The Walking Dead is embracing the Commonwealth of late as we approach the end of the AMC hit.
One of the most vital aspects of the Commonwealth arc is Josh Hamilton’s Lance Hornsby.
If you watch The Walking Dead online, you know Lance has been vocal about wanting to reel in the other communities.
TV Fanatic got the chance to speak to Hamilton about his character.
“The most enjoyable thing is just his complications,” Hamilton says of playing such a multi-layered character, adding that he likes the question surrounding his actions.
“Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? I mean, maybe that’s not so tricky to figure out, but I think his motivations are complicated even to himself.”
The actor added that Lance is ambitious, but cautions that his motivations are more complicated than what we see on the surface.
“I think he has some longstanding feelings for Pamela Milton that are complicated by his drive.”
The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 12 found Lance and Pamela making their way to other communities to bring them into the Commonwealth.
However, Maggie was less than impressed by their arrival at the Hilltop and declined to join their cause, something that sent Lance into a tailspin.
“He believes that there is a real strength in having these communities working together. And if one of them or two of them, or all three of them are in danger of, not joining in, his whole plan is falling apart.”
“He’s put a lot of thought and effort into strengthening the community of the Commonwealth.”
Josh shared that Lance is growing frustrated by people standing in the way of his vision.
In his quest to bring Maggie into the fold, he told her that his vision was to restart the world. He also used examples such as sending Hershel to college.
Josh said that Lance does stand by the mission statement of the Commonwealth, “which is rebuilding the world to as close as possible to what it was before.”
The star added that Lance is the type of person who can change his pitch depending on the audience, effectively letting them hear what they want to hear.
“He thinks he knows his audience and, and how to talk to them and to tell them what they want to hear,” the star shared.
“I don’t think that means he doesn’t believe it. I just think that he recalibrates with each person he talks to, but I don’t think that means he’s insincere.”
The final scene was chilling because we got to see Lance after Maggie declined the offer to join the Commonwealth, and Pamela had clicked on about his mission to be the leader of these outer communities.
Josh said that Lance isn’t the type of person to take the word “no” well, which was on full display throughout the installment.
“The challenge energizes him in a way,” Hamilton said of Lance’s ambitions.
“When he’s given just the slightest bit of door opening by Pamela to continue his quest, he takes that and starts running.”
“It’s almost like he’s willing himself proceed. I mean, Pamela doesn’t exactly give them the mandate to do whatever he wants, but the way he hears it and the way he interprets it is like, ‘yes, good to go.”‘
“He’s very much a positive thinker. Fake it till you make it kind of thing.”
Josh also talked about what went down on The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 11 when Lance tricked Eugene into signing a document after the truth about Stephanie was revealed.
“He has Eugene in a good position. I think Lance does respect Eugene, and he respects his mind. He can tell he sees how intelligent he is, so I don’t think it’s anything personal.”
“He’s pragmatic, and he’s doing what he feels like he needs to do, but I don’t think he feels like he has to get rid of Eugene. I don’t think that’s what Lance is aiming for.”
The Walking Dead continues Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.