Walking Dead: The Actor Who Almost Played Rick Grimes
Playing Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead made Andrew Lincoln a household name, but Frank Darabont initially wanted a different actor in the lead. Currently heading into its 10th season finale, with season 11 already in the works, it sometimes feels like The Walking Dead has been around forever. It's been one of the biggest success stories in cable TV history, and while it might not boast the audience levels it once did, it's fair to say that The Walking Dead has had a profound influence on the TV landscape as a whole.
The Walking Dead's pop culture cache is most evidenced by how many acting careers it's either launched into the stratosphere or rejuvenated from a slump. Before Walking Dead, most knew Andrew Lincoln for his role in Love Actually, a far cry from badass action lead Rick Grimes. Most had no clue who Jon Bernthal was before he played Shane Walsh, and now he's seemingly always in demand, most notably starring as Marvel's Punisher on Netflix. Then there's Danai "Michonne" Gurira, who's now Okoye in the MCU, and will soon appear in Godzilla vs. Kong.
It turns out that back at the beginning, Darabont, The Walking Dead's original showrunner, wanted his prior collaborator Thomas Jane to star as Rick. Jane is certainly a recognizable face, and would've changed Rick's physicality and speaking style in a major way. Here's why he didn't play the role.
Considering Frank Darabont's penchant for working with actors he likes over and over again, it's no real surprise that he wanted Thomas Jane to play Rick on The Walking Dead, not long after collaborating with him on the Stephen King adaptation The Mist. In fact, The Walking Dead and The Mist share multiple cast members as it is, including Melissa "Carol" McBride and Laurie "Andrea" Holden. Surprisingly enough, the party responsible for Darabont not getting his way and casting Jane in The Walking Dead is HBO.
Many fans might not be aware of this, but Darabont initially pitched The Walking Dead to HBO, before it ultimately landed at AMC. At that point, Jane was firmly attached to play Rick, but HBO ended up not moving forward with the project. By the time Darabont was able to reach a deal with AMC to produce The Walking Dead season 1, Jane was no longer available, having committed to starring in the HBO dramedy series Hung, which ran for three seasons from 2009 to 2011. As good as Andrew Lincoln ended up being as Rick though, things likely turned out for the best.