Chandler Riggs, who played Carl Grimes across eight seasons of The Walking Dead, still gets to act opposite former co-stars Madison Lintz and Katelyn Nacon. Lintz, the older sister of young Henry and teenage Henry actors Macsen and Matt Lintz, played Sophia, Carl’s young friend and Carol’s (Melissa McBride) daughter who perished in Season 2. Nacon joined as Enid in Season 5, emerging as Carl’s friend and later romantic interest after the group led by father Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) reached the Alexandria community. Following Carl’s death midway through Season 8, Enid met her own end in the penultimate episode of Season 9 as a victim of Alpha (Samantha Morton) and the Whisperers.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“They’re both in the same days in my acting class,” Riggs said of Lintz and Nacon at FAN EXPO Vancouver. “So I see them every week and work with them every week, and it’s really fun getting to work with both Katelyn and Madison again in just a completely different setting and completely different characters. It’s great. So I keep up with them and see them on a regular basis, it’s really cool.”
For other long departed Walking Dead co-stars, Riggs catches up with them “every couple of weeks” on the convention circuit. “I only get to see them here and it’s really, really great to meet back up with them and catch back up with them and see what they’re doing,” he said.
The former Carl Grimes actor still keeps in touch with TV dad Andrew Lincoln, saying at FAN EXPO Lincoln was always “very engaged” in his life away from Walking Dead.
“I feel like with Andy, over the years, I really tried to learn from him and I wish I had appreciated it more in the early seasons. Because that dude showed up every day knowing every single word of the script that we were shooting that day,” Riggs said. “He knew, obviously, his lines from top to bottom … he knew everybody else’s lines word for word, he knew all the stage direction. It was insane how well that dude knew everything on the show. He just showed up so prepared every day and really just inspired everyone around him to push as hard as he did.”
Riggs “really looked up to” and “tried to learn from” Lincoln, who stepped away from the television series before the midway point in Season 9.
“I still try to learn from him rewatching old episodes. He just brought a level of professionalism and passion to the show,” Riggs said. “It was just a great role model for me to look up to, and inspired me to be that passionate on all my other projects.”
During an appearance at Walker Stalker Con Orlando in 2018, Riggs revealed he enrolled in acting lessons after auditioning for the role of a young Han Solo and a rebooted Spider-Man. He’s since joined ABC drama A Million Little Things and film projects Inherit the Viper and Only.
New episodes of TWD Season 10 premiere Sundays on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.
