The Walking Dead: Andrew Lincoln Reveals His Shocking Reaction To The Premiere

In less than a month, The Walking Dead will return to AMC and wrap up its mind-blowing cliffhanger from last season. Fans have been waiting anxiously for the premiere of Season 7 to come around, but the cast of The Walking Dead have warned fans they will not like what they find. And, according to Andrew Lincoln, the actor said it was hard from him to follow through on the shocking finale.

During a recent interview, the actor said it was very hard to come back for Season 7 knowing where The Walking Dead had left off.

"I didn't fully take on board how hard it was going to be until the read through, and then it was...We're going to have to do this," he said. "We're going to have to do this episode."

"It's one thing reading a script. Then there's actually having to do it. You get a sense of the summit you have to climb."

For Andrew, the return of The Walking Dead meant he had to say goodbye to members of Rick's tight-knit group. The Season 6 finale ended with Negan bashing an unknown character to death with his faithful bat Lucille, and the event is one that breaks Rick.

At San Diego Comic Con, Andrew told fans that they will see a very broken Rick at the start of Season 7. "Everything he's fought and bled for and had family members die for, everything that he's worked for two years to get to, has been shattered in 24 hours," Lincoln explained. "He's not a in a good space. If he makes it through the first episode, he's different. He will be a different man."

The actor also told Entertainment Weekly Rick finds himself in a very dark place. "You meet a man who's powerless, terrified for his own life and his son's family's life, and everybody else beside him," Lincoln teased. "And he realizes that there's a new world, a much bigger, scarier, and formidable world."

However, fans should expect to see Rick toughen up as the season moves along. After all, the fearless leader has a family to protect, and it looks like Rick will get tired of Negan's actions sooner rather than later. The actor said he was excited to see the on-going dispute between Alexandria and Negan's Saviors ramp up in Season 7.

"If we follow the comic book, then there's a super badass conflict between Negan and us, and I think that's certainly something that I think will trump anything we've attempted before in the show," Lincoln said.

The actor went on to talk about his reaction to the warring factions and said he sees much of their on-screen attitudes sourced straight from Robert Kirkman's bestselling comics.

"From the comic books, the thing I really liked is that the world expands and you meet all these different communities. And each community is different -- they're benevolent, they're oppressive -- but they're described by the leader and how they set up their own philosophies and ideology," he said.

The Walking Dead returns for Season 7 on October 23 at 9 PM ET on AMC.