Celebrity Interview: Alexa Nisenson Aka Charlie on Fear The Walking Dead

In my job as an entertainment writer and reporter, I get some really cool experiences and one of those cool experiences recently was getting to interview Alexa Nisenson from Fear The Walking Dead. If you’d like to listen to this interview as a podcast you can find it here .

SP - How does it feel to be part of this hit show?

Alexa - It feels amazing, I mean, I’m so honored to be on this show. I’ve been able to be on this journey for a few seasons now, and I started the show when I was 11 and now I’m 14, so I really feel like I’ve gotten to see the character grow up and I feel like I am kind of growing up with her in a way, so it’s been amazing.

SP- Charlie as a character has had a lot of growing up to do and a lot to learn in a short amount of time.

Alexa - Oh yeah, I think the whole character arc and story has just been amazing and I have been loving getting to do it and getting to watch it on the screen. Coming into the show obviously some of the fan reaction to some of things Charlie did was definitely negative, of course, but it has just been amazing to get the see the character of Charlie grow over the past few seasons and this season we will continue to see that.

SP- It’s remarkable to watch someone so young endure so much scrutiny for playing a character. What’s that been like for you to experience?

Alexa- It was definitely intense, when I first came on the show and I was reading all of the comments and the tweets and I was thinking ‘Oh my God, everybody hates me, they all think that I killed him (Nick), it was terrible but then I started to not read as many comments and tweets like that, so now I try to find more of a balance between wanting to engage with the fans and wanting to keep up but not reading too much, if that makes sense. But, I’ve also gotten to meet some really wonderful supportive fans of Charlie who really embraced the character and that’s been really special too. At first it was tough, but now there are more people embracing Charlie and warming up to her and forgiving her but, of course, every now and then I still get the ‘I hate you, you killed Nick’ comment. But that’s okay, totally normal.

SP- Did any of your co-stars or the producers give you any kind of warning or advice about what this might be like being in The Walking Dead fanbase?

Alexa- Yeah, a few of the cast members and our showrunners, Andy (Chambliss) and Ian (Goldberg), and Scott Gimple, of course, and some of our producers and directors, all called me after the episode where Charlie killed Nick aired and they were just talking to me and telling me some of their experiences with the fans and letting me know, it’s okay, I’m not the only one, whose been through this and that was really cool.

SP- At least, when you get that kind of negative fan reaction, at the very least, you know what you’ve done has been effective…

Alexa- Definitely, and I do try to keep that in my head, I know that these comments can be kind of mean, but it also means that I’ve been doing my job right, I’m making fans feel something, even if it is a kind of negative feeling, it’s still really rewarding as an actor.

SK- How long have you been acting?

Alexa- I’ve been acting since I was 8 years old and I am 14 now.

SP- That’s amazing, it’s clear you’ve learned so much, so quickly…

ALEXA- Thank you, yes I really have, being on this journey, as an actor and on ‘Fear’ (The Walking Dead), I’ve learned so much and have gotten to work with, over the course of 5 or 6 years, such amazing people, in my acting journey, and just being on this show and really growing and learning, it’s just been such an incredible experience.

SP- People have a perception of The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead, and especially about the creators, that they are holding their cards really close to the vest and that every script seems to have an air of dread that any character can go at any time, is it like that for you? When you get a script for Fear The Walking Dead are you wondering if Charlie will make it to the end of this one?

Alexa- I mean, you know, sort of, I mean, I think I kind of just roll with it and go with the flow but definitely you have to think, alright, our showrunners, Ian and Andrew, would let me know if something was happening, so I try to just kind of try to go into every script with excitement and ready to see what I’m doing. I’m just really grateful to be here and be on this show, so I kind of roll with it.

SP- Fans of The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead are some of the most active and engaged fans out there with a very active community. Have you had fans try to get you to share information about the show? Have you had any odd encounters with fans?

Alexa- Sort of???, Not really too much, I think, I remember.. We film in Austin, Texas, so I think I remember, last year or the year before, I had posted on my Instagram that I was at a pizza restaurant that I love here, called Home Slice. And I posted that I was having pizza and 10 minutes later I walked outside and there were some people there and wanting to meet me and take photos, which was super weird and surreal. They were very, very sweet. I was very happy that I got to meet them. But that was like ‘Oh my gosh, somebody cares enough to want to see what I am doing and want to meet me and that was really weird. And also, I got to do a fan convention which was super cool and I, honestly, I almost didn’t go because I was so scared that no one was going to want to meet me or that there was going to be someone coming up and yelling at me and saying ‘I hate you, you killed Nick,’ but that is not what that was at all and I ended up being so happy that I ended up going because I got such positive responses from some really amazing fans that I got to meet.

SP- So, final question, what are we looking forward to as we start season six of Fear The Walking Dead?

Alexa- Yeah, so season six is definitely going to be dark and intense and spooky and scary and I am really excited for everyone to get to see it. We will get to see the sisterly dynamic between Charlie and Alicia throughout the season which I am really excited for and yeah, we are definitely putting the ‘Fear’ into Fear The Walking Dead this year.

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6 debuts on Sunday, October 11th.