Comic-book adaptations have never been as plentiful. From the ongoing raids on publishers such as DC and Marvel ('Green Lantern' is on his way and 'Thor' is still thundering around the cineplexes), the movie world has made a rich harvest of the good ('The Dark Knight'), the bad ('The Spirit') and the bloody ('300'). TV hasn’t been as productive, though. 'Smallville' was a notable exception, while the recent failure of the 'Wonder Woman' pilot to be greenlit in the US shows how problematic it is to get a comic book adaptation to the small screen. It helps if there’s a guaranteed gore factor to make a show more appealing to the edgier cable channels.
And so it is that AMC, the people behind 'Mad Men' and 'Breaking Bad', decided to shoot a six-part first season based on 'The Walking Dead' series of graphic novels (i.e. comics that are definitely not for kids), about the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, and a group of survivors who are trying to escape the clutches of the undead.
Andrew Lincoln stars as sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes, who wakes up hospitalised after he was accidentally shot by his partner. The whole zombie thing kicked off while Grimes was unconscious, so he finds the hospital bereft of life, and soon discovers that the undead have taken over. And they’re hungry.
Lincoln is probably best known for his break-out role as Egg in 'This Life', the groundbreaking BBC drama that defined life for 20-something professionals in London in the 1990s. Following that show’s phenomenal success, Lincoln headed the cast of 'Teachers', the fun Channel 4 show about school and after-school life for a group of secondary teachers. He also featured in Richard Curtis’ ensemble comedy 'Love Actually' (2003), but 'The Walking Dead' is his first major role in the US.
While 'The Walking Dead' is a fine piece of drama, it’s not ideal viewing for the squeamish, coming with a considerable splatter count. “I got an email outlining the project”, Andrew Lincoln recalls. “The first thing I read was ‘AMC’. I went, ‘Great! I’ve been waiting for an AMC opportunity!’ Then it said ‘The Walking Dead’. Terrific title. Then the names. [Producers] ‘Frank Darabont.’ ‘Gale Anne Hurd.’ Great. And then it said ‘Zombie survival horror.’ I think I actually did a literal double take. I was like, ‘Really?!’”
'The Walking Dead' is far removed from your average zombie horror flick. For starters, there’s a proper story here, as Rick Grimes believes that his wife and child are still alive and sets out to find them. On the way he meets several other survivors – and a hell of a lot of zombies.
There’s also no explanation for the sudden outbreak of zombieness. “I'm kind of discovering the world as Rick discovers it and there are no answers”, says Lincoln. “The genius thing about Robert Kirkman's graphic novel is that he doesn't give any explanations. No one really knows what happened. You've only got personal accounts and I think that's the power of it. It's more about what happens now.”
Naturally enough, Lincoln is pleased with how 'The Walking Dead' has turned out. It’s been on the receiving end of much praise, and he regards the experience as “one of the most enjoyable and excitable roles in my career to date. I loved it. I loved working in Atlanta. I loved working for Frank [Darabont] and with AMC.”
The positive reviews have blown him away. “Even in our wildest dreams, we never thought it would be received this way”, he admits. “It has been unprecedented and incredible. You always hope people are going to watch the work you do but this level and size of response has been just incredible.”
Not so appealing was the episode in which Lincoln and his fellow cast members had to escape the clutches of a zombie horde. The only way to avoid detection is by, as he puts, “smearing blood and guts all over you. That was an intense experience on any level.” However, the shoot had many positives.
“I suppose just because of the nature of the world and the extreme of the world, I really enjoyed the relationship drama about the characters”, he says. “The combustible things between characters, I find that really satisfying and challenging for everyone and also we love it because we get to do big emotions in this extreme world.”
Lincoln has been fortunate enough to play some fine characters in his time, but with Rick Grimes and this being his first role in a major US TV series, there’s a danger that he could be stereotyped from now on. It’s something that doesn’t come into his thinking.
“You know what? I’ve spent most of my career with that same question”, he says. “’How does it feel to be always equated with your break out role as Egg [in 'This Life'] or Simon in 'Teachers'?’ Hey, if that’s the case, it means that the show is a hit and people like it. I just think it’s the highest form of praise, to be associated so closely with a character and I hope that that’s what people do, actually. I’d be very touched if that’s the case [with 'The Walking Dead'], because it means the work that I’ve done and the commitment that I’ve devoted to the show is paying off.
“My whole career has been about trying to do different things and changing people’s perceptions and so if that’s the case, it means that I’ve succeeded to a degree, which is the highest form of flattery I suppose, but hey it’s all up in the air. I’m just very excited about what people think of it because we had such a gas making it and I don’t know about you but I don’t think there is anything like it out there.”
In recent years, there has been a steady stream of British actors finding a new career path in the USA. For example, Jack Davenport, who starred alongside Andrew Lincoln in 'This Life', has been part of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, while also featuring in TV dramas such as 'FlashForward' and 'Swingtown'. As a result, there’s a thriving community of British ex-pat thesps in Los Angeles who meet up to play football or rugby and drink beer.
So far, Lincoln remains based in Britain and has no plans to uproot his young family. Well, not yet. “It very much depends on what opportunities I get”, admits the 37-year-old. “At the moment I’m so excited about just playing Rick in 'The Walking Dead'. I think there is a long way to go with telling this story and working with this character. We have only scratched the surface – or I certainly have – of discovering who Rick is and where he could go and all the fans of the comic book will know what an immense journey he goes on. I’m salivating over the prospect of just continuing that at the moment.
“But, never say never. I couldn’t have wished for a better working experience the last five months in America. The crew and the cast are some of the best that I have ever worked with and the attitude was positive and just about getting the best we could achieve. It was a very exciting, invigorating and rejuvenating experience for me and my family. I loved it. At the moment, a lot of the great films and TV are being made there, so I wouldn’t want to rule myself out at all. I’ve got a lot of friends who are out there and love it. They really, really love the lifestyle and what it offers.”
While shooting the first season of 'The Walking Dead', Lincoln brought his family over to Atlanta. (By the way, music fans, his wife is Gael Anderson, the daughter of Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson. He looks back on it as a mixed experience for his family, especially given that dad was spending his days up to his neck in blood and body parts while blowing zombies apart.
“They're both quite young”, he says of his children. “It's not the most kid-friendly set you would wish for. But in Atlanta there is a puppetry museum, so there are lots of Jim Henson puppets and there is a Big Bird there. They took a wrong turn one morning and went into the wrong trailer: It was [make-up effects man] Greg Nicotero and his team and they had this corpse that was rotting. My daughter just went up and started prodding it, and she seemed pretty cool about the whole thing. She said, ‘It's kind of like a Big Bird for grown-ups’. That's the way she explained zombies.”
