‘Dead Of Summer’ Star Zelda Williams: ‘I’m A Bit Of A Mystery’

Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late and beloved comedian Robin Williams, has removed herself from social media and from the public eye in general as she struggled to come to terms with her loss, but she’s back and ready to pursue an acting career of her own. Ms. Williams is one of the fresh new faces, now that Once Upon a Time creators Ian B. Goldberg, Adam Horowitz, and Edward Kitsis have presented their new horror series, Dead of Summer. In a recent interview, Zelda reveals that she may not just be a camp counselor in Dead of Summer, suggesting that there will be much more to her character than meets the eye.

Dead Of Summer Star Zelda Williams Shares Teases About Her Character

Imagine a story about a haunted summer camp, back in the 80s before cell phones and iPods were common and everyone was internet savvy. Now imagine that an unnamed mythical force has awakened at the peaceful Camp Stillwater resort. This is the world in which Zelda Williams’ character and the other camp counselors find themselves, as Dead of Summer opens. The evil, which Dead of Summer producers have promised will face these counselors at every turn, may, in fact, come from one of those young teens.

Determining which among them may not be what she appears to be may be easier said than done, as Zelda Williams suggests with the teaser that her own Dead of Summer character may be hiding some important details about the goings on at Camp Stillwater.

“I’m a bit of a mystery and a surprise, I think that’s the most interesting thing about my character. You get a little taste in the first episode,” said Williams.

While the tone for Dead of Summer is dark and foreboding, Ms. Williams reveals that the cast gets along great and that, between shooting scenes, they all have a great time just hanging out together.

“Between takes we’re all just laughing and we all get along so well that it’s ironic given the dark scenes we have to do,” says Zelda.

Zelda Williams Takes Acting Advice From Father Robin Williams To Heart

The daughter of Robin Williams is following in his footsteps and, while that alone would surely have made him proud, she’s also taking to heart all of the advice he had passed down to her through the years. One of the most valuable pieces of advice suggests that maybe Robin learned a humiliating lesson at one time early in his career and he hoped to spare Zelda that one embarrassment.

“He always said, ‘Don’t wear your mic pack to the bathroom,'” Ms. Williams shared, as she attended the red carpet premiere of Dead of Summer. “‘Don’t do that, ever. If you’re mic’d don’t go anywhere or say anything that you don’t want other people to hear because there’s probably, like, 30 people with headsets on listening.'”

Zelda has been acting since 1994 with several guest starring roles on television, including a two-episode arc on MTV’s Teen Wolf and 11 episodes on The Legend of Korra, but Dead of Summer gives Williams something none of her previous roles have offered. Dead of Summer casts Williams in the lead and, while it may have taken her a while to receive the recognition a starring role would afford, the Dead of Summer star says it was well worth the wait.

“I’m grateful that it took such a long time for me to have someone decide to choose me for something like this,” says Zelda Williams. “I got to grow up, and I got to find myself before having to find a character that’s so different from myself, and that’s really helpful. It helps keep me certainly grounded more into reality. I think you can lose it otherwise.”

Dead of Summer airs on Tuesdays on Freeform.

[Image by Theo Wargo/Getty Images]