“I hadn’t slept for three days.” Andrew Lincoln's exhausting experience became his blessing on The Walking Dead
Exhaustion proved to be the salvation of Andrew Lincoln, who years ago was competing for a role in The Walking Dead.
Andrew Lincoln is the star of The Walking Dead. The actor not only played the lead character in the original series, but also became a leading character in the spin-off The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Rick Grimes is a beloved character by fans, which is partly due to Lincoln himself playing him, whose portrayal of a struggling zombie apocalypse father at the head of a group of survivors captured the hearts of viewers.
Andrew Lincoln, in an interview with The Guardian, confessed that thanks to The Walking Dead, his dream of getting a leading role in an American production was about to come true. Or at least that's what he hoped for, but the birth of his second child, or rather the lack of sleep that came with a baby at home, posed a problem. For the casting for the role of Rick Grimes, Lincoln went after three days without sleep, but it turned out that exhaustion helped him convince TWD creators.
I hadn’t slept for three days, and I was shell-shocked. I had this apocalyptic chic that probably fitted the bill. I looked like I’d survived a zombie apocalypse.
Sometimes adversity can be used to one's advantage. Andrew Lincoln is a perfect example of this – lack of sleep helped him fit into the expectations of the creators, who saw in him Rick Grimes. And betting on him turned out to be a good decision – Lincoln became the face of the series, successfully convincing viewers who became involved in the fate of the character he played.
And so much so that they were eager to watch the spin-off The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which was met with a positive reception.