Walking Dead Actor Austin Amelio Makes First Appearance on Fear the Walking Dead

Earlier this week, Fear the Walking Dead brought another alum from its parent series into its undead-plagued world. Austin Amelio, who played Savior Dwight on The Walking Dead, made his first appearance on the spinoff series after several months of teases. Dwight was last seen in season eight of The Walking Dead, when Norman Reedus’s Daryl allowed him to leave Virginia to search for his wife Sherry, who is played by actress Christine Evangelista. This week’s episode reveals that since Dwight left Virginia, he has been making his way throughout Georgia and Texas, where he encountered Fear the Walking Dead’s main group of characters.

Ian Goldberg, one of Fear the Walking Dead’s showrunners, says that Dwight is in a dark place when he comes into the story. After searching so long for Sherry, Goldberg says that Dwight is no longer hopeful he will ever find her in the post-apocalyptic world. Desperate and almost suicidal, Dwight meets John and June, played by Fear regulars Garret Dillahunt and Jenna Elfman, respectively. Talking with them and learning their story, Dwight receives an unexpected boost of confidence when he finds out that just like he and Sherry, John and June were once separated as well and ended up finding each other despite the sorry state of their world. Andrew Chambliss, who also serves as one of Fear’s showrunners, added that having Dwight first interact with John and June felt right because their story so closely mirrors his story with Sherry.

Goldberg continues that the Fear group will become Dwight’s new family, pulling him out of his depression and giving him a new purpose in life. Elaborating, Goldberg says that every character in the show’s main group has something to make up for, and this season will show how Dwight finally corrects the mistakes he made in the past.

When asked about how he felt about being able to reprise Dwight on Fear, Amelio says that it was a joy to return to the franchise. Speaking with The Natural Aristocrat, Amelio says that each time he plays Dwight, he gets to take the character to a deeper and deeper level. Nevertheless, Amelio admits that being part of The Walking Dead universe can be stressful. The actor joked that every time he turns the page of a new script, he is fearful that his character might meet an untimely death at the hands of the dead.