Exclusive Interview with Brains’ Colin Hinckley

When you think zombies, you usually think of flesh-eating monsters. When you think zombies, you don’t think of a being that is capable of emotions and relationships. Colin Hinckley contradicts the stereotypical idea of a zombie through his portrayal of Brains’ Carl Markham, a zombie who manages to get by without killing humans.

I recently discussed season 2 of Brains with Colin and what’s to come for his character.

Carl is a zombie, and everyone is very hesitant around him. Will the other characters continue to make him an outcast in season 2?

Well, in some ways yes. But I think the emotional center of season 2 is Alison and Carl’s relationship, which causes some exploration of the nature of Carl’s situation. Namely, that he’s a zombie. Most of the characters have warmed to him at this point, but there’s always going to be a slight disconnect between everyone and Carl. I think that’s why the friendship between Alison and Carl is so important. Carl hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to explore his humanity and show our viewers that even though he’s a zombie, he has very real human emotions. This season, Carl makes a huge step towards becoming a human to characters other than Alison by showing everyone that he’s not just a medical curiosity. He still has some trouble with Greta, though.

Carl had it pretty rough in season 1. He was accused of murdering two other students and pretty much tortured. Will things get a little better for him?

Again, yes and no. A lot of this season for Carl is about coming to grips with the trauma he experienced last season. He’s out of danger for the most part, but he’s still struggling quite a bit. Most of it is internal and interpersonal. He doesn’t have to go through so many terrifying experiences this time around. But that doesn’t mean he’s free of struggle this season. It’s just a different kind of struggle.

Is there any hope that Carl will become human again?

(laughs) You’d have to ask Bri! We haven’t seen a lot of evidence that it’s possible, and Carl seems to have adjusted pretty well. But hey, it’s the zombie apocalypse. Anything could happen.

Do you think that Carl is able to tell that Damian and Professor Heather-Sherman are also zombies?

That’s a good question. I think Carl is a smart guy and knows that people could keep that sort of thing a secret if they wanted to. I think he’s very suspicious of Damian and doesn’t fully trust him. But I think you’ll be surprised where Carl ends up in terms of his relationship with Damian. As far as Sherman goes, I think Carl tries to think about her as little as possible.

If you were in a zombie apocalypse, would you trust a zombie who seemed more human than zombie?

It depends on the person. I totally get where Greta is coming from. She doesn’t really know Carl that well, it makes sense for her to be suspicious. But for someone like Alison, of course she trusts Carl. She can see that he’s fundamentally the same guy. So I feel like if my best friend was a zombie, I would be able to reconcile that pretty easily. Otherwise, seems like that would be a pretty tall order.

What would you miss most if there were a zombie apocalypse?

Observing the machinations of geopolitical governing bodies.

Do you think that you’d be able to survive a zombie apocalypse?

(laughs) Probably not. I don’t have a lot of real-world skills to survive in a post-apocalyptic environment. I’m an actor and a writer, neither of which offers a skill set compatible with surviving in an environment like the one in Brains. At least Carl can cook, I can’t even do that very well.

Our website is called Talk Nerdy With Us. Would you consider yourself to be a nerd?

Oh, absolutely. First and foremost, I’m a horror nerd. About fifty percent of the books in my room are by Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Dan Simmons, or H.P. Lovecraft. I’ve watching basically every horror movie on Netflix, even the ones with titles like “Zombeavers” (yes, it’s a real movie and yes you should watch it). I especially love horror movies from early cinema, films like “Vampyr,” “Nosferatu,” “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” The Phantom Carriage,” “M.”, all of which you should go watch right now. I’m also nerd when it comes to cosmic philosophy, dovetailing nicely into my fascination with cosmic horror (Lovecraft, Arthur Machen, etc.). Also, my love for the show “Rick and Morty” probably borders on the pathological.

 

Catch up with season 1 of Brains before season 2 is released in September!  And don’t forget to visit their website to learn more about the web series. Watch a preview of season 2 below.