Andrew Lincoln Recaps Walking Dead Season 6 Premiere & More

Earlier this week, I had the chance to speak with Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes on the series.

In preparation for the season six premiere, we spoke about the epic "First Time Again," episode, the aftermath of the premiere, and what's to come in season six. You may recognize some of the conversation, as many of the spoiler free bits were shared earlier this week.

Be warned, spoilers follow if you have not yet watched the season 6 premiere of The Walking Dead.

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CB: I have to first of all thank you for taking the time to talk today, being such a huge fan of the show and your work.

AL: Thank you! It's a great pleasure. It's that week again. It's so exciting. We're just gearing up for the premiere. Everybody's been busting their gut this season. It's very cool because most, if not all of the crew, are making the trip to New York. It's going to be a big ole shindig.

That's going to be great

Yeah, man. Have you had an opportunity to see it yet?

I have! I watched it on my little computer screen, you get to watch it on the Madison Square Garden screen!

Oh, dude! You've gotta get there. That's one of the most amazing things - just the scale of this season and the ambition of this season. It really is big but you just feel like every episode is just a season finale. It felt like it, as well.

I'll tell you what, that season premiere has a cliffhanger which could've been a season finale, no doubt.

It's funny you say that because when I first read it, I talked to Scott Gimple about it, and said, 'This feels like an end of season.' And he said, 'That's kind of what it is but we're shifting it around. It's like a season finale opener." The jeopardy that we face at the end, in the last 30 seconds of that episode, is like an arrow that shoots through the next nine episodes and it is ballistic what goes down.

I can't wait! I need episode two!

You're not the first and you certainly won't be the last. It's neat, man. I think Scott and the writers continue to do this incredible conjuring trick, making each episode, and you just want more and more and more, and they make cliffhangers and everything so beautifully.

I went ahead and polled my Twitter followers for a question to ask you, and the big resounding question was, "Is the beard coming back?"

Oh! Very good! Yes, it is! There will be a beard of sorts. I'm not talking the full-throttle ZZ Top beard I was sporting last year - but I certainly think that you may be seeing Rick more circa prison. End of season 2ish. More the general. Facial hair but certainly not unruly facial hair.

I feel like the beard can be a good indication of where Rick is at mentally.

Yeah, well, I'm not so sure. He's unshaven and he's pretty unstable. Come on! No, I think that theres... Scott has always said he wanted to sort of gage his mental condition by length of facial hair but I'm not so sure that's quite true. I think it's very much a direct pick-up from the last season, even though, as you know having seen the first episode, we play with time. It's a week. That's what we're looking at since the shooting incident. You meet a man who is very, very adamant, "I'm not gonna risk my family's safety for anybody." If people can't come with us, we're gonna cut you. You're weak in the shaft. You've got to keep up or you're not gonna make it. I think that there are some compromising scenes in the first episode with how he's trying to educate these people in the world. He's not willing to have a situation that we had last season where people mess up and we almost lost people because of the walkers and there are big threats out there this season. Bigger than we've ever faced.

Bigger than the massive walker horde?

Yep! Oh, yeah. This is a very, very full-tilt season. Since we're almost in the last four now, you realize how big it is. The pace of it is so intense. Rhythmically it's been interesting doing it over six years. This time, I've realized we come out punching. We don't let up for a good seven, eight episodes. Even then, looking at the other episodes that we're shooting now, they're all huge in their own way. They're all unique. Very, very good story telling from the guys.

Thus far, you have kept your hand on the show. Do you think there's any chance going forward that you or any other characters see a permanent bodily harm such as the hand being cut off?

You know, I campaigned two seasons ago when the Governor was around... I was saying, "You've gotta do the hand guys!" And Victor, who was in charge of special effects just said, "No, no no no. Anybody else but not you. It'll cost a fortune with green screen and blue screen." But you know, I'm of the opinion that certainly with where the story seems to be going this season, no one is safe of any long term damage. It's an extraordinary season because it's very intense and insular for the first few and then we lift our eyes up and it feels like there's a whole new horizon out there and it feels like it's very thrilling but also it's very dangerous.

In the premiere, it seems that Jessie is doing her own thing and she's become independent of Rick. Would you say that that love boat has sailed?

I would say she's listening to Rick so that doesn't necessarily mean... She's taken on board what Rick has said which is, "You need to educate, you need to arm, you need to train." So, she's heard him. She's also, I think they both are reeling from what has happened recently. I wouldn't rule it out by any means. The mere fact that she's taken on board what he's asked of the citizens of Alexandria is a good indicator that she regards what he's done and what he's trying to do as good advice. I would say watch out for what Alex Breckenridge is doing because you see a transformative performance from her which is extraordinary. And I think that there are certain parts of each other and there's obviously a physical attraction to each other. She's hugely important to why he believes in Alexandria but dating in the apocalypse is kind of tough - especially when you kill the husband of the person you kind of like.

You had a few shades of Shane Walsh there.

Yeah! I know! Dude, yeah, Jon Bernthal has called me up and said, "You see? You see? What's wrong with you? I was on the right tilt three years ago! What are you doing?" That's the thing I love about playing a character so long, is the echoes and you realize who you carry with you and what characters form you and what environment and your relationships form you. I love that season and I called up Scott and said, "This is echoes of Shane," and he said, "That's is absolutely intentional." It's like in the first episode. There are repetitions of the first meeting in the first ever episode between Morgan and Rick. If you look at what is being said by those two men and then watch the first episode again, you'll get some surprises. Certainly neat storytelling.

Do you think you'll ever find a way to top killing somebody so creatively as you did when you had to bite Joe's throat out?

[Laughs] You know, I doubt it. That was pretty... I remember when I read that episode and I said, "There's a line in the sand, isn't there Scott? About the amount of violence we're allowed to show?" I said, "Are we overstepping it do you think with the neck bite?" And he said, "No, I don't because this is a man who would do anything to protect his son." When we did it, it made complete sense. I think we're now into an area of the story that I don't quite know yet because we're not one hundred percent sure, where we're going face some very, very formidable and scary and dangerous folk. I'm not gonna say any more than that but I'm sure that knowing the show and knowing the writing of the show that Rick will have to face a few other moments of jeopardy because that's what we do. And when he's put in a corner like that, you know, he's willing to do pretty much anything. All I would say is, hold that thought.

Now, at the end of the premiere, those horns are sounding and Alexandria is about to be flooded with zombies. What is going through Rick's mind and where are his priorities?

I think that the priority is to try and determine what the sound is. This is what I loved about the first episode. It's a monster movie. It's one big entity. It's Godzilla. I think his major priority is to try and work out how they're gonna lead this 20,000 horde back onto the road. That's no small feat. There are many things going through his head but the initial thing is let's regroup, let's see what we can do, let's make a plan, very quickly. But I'm not allowed to tell you that plan just yet! You're going to have to find out. Rest assured, Rick Grimes is a man with a plan and he likes making them. They sometimes go completely wrong. He's not ashamed of his plan making. There will be something up his sleeve.

From Rick's perspective, let's say it's the last episode of The Walking Dead, what would Rick want to see? What is the happy ending for Rick Grimes?

The happy ending from Rick Grimes' perspective? [Laughs] I think just... Maybe taking his boots off, getting in a warm bath, and watching his children frolic hand in hand through a field of daisies.

Well, that doesn't seem like it's ever going to happen!

I don't think that's ever gonna happen.

Thanks so much for taking the time today and best of luck with the big season!

Yeah! There's a lot of body blows and it's really intense and bigger than ever.