‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Season 4: Frank Dillane Explains His Departure From The Show

Episode 3 of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 was a shocking episode as one of the main characters was killed off unexpectedly. With no indication prior to the death, many fans were left scrambling as they tried to find out more information about why that character died. Now, the actor steps forward to explain why his character’s time was up.

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about Episode 3, titled “Good Out Here,” of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead Season 4. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed this episode and wish to avoid spoilers.

While many characters are killed off in The Walking Dead universe to advance the story forward, sometimes other factors play into why a character must die. In the case of Nick Clark on Fear the Walking Dead, it happened not because of story but because the actor wanted to leave the show.

Initially, after the episode aired, Fear‘s showrunners, Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg, revealed that Frank Dillane was ready to leave the show but didn’t specifically elaborate on his reasoning. However, now Dillane has stepped forward to explain why he felt it was time to leave the series.

As he explained to Entertainment Weekly, there were a few factors that came into play in regard to his decision to quit.

Firstly, Frank Dillane felt he had been on the show for a long time. Being his first real foray into television work, he found the long filming times required were taking a toll on him. Creatively, he also felt it was time to try his hand at different projects and characters.

Along with this and the fact that the show had undergone such changes since he joined, he felt the end of Season 3 of Fear the Walking Dead was like the “end of an era” with the show. With new showrunners coming in and such a big time jump to factor in Morgan’s transition from The Walking Dead to Fear, this certainly could be considered true in regard to how the story will play out in Season 4.

Finally, it turns out that Frank Dillane was homesick and that also helped with his decision-making.

“I also missed Europe very much. I’m not American, so after a while I get quite homesick and all of those things,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

Frank also revealed what filming that scene was like. While, for fans of the show, it was emotionally charged, for Frank, not so much.

“The big scenes that are very gut-wrenching to watch are often the most boring to film, so, for me, I think it was very early in the morning and it was very cold. It was 4 a.m., I think. I wasn’t in that good of a mood. I think everyone else was quite emotional. For me, I’m not very good with my emotions, so I think I probably was feeling it in a different way. I’m not very emotionally intelligent, so I was in a bad mood if I remember correctly.”

Fear the Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, May 6, at 9 p.m. ET. Zap2It lists the following synopsis for Episode 4, titled “Buried.”

“Al’s questioning uncovers some surprising truths about the group’s past; John Dorie receives unexpected news.”