’s feeling her lowest, and what’s interesting is that she exposes that to Strand and tells that secret to Strand that I don’t think she’s even told Travis. She keeps a lot inside.

Does Alicia have a point about Madison being too constantly focused on Nick at her expense?

Yeah. It’s not good. Madison’s not a good mom.

She’s a good mom!

You would agree with me that Madison and Strand are people that know how to take care of themselves in the zombie apocalypse right? They’re pretty savvy in this world, correct?

Yes.

So why the hell are they making as much noise as humanly possible, with him banging away on the piano and you throwing glasses against a wall? Not super smart, Kim.

Stupid! Stupid! Here’s the thing, we are still early in our zombie apocalypse in our show, and these two characters are broken by grief at this point and it’s like, look it’s an open bar! [Laughs] But these characters, there’s a moment of catharsis that needed to happen, that you don’t really get to see too much in this genre of a show. I think these characters are just being human in that moment, and they’re pretty broken. They’re grieving. We’ve been touched by death already and Madison has lost Travis and Nick at this point, and Strand just says, “C’mon, have a drink with me.” And we just allowed this moment of catharsis to happen. And look where it is got us.

So they just decided to put the whole post-apocalyptic situation on pause to have a moment.

Yeah, but I don’t really think they thought about it. Imagine the hangover later. Ugh, an apocalyptic hangover!

What can you say about what’s coming up next for Madison?

We have a lot of fighting to do. We sort of try to set up shop and then create a sanctuary, and my leadership streak comes out a little bit and then becomes compromised.

For more Fear the Walking Dead intel, follow Dalton on Twitter @DaltonRoss.