{"id":54208,"date":"2024-07-02T01:01:26","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T23:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2065857"},"modified":"2024-07-02T10:01:39","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T08:01:39","slug":"andrew-lincoln-opens-up-on-walking-dead-return-there-was-an-unfinished-story","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/andrew-lincoln-opens-up-on-walking-dead-return-there-was-an-unfinished-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Lincoln opens up on Walking Dead return: \u201cThere was an unfinished story\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

“People would stop me in the street and go, ‘Where’s Rick?'” <\/p>

By Craig Mcclean\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 02 July 2024 at 23:01 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Before The Walking Dead<\/a>, Andrew Lincoln was best known as the soft-boiled Egg in This Life, the BBC\u2019s beloved drama from the late 1990s about young London lawyers.<\/p>\n

Then the role of Rick Grimes in the American blockbuster zombie series made him a transatlantic action star.<\/p>\n

Now Rick\u2019s back in the mini-series The Ones Who Live<\/a>, in which the 50-year-old reprises the blood-and-guts role he left behind in 2018.<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s issue of Radio Times magazine<\/strong>, Lincoln reflects on his return to the world of The Walking Dead and his varied career to date.<\/p>\n

What are you recognised most for: The Walking Dead, This Life, Teachers or Love Actually?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCertain people my age will be This Lifers; there\u2019s the kids, who know Rick Grimes; there\u2019s my mother-in-law \u2013 Love Actually; and quite a lot of cabbies know me from Teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

You left The Walking Dead in its ninth season \u2013 why return now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause people would stop me in the street and go, \u2018Where\u2019s Rick?\u2019 There was an unfinished story. And I was talked into it by Danai [Gurira, who plays Grimes\u2019s love interest, Michonne] and Scott [M Gimple, one of the series showrunners]. But I didn\u2019t want it to feel like a spin-off. I wanted to complete a story that we left unfinished. It was about reuniting two lovers and seeing if their love could survive time and distance apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, I felt that six hours gave us an opportunity to tell a bigger story. The Walking Dead characters have been scrabbling around in the dirt for years. What if we tell a more operatic story of what the grown-ups have been up to in the apocalypse \u2013 rebuilding society? What if there was a viable restart going on?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Danai\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Danai Gurira as Michonne and Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.<\/span><\/figcaption> AMC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

You\u2019ve said that you never watch yourself on screen. As an executive producer on The Ones Who Live, have you had to change your own rules?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOn This Life, I watched a couple of episodes and got self-conscious about my curly hair and big nose. It was complete vanity. It became an exercise in self-consciousness, so I pulled the plug. [Watching this] was like aversion therapy. Not good! Fortunately, I let my children and wife watch a very raw cut. They encouraged me to watch ten seconds, 30 seconds\u2026 They were helpful in weaning me into a place where I wouldn\u2019t vomit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making The Walking Dead meant that your wife and two kids had to shuttle bi-annually across the Atlantic for extended periods \u2013 was that tough?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time, the journey in the car to the airport was horrendous. I was already homesick. I would view with dread the prospect of being away for eight months of filming. We were fortunate that my wife is such an extraordinary woman and was able to up sticks and build a life anywhere. I just didn\u2019t want to be the Brit abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother\u2019s South African, I\u2019m from an immigrant family in the UK. We\u2019re travellers \u2013 I like joining the circus. And I think my wife does as well \u2013 she\u2019s the daughter of someone in the music business, so she\u2019s actually even more able to get in a camper van and run. I said to her the other day, \u2018Shall we just sell everything, get a camper van and go?\u2019 She went, \u2018Yeah! I\u2019ve still got that in me.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Andrew\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Andrew Lincoln.<\/span><\/figcaption> Arturo Holmes\/Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

You\u2019ve been part of The Walking Dead world for the best part of a decade and a half. How hard is it to take on other roles after that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really interesting question because it occupied my life for so long, and because it was an unfinished symphony, to a degree. I needed to complete it. That\u2019s why this is such an important, momentous full-stop \u2013 with a bow on top \u2013 to that story. The next thing that I\u2019m about to do is the polar opposite of Rick Grimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be a palate cleanser, shall we say\u2026 I\u2019m now returning to a British role and my own accent. My daughter has been doing her GCSEs, so we\u2019re staying here and I\u2019m about to go up to Glasgow to start work on a new ITV drama, Cold Water, with playwright David Ireland [writer of Sky\u2019s romcom The Lovers].\u201d<\/p>\n

After playing an American for so many years, are you happy to be using your own accent again?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI recently did an interview with a millennial from Manchester and she said, \u2018I had no idea you were English!\u2019 Yeah, it\u2019s nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2007 we saw This Life + 10. Would you do another reunion show in a couple of years\u2019 time \u2013 This Life + 30?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHa! It\u2019s a funny one. I mean, did it even work in 2007? All those guys are dear friends. It was an extraordinary, seminal show for us all\u2026 But is there an appetite for This Life + 30? Surely it would just be all of us watching Netflix for an hour-and-a-half\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is out now\u00a0\u2013\u00a0subscribe here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Streaming\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div><\/a><\/p>\n

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is available on Sky and NOW<\/a> in the UK \u2013 find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[squirrel-affiliate-playlist squirrel_playlist_id=\u201d610\u2033 \/]<\/p>\n

Check out more of our\u00a0Sci-Fi<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.\u00a0<\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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