Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Daybreak’s Colin Ford

Colin Ford is leading the extraordinary cast of Netflix’s newest post-apocalyptic drama, Daybreak. Adapted from a graphic novel by Brian Ralph, the series follows a group of high school students who must survive for survival after a nuclear blast has eradicated all the adults or transformed them into zombie-like monsters called Ghoulies. Colin’s character, Josh, is at the heart of the story. It’s a commanding and charismatic performance by the talented young actor, and Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to catch up with Colin to chat about the show.

Daybreak

PC: Tell us about your character in Daybreak and what drew you to this project.
Colin: My character, Josh, is in search of his missing girlfriend in a post-apocalyptic Glendale. I fought hard to play this character. I love that he has contrasting personalities. In the pre-apocalypse world, Josh is an average kid struggling with his own insecurities. As a new student in Glendale, he doesn’t fit in or have a lot of friends, but in the post-apocalypse world, he’s allowed himself to become the best version of himself. He’s confident and a little more athletic. It was a lot of fun getting to play both versions of Josh; that’s what made me excited about this role. It’s rare as an actor that you have the opportunity to play two versions of yourself in the same project.

PC: Was there one that you identified more with?
Colin: It’s funny: I really identified with both versions of Josh! When I was in high school, I had a good group of friends, but I wasn’t the most popular kid in school. Some of the kids thought it was weird that I was an actor. After I finished school, I continued to work in the professional acting field. I’ve been working for quite some time now and I’ve built a good amount of confidence in myself. So, I definitely identify with both sides of Josh. It’s funny when you’re done with high school, you start to realize some of the things that you were worrying about weren’t as important as you thought they were.

PC: The series has a lot of ’80s and ’90s pop culture references, which is a little bit before your time. What type of research did you do for this role?
Colin: I did a lot of research. I had a lot of conversations with Aron Coleite, our showrunner and writer. Whenever there was something that I didn’t understand, we would talk about it or watch clips together. That was really cool. There are a couple of nods to Ferris Bueller throughout the series, so it was really fun to get to recreate some of those moments with Aron, the cast, and the crew. I did a lot of film research and watched everything Aron recommended to me. It was a ton of fun getting to do all that. I probably watched Ferris Bueller five or six times. I’d seen it in the past, but I never watched it this intently.

PC: Throughout the first season, we see each of the characters narrate from their own point of view. They’re each living in their own movie, and like you said, for Josh that is Ferris Bueller. What was it like having the actor who played him on set? Did that add any pressure?
Colin: There was definitely a little bit of pressure, but after I met Matthew Broderick, my nervousness immediately went away. He’s so charismatic and kind. My first conversation with him was really cool: we were sitting in our cast chairs, and the first thing he said to me was, “So, you’ve been talking straight into the camera?” [laughs] I was like, “Yeah!” He was like, “What’s that like?” [laughs] I responded with, “You know, man, it’s actually a bit intimidating because I can see myself in the reflection fo the lens.” Before I even finished saying my sentence, he was like, “The fact that you can see yourself in the lens, right?” I was like, “Yeah, that’s it! It’s a bit daunting because I can see myself. I’m kind of judging my performance through the mirror of the lens.” He told me, “You’ll get over that. Just work through it. I dealt with that years ago, too.” It was ironic that he had navigated something similarly, and it was great advice.

PC: Like you said earlier, Josh’s mission is to find his girlfriend, Sam. Halfway through the season, we learn that she may or may not be alive. How will that impact Josh?
Colin: Wow! Without giving away too much, I think it impacts him a lot. It makes him adjust his thinking. Ultimately, I think he’s going to have to find solace in his tribe. That’s what Daybreak is all about—finding your tribe, finding those couple of people that you can lean on and will have your back, and vice versa. I think we’ll see him lean on his group a lot more and them lean on him. They need each other to survive.

PC: Which of Josh’s relationships was your favorite to explore? Which one was the most challenging?
Colin: Wow, that’s so hard! I really enjoyed working with all the different cast members, and all of the different storylines were so interesting to me. I really, really enjoyed creating a bond and brotherhood with Greg Kasyan, Austin Crute, and Cody Kearsley; they became my brothers on set. Overall, Josh’s quest is to find Sam, so I have to go with that one. I can’t wait to see how everybody reacts to the rest of the season.

PC: You guys were just at New York Comic Con and it’s apparent how tight knit this cast is. How did you build that bond?
Colin: We did a lot of team-building exercises. Well, I call them team building exercises, but it was just a lot of fun things. We did a lot of escape rooms, and those were super fun because you get to work together. Somebody in one room might have a different skillset that is more helpful than in another room. You get to see everybody’s personalities come out. We had a lot of fun doing that! We did a bunch of those in Albuquerque where we filmed, and we did a lot in Los Angeles, too. We also did stuff like axe throwing. It was really important for us to stay together as a unit because we play a ragtag family on screen.

PC: Did you have a good success rate?

Colin: [laughs] Not to toot our own horn, we were pretty good at them.

PC: Each generation brings a different approach to the apocalypse. What do you think your generation would bring?
Colin: I think that I’d bring a lot of the same stuff that Josh brings to the apocalypse; we’re pretty close in age. I feel like I would have a very fun apocalypse, probably hiding out in Costco. I hope I would bring some of survival skills that I learned from Daybreak. In fact, I recently learned that Twinkies are highly flammable and can be used to start fires. So, stock up on Twinkies if you need some firewood.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Colin: I wanted to be an actor since I was five-years-old. I used to watch a lot of Power Rangers, and I knew I wanted to be on screen one day. I told my mom that I wanted to be the Red Ranger. She thought I meant for Halloween, but I was pretty persistent. I kept telling her that I wanted to be the Power Rangers on television. So, she took me to an open casting call for Sweet Home Alabama. I lived in Atlanta at the time, and it was one of the first auditions I ever went on. I got the role and I played one of Melanie Lynskey’s many children. A couple of my scenes ended up on the editing floor, but after that project, I knew acting was going to be my thing. I didn’t want to do anything else.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Colin: I think working with Matt Damon. I did a film with him when I was thirteen or fourteen called We Bought a Zoo. It was probably the most influential thing in my entire life. I’m a huge fan of his and watched a lot of films he’s done, from Good Will Hunting and The Talented Mr. Ripley to the Jason Bourne series. Those are the types of projects that I’ve always wanted to do. He’s an amazing actor and person. He’s incredibly humble and taught me to be the same way. I’m really thankful for that experience with Matt because I think it shaped me as a person and an actor.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Colin: I’ve been re-watching all Breaking Bad because I watched El Camino, but before that I was watching all of Breaking Bad. I’d say that Breaking Bad might be my guilty pleasure show.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Colin: Superbad

PC: Favorite book?
Colin: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Colin: I just saw Krysta Rodriguez in New York in a play called Seared. I highly recommend it.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Colin: The Kooks

To keep up with Colin, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Binge-watch Season 1 of on Netflix today.

Photo Credit: Netflix