Nick Gomez, who will star as Javier Guzman in Dexter season 8 spoke with Hypable regarding his new role since his quick departure from The Walking Dead.

Nick Gomez, who has starred in several television shows from Treme to The Walking Dead has now landed a role in Dexter season 8 as Javier Guzman. We reported back in February of Gomez landing the role of “El Sapo,” and we had the chance to catch up with Gomez to find out more.

Firstly though, we asked Gomez about his life prior to acting and how he shaped his life to get to where he is now in his acting career.

Gomez said, “I grew up down a bunch of dirt roads in a little trailer in the middle of nowhere AZ. A few miles down the road was an old abandoned western film set that had been built in the 50’s. When I was in 4th grade, westerns were making a comeback, and they started using it again.”

“After school,” he continued, “I would bike there and check out the filming. I hung out enough that they started putting me in the films as a poor Mexican village kid. Got my first line given to me in Young Guns II. After that I was hooked, knew that’s what I wanted to be doing. Still hoping to one day be the cowboy and not poor Mexican kid. It’d be great to have a pair of shoes for once!”

And from that small western film set, Gomez was on his way. Gomez then went on to land his biggest role yet as Jay in Treme in 2010, before working on Looper, The Walking Dead and now Dexter.

Gomez recalls his time on The Walking Dead as one of the most memorable moments of his career thus far. Gomez played Tomas in the first two episodes of The Walking Dead season 3, before Rick Grimes quickly savaged Tomas through the skull.

Gomez said, “I have to say working on The Walking Dead was one of my favorites! The character was so fun to play, all the other actors were so game and committed. The crew was so caring and dedicated to the cause. You just knew you were playing for a winning team.”

But now, Gomez has landed the role of “El Sapo” on Dexter season 8, and we have the scoop on a few more details regarding Javier Guzman.

Gomez said, “Guzman, nicknamed ‘El Sapo’ (The Toad) is a contracted killer sent to tie up some ‘loose ends.’ It was interesting because in the script it said he was a short, fat and squarish character, hence his nickname. But that’s not really me so I had to come up with a different reasoning behind the name, and I found it in his voice.”

A contracted killer will be the role of Guzman in Dexter season 8, but we’re interested to find out who may have hired him, and this was a question that couldn’t be answered. We did ask Gomez, though, whether Guzman will last the majority of the season.

Gomez replied, “My mother always asks the same question when I get a new role. ‘Do you live?’ And I always say the same thing. ‘For a little while.'”

However, despite knowing that “El Sapo” may not last the entirety of the season, we do know that he’ll be sharing several scenes with Debra Morgan, starred by Jennifer Carpenter. Gomez was quiet on the nature of the scenes but definitely ruled out anything romantic.

Gomez noted, “First of all she [Carpenter] was so great to work with! So kind and approachable, and so engaging during or scenes together. Not sure what I can really reveal about the nature of our scenes together but let’s just say I don’t think our characters will be having a romantic dinner together anytime soon.”

However, Gomez did get one of the best experiences to date with the Dexter cast and crew. Gomez’s main episode was directed by Michael C. Hall, and he knows exactly how much of a privilege that was.

“Dexter was an amazing! Michael C. Hall directed my main episode and that was such an amazing experience! I was a huge fan of his since Six Feet Under. Talk about an actor’s director! Again, just like TWD, you really felt like you were on a winning team so all the cast and crew were really happy to be there and really enjoyed their jobs.”

But this looks set to be just the beginning for Gomez, who will no doubt land more roles throughout America’s biggest television shows with The Walking Dead and Dexter under his belt, we expect to see Gomez more on our screens very soon.

And on the journey so far, Gomez said, “It’s been amazing! To go from one hit show with a huge cult following to another has been such a door opener! I couldn’t be happier with where I am right now. I have a few different TV and film projects in various stages both as an actor and as a writer.”

Dexter season 8 will air over on Showtime on June 30.