How did Andrew Lincoln of The Walking Dead become the star of the biggest television show and why he gave up everything?



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That's the end of the road for Rick Grimes.

And when the iconic main character of the hit series of AMC The dead who walk is entering the good night – or whatever happens – in his last episode of Sunday, November 4, the actor who brought him back to life the past eight years will pass to the. penultimate rank of the biggest stars of television. It's a long way from the first time he put on this sheriff's hat and faces the apocalypse of zombies in 2010.

My, up to where Andrew Lincoln has come.

When the cast of the London-based actor was announced in April 2010, most people who knew him – and that's a big one – knew him as the The love actually guys. You know, the one who holds the signs to tell Keira Knightly, the new wife of his best friend, that he is in love with her. He had been a name in the UK for years, going back to his work in the drama of the BBC This life, created in 1995, but it was not an American entity.

"Andrew Lincoln, wow – what an amazing discovery this guy is," Robert Kirkman, creator of the comic book material of the series, has sprung in the AMC press release announcing the casting. "By writing Rick Grimes month after month in the comics series, I did not know that he was a living, living human being, and yet he is here." I could not be more excited about how this series is realized. "

It turned out that finding the right actor to bring Rick to life was a struggle for producers, as EP had long said Gale Anne Hurd reminiscence when appearing on SiriusXM Weekly entertainment Radio at San Diego Comic Con this summer. "I remember calling [original showrunner] Frank Darabont and saying, "My God, there is something for this guy." At this point, we did not even know if we would be able to find our Rick Grimes, it was so serious, "he said. she recalls.

"We had already thrown Jon Bernthalbecause we knew we had our Shane Walsh, and then when we brought [Andrew] In the United States and did this initial test in Frank's garage, in the car, in Frank's garage, "she continued. And that's when we said, "Oh my God, we have our Rick Grimes." And who thought it was going to be that [Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]trained British actor we only knew[[[[The love actually]. Literally, people thought we were crazy. "

"Me too," Lincoln chuckled. "Crazy."

So, how exactly did he get the audition for the role of a life. As Lincoln reminded in a 2016 interview with The Guardian, the recent birth of his second child with his wife Gael Anderson– and its effects on his whole being – did not hurt. "I had not slept for three days and I was in shock," he joked. "I had that apocalyptic chic that was probably the case – I had the air of having survived a zombie apocalypse."

Of course, that was not all. "Frank wanted the Gary Cooper from High noonHe continued, "But he also wanted a family man, so the perfect storm to meet someone who had just had his second child really called him.

"I remember thinking, you know, we know how fantastic it is, but it's really important: How are we going to sell that to an American public who does not know it? that of The love actually? & # 39; And I remember how important it was to find that first image of you, to bring it out and come to Comic-Con, because it's this trip, "Hurd said in the interview with EW Radio. " We were here nine years ago, not knowing how the fans would accept the realization of their beloved comic book. And as you probably all know, Andy can not watch the promos, the clips, or the show, but you've heard the applause. "

"It was a really special moment," said Lincoln. "It was a big Stetson that I had to fill, you know what I'm saying? It's a little British head right there."

When he had the role, he was forced to sign a good part of his life. "You have to sign a standard five or six year old Hollywood contract, so a show usually does not go beyond a season, so it's about protecting your bets," he said. The Guardian. "But we [he and his wife] had this conversation while our child was screaming during a night meal and decided to take the risk. "

And the risk has paid. Although a modest success in its first season in six episodes, with an average of about 5.24 million viewers, the show quickly exploded, doubling its average audience by season three and the first season of the first episode of the series with 17.3 million viewers. . Throughout this time, Lincoln and his family have lived a somewhat bifurcated life, sharing their time between the base of the series show in Atlanta and their favorite home on the other side of the house. pond.

But in his quest to be the best possible actor and the best parent too, he had begun to stretch. Already, there was no possibility for any other actor concerts apart from his commitment to TWD. "The window of opportunity is so small.I was going to play a play and that would have led me to leave an American plane and go directly to the rehearsals, to do the piece, to get on the plane and go back directly to the United States, "he noted in 2016." I could not do it, my number one responsibility when I do not kill zombies, Is to be a parent. "

And that's where the problem lies. As he explained on EW Radio, the decision to leave his job was simply a decision made with his family in mind. "I have two young children and I live in a different country.They are becoming less portable as they grow up," said Lincoln this summer. "It was as simple as that, it was time for me to go home."

Not only that, but with critics on the decline and some seemingly stagnant narrative seasons, the actor felt that for the series to continue to flourish, Rick Grimes' story had to end. "What I do not want to do is stay too long when I think the show will really benefit other people taking the reins and opening a new path," he said. EW just this month. "And that's what I think is happening now, it's wonderful to watch and see my dear friends who are amazing actors doing extraordinary things and making it a new series." Is extremely rewarding. "

"It's exciting, because we feel there's a new vision of the show," Lincoln said, referring to Angela Kang take over the showrunning tasks of Scott M. Gimple. "I think Angela and all the people who participate play their socks off to the best of their ability, they put everything in. It's a really exciting landscape that all the characters inhabit." Is the show that I've always thought of – we would come back to it when I would do the pilot project – a reduced, much more dangerous, compromising and lacking landscape. "

A landscape that will miss Rick Grimes, of course, but not necessarily Andrew Lincoln. Not quite, at least, because he recently accompanied a director on the set with the project of making an episode in the tenth season to come.

C & # 39; The dead who walkafter all, where the ends are always just the beginning.

The dead who walk Sundays at 9 pm on AMC.

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