This interview was held by Rick123Axel.
David Hardware portrayed a Walker & Protester in Fear the Walking Dead
Outside of Fear the Walking Dead, what would fans know you best for?
They would definitely recognize me from a London drugs commercial and catalog I'm in. And hopefully more commercials and TV/Film in the future!
You are no stranger to the undead, appearing on fellow zombie show iZombie. Are you personally a fan of the zombie/horror genre? If so have you got any personal favorite movie/TV Shows from said genre?
I honestly am not the biggest fan of horrors! I actually watched a couple seasons of The Walking Dead before I went to the audition to mentally prepare my character. I enjoy playing scary characters, but don't like watching them, you should see me in a haunted house, my inner girl screams come out.
As you have starred within two different productions with the undead, have you thought about your own apocalypse plan if the flesh hungry dead were to rise?
I actually have, I'm instantly saving my PS4 and gonna keep and axe with me at all times, and keep a lot of water with me. Now that I'm saying this I realize maybe I should give my plans a bit more thought for the safety of myself and my family.. Haha
What role/roles have you had within Fear the Walking Dead?
The roles I've had in Fear are a protester who ends up in the midst of a riot, and my well known role one of "The Infected" aka a zombie!
How did you get your roles within the show?
So, I was doing Background work for the show as the "Protester" but then was called to audition to be one the zombies. Had to audition in front of 200+ people but out of all of them, I was one of the ones chosen to be featured. That was actually my very first audition, and I nailed it and got it!
Could you talk us through the process of the days you had shooting and what they entailed?
Of course! So, for the Protesting/Riot scenes we worked 2 nights in a row (night shoots) from around 9 pm till sunrise. We had to basically cause hell in the streets which was so fun. We had people throwing stuff at the "police", we had people kicking and flipping over cars, overall it was fun but tiring! Now for my infected role, I had an early call time so got to the studio we shot at, and went straight to makeup. After doing that, had breakfast, put on my trench coat and hoodie (we had some paparazzi always outside the gate trying to get pics) and walked inside the studio and started filming. That went on for the whole day I think I wrapped around 10 pm.
What factor of the show helped you most when getting into character?
To get in the protestor character wasn't as hard, just had to be the opposite of myself. A disrespectful, rude teen cause chaos. For the Infected character, just really watching anything zombie for a week straight and focusing on their inner selves and how they walk and react.
As you appeared as a Protester in "So Close, Yet So Far and then later as a Walker in "The Good Man", did you personally link to the two character's together? If so, can you share your series of events that you created for your character following their appearance in "So Close, Yet So Far" and what lead them to get infected.
I never actually thought about linking the two! I could see me hanging around the wrong crowd, starting a bit of trouble in the riot and end up getting exposed to the virus when I get in a fight with someone already infected, transitioning me from a normal teen to now a flesh eating walker haha!
What is it like to work with the amazing special effects artist Greg Nicotero?
Greg is amazing! I've seen his work and it blows me away! But the people I spent the most time with makeup wise was Andy (Schoneberg) and Mike (Fields) which are both extremely amazing and the reason I had a hole in my neck and jaw! We joked around so much they're such great guys and amazing at what they do, it was a privilege to get it work with them!
Was the make-up uncomfortable to wear? How long did it take to apply?
Oh man that makeup was a whole new level of uncomfortable. Once it's done you basically gotta watch how you move your body. I had to be as stiff as possible with my neck to not mess it up, it did get a little itchy but honestly when you're having so much fun you forget about it! The contacts were the worst part, couldn't see a thing everything was a blur! Had to get camera crew to wave their hands just for me to know what direction I was going hahaha! It takes about an Hour and a half to apply my makeup and a half hour to take it all off.
Did your protester character have a name or backstory which was not shown/cut? If not, did you create one for yourself?
Besides what I said before, not that I can recall. I'm actually open to getting viewers opinions on a backstory for him and create one together! That'd be fun!
What is the atmosphere like on the set of such a serious, dramatic show?
It's actually really chill. I mean everyone is very focused on getting the work done and perfect, but everyone is so friendly and make each other happy. Sure it can get stressful at times, but we wanna make the best things and it won't happen if we're not having fun making it!!
Do you have any interesting or funny stories from your time on the set?
Haha I got a few, but I'll tell you two! So when I was sitting with the background (extras) eating lunch at the studio while I was in zombie mode in complete makeup, I actually scared a lot of them. There was either girls running away, or girls fascinated by the makeup and wanting to touch it, or just one of the guys being so disgusted to eat cause he was too busy looking at the hole in my neck and lost his appetite hahah! Other funny story was I was called to work on The100 a little later on in the year, and ran into Alycia (Debnam-Carey) on set! We had a nice long talk (it was actually a few weeks before the premiere of Fear) and she told me I was the first zombie from the show she had met and was excited. That was a funny event that happened!
What was the best thing about working of Fear The Walking Dead?
That's actually so hard cause there is so much! But I'd say working with Frank, Mercedes, Alycia, the whole cast and crew were just amazing! Also getting to work for Robert Kirkman was pretty exciting, and being a part of such a successful series is just unforgettable and such a blessing.
Were there any negatives when working on the show?
Only negative thing was how secretive I had to be because AMC is very strict on their policies and privacy. I wish I could have just posted pics of me as a walker or tell people what I did but that was a no no haha nothing really negative about working on the show though!
If you had to describe your Fear The Walking Dead experience in one word, what would it be?
Unforgettable.
What advice would you give to readers trying to break into the entertainment industry?
Never give up!!! Honestly anything can happen if you put your heart into it. Nothing is unrealistic, you're capable of living your dream! A moto I go by daily on set or in audition rooms is "Nothing is Impossible, it literally has the words I'm Possible in that word". Chase your dreams and prove people wrong, make sure you do lots of hard work!
Are you currently working on anything interesting that you can reveal?
I am! I just did a featured BG role in Kevin Durant's new movie "The Real MVP", I am gonna be making a cameo in an upcoming Friday the 13th Spoof movie "Camp Death III: The Final Summer" as Down Syndrome David, and I've been asked to Executive Produce an upcoming Feature! Very busy but I'm excited for all that and for more opportunities ahead!
Thank you again on behalf of the entire wiki! We appreciate it very much!
Thank you! It was a pleasure getting to talk to you guys, thank you for interviewing me I enjoyed this a lot!! Be sure to stay updated with my career on my Twitter "@RealDHardware", my FB Page "www.facebook.com/DavidHardwareOfficial", my Instagram "davidaaronhardware", & my Snapchat "d_hardware"