FXUK Interview with Andrew Lincoln

Well, you’ve heard us report on FXUK asking Andrew Lincoln questions directly from the fans. Well, it turns out our very own Corey Anderson had his question answered in the first part of the FXUK interview with Andrew Lincoln. FXUK is posting selected questions and answers a few at a time. What we’ll do is compile the entire question and answer series right here in this post. So, without further ado, the interview! 

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Q: When you first found out you got the role what was your initial reaction? Did you run out and buy the comic book or did you look for a way to develop Darabont’s vision of Rick?
-Corey Anderson 

 Q: What is your favourite moment of Rick Grimes in the comic book series?
-Graeme Stewart   

A: There is a moment in the comic book very early on, and this is very surprising in the comic book because it gave a clue as to who this man was, is when he meets the walker without any legs, he’s exhausted, he’s just woken up from the coma, and he sees this woman and he breaks down.  And the enormity of it all just kind of descends upon him and I think that that was key because I realised he’s human. And that’s what Robert Kirkman had written, he’d written an everyman.  He’s not this impenetrable super human, he’s an ordinary man that is susceptible and fragile and flawed. And that struck me very early on, that I wanted to invest as much of that sense as possible… I think if you’re going to make a TV show about the undead, it’s very important…you’ve got a great opportunity to make something about what it is to be alive. 

*UPDATE 9/16* 

Did filming the Walking Dead cause you to have nightmares? And if so can you describe them?
-Lee Blakeborough 

I didn’t sleep very well! Funnily enough I’m one of these people that never remember dreams. The only dreams I do sadly remember are nightmares or panic dreams. But you know because of the nature of filming, we shot very long days in quite brutal heat, I was so tired. I was almost in a coma each night because I would just hit the bed and then find myself waking up six hours later. But towards the end of the shoot I know a lot of us were having trouble sleeping. You could see we just looked ravished by the end of the show but I think that’s just the nature of what we had to film and the fact that we had to survive it. I don’t ever remember having nightmares about the undead or zombies as such, I just remember it became more difficult sleeping.  

If you were to find yourself as a real life survivor in a Zombie Apocalypse, which three people would you want by your side?
-Darren, Kingston 

I would probably have Ray Mears, he is basically a survival expert. Bear Grylls would be my second choice and I would get into trouble if I didn’t say my wife. 

*UPDATE 9/17*

Do you plan to move to the USA to act if The Walking Dead is a smash hit?
-Dave Hedges, Bristol

It’s a very good question. It very much depends on what opportunities I get.  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.  And 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 product that we could achieve and 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. Equally saying that I love my home and I still have a lot of work to do here [in the UK] as well.

You’ve played some very iconic characters in your career but Rick Grimes could be the most popular yet. Are you worried people will forever see you as Rick Grimes?
-Sally Phelps, Sunderland

(Chuckles) You know what I’ve spent most of my career with that same question. How does it feel to be always equated with your break out role as “Egg” or Simon in teachers? I mean, 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, 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 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 in that area, 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. That was the thing that struck me when I read the pilot, if we get anywhere close to filming what I read in the pilot, I think that people are going to be in for one heck of a ride.

*UPDATE 9/20*

You have starred in films and TV shows that are based on books including the Walking Dead and Wuthering Heights, what kind of things do you like to read in general? Do you prefer fictional books, comics…?
-Jana “Joli” Popelková 

You know I mix it up. I’m stood in front of my bookshelf now and I’ve got a whole selection: Essential Fantastic Four, the Sandman, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, these are all my graphic novels. The Authority, The Watchmen, Strength in Numbers, and then I’ve got Iron Fist, The Walking Dead and the Adventures of Tin Tin, I’ve got Mouth, that’s my graphic novel collection.  And then just above it I’ve got Martin Amis who is one of my favourite writers. A brilliant book The Tortilla Curtain, TC Boyle. At the moment because of working in Atlanta, I’ve been reading a lot of American writers because that’s what I do to get a sense of place. I read Tom Wolfe, A Man in Full, which is a brilliant book set in Atlanta and then I read a great book recently called Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. That was based in Savannah and also there is a brilliant book called The Last of the Savages by James McInerney he did Bright Lights Big City. I try and get books that are fiction that is around the area that I’m supposed to be, just to get a sense of the place. But equally I love art. Art is my big passion as well. I love going to galleries, photography, moving image. I think it all bleeds into each other. And the great thing about what I do is that I’m a magpie. So I use what works for me. I’ll grab a little bit of that, mix it with that and then hope for the best.

Had you read Wuthering Heights before playing the role of Edgar Linton?
-Jana “Joli” Popelková

Yes I had. I read it a long time ago and then I reread it before playing him again and it was radically different the interpretation of who he was and because Coky Giedroyc, who directed Wuthering heights, was very keen, and which I thought was very interesting, to make it almost like a western. She wanted Edgar to be a much more plausible suitor to Cathy. So in one sense I had to pull away from what the novel intended and what I read in the novel and make my own choices somewhat, in keeping with the director and the [script]writer’s adaptation

About Josh D.: Josh is the founder and one of the hosts of The Walking Dead Podcast. Josh is also one of the news contributors to the website. He has been an avid fan of The Walking Dead since 2008.

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