INTERVIEW: The Walking Dead’s Dan Fogler talks season 9 pressure and juggling Fantastic Beasts

The Walking Dead is changing. Negan is defeated, some of the show’s oldest and most beloved characters have departed the show, and we’ve skipped forward to a time where Judith Grimes is the unlikely saviour of a new band of survivors.

There are some familiar faces amongst the latest band of survivors to find Alexandria, but none as recognisable as Dan Fogler – the man best known for playing Eddie Redmayne’s right hand man in the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts.

We chatted with Dan to learn what it’s like to join the Walking Dead at such a pivotal time, and how he juggles starring in two of the world’s biggest franchises at the same time.

Do you feel a lot of pressure joining the Walking Dead at such a pivotal time?

I feel like there’s definitely pressure anytime you come on board to a giant franchise. The wheels are in motion and this thing is full steam ahead and they’re transitioning the largest character out of it… You hope that you can come in and help fill that void, so yeah, there’s definitely a pressure there to perform well. Anytime you go out and you put yourself out there, you hope that it meshes well and people dig it.

It’s the same thing for Fantastic Beasts where there was so much pressure on that first movie, oh my god, to just do well and not mess up.

What’s it like being in two huge franchises at the same time?

Yeah. Wow. It’s funky, man. I’m constantly pinching myself about Fantastic Beasts and then I look at the Walking Dead and I’m just like… ‘wow, what happened, that’s amazing.’ What’s wild is I read the Walking Dead comic book and I play Luke, which is so many dreams come true.

A couple of years back I was having a lull in my career, and I had my second daughter coming, and I literally wished on a star – look, I need a break here – and I literally wished for a franchise. It feels like I’m in a dream.