The Walking Dead returns to American screens this Sunday, seeing Andrew Lincoln back our screen wielding the trademark revolver of Rick Grimes against both the zombie hordes and the menacing Governor.
So, in reaction to this, we’ve looked back at the career of the Londoner to see how he’s become the last lawman in Georgia.
Lincoln’s major TV career started in the form of This Life, a genre breaking and zeitgeist creating show in the UK during the 1990s. Lincoln played Egg, a young lawyer who soon grew tired and disillusioned with the world of law and moves on to eventually work in a café and write a novel.
A key part of the show’s structure, Egg’s journey of self-discovery was a wonderfully believable one, full of uncertainty, frustration and a whole load of visits to the Job Centre.
Parts in films Human Traffic, Gangster Number One followed, but it would be his part in the Richard Curtis romancathon that is Love Actually that would not only be the biggest, but also introduce him to viewers outside of the UK. While his part in Love Actually may have been a fairly minor one, his is perhaps the most iconic moment of the film, with the scene of him declaring his love for Keira Knightly by flashcard
From there it was another hook up This Life producer Jane Fallon that would see him become a regular fixture on UK TV once again in the shape of Simon on the brilliant drama Teachers. Playing the cheeky and ill-motivated centre of the show, Lincoln once again showed off the ability to seamlessly go between comedic and dramatic that had made his so incredibly watchable on This Life.
After he finished his time on Teachers, which saw him return and both appear in and direct two more episodes of the show’s third series, Lincoln bounced between smaller roles before returning once more to British TV, but this time in a totally different style of show.
This came in the form of Afterlife, a drama following a psychic who appears to have the ability to talk to the dead. Lincoln played the role of Dr Robert Bridge, a terminally ill and doubtful academic who decides to study our psychic heroine for a book whilst also helping her work through several issues of her own.
Once again, we were forced to wait years until Lincoln landed a major role on our screens, with him taking to the stage to scratch the acting bug and pay the bills. Come 2010 though, not only would we get to see Lincoln put on the Stetson and battle the undead, but we also got to see him strap on a rather different uniform in Chris Ryan’s Strike Back, where he took on the role of a shady soldier with loyalty to the highest bidder.
Far, far darker than anything we’ve seen him in before, The Walking Dead has given Andrew Lincoln the greatest challenge of his career. Lincoln has passed every test thrown at him with flying colours, especially impressing in the emotionally devastating moments that have made season three the total return to form that it has been.
Bristling with anger, grief and hate all at once, Rick has become the role that truly shows what Lincoln can do given the ammunition. We can’t wait to see him back in action once again.
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