Andrew Lincoln Has Completely Shaved His ‘Walking Dead’ Beard

In a rare off-season sighting of Andrew Lincoln, the Rick Grimes actor was spotted without his well-known grey beard worn for The Walking Dead.

Lincoln popped into the Stroud bowling alley in the United Kingdom over the weekend to knock down a few pins in support of a MacMillan Cancer Support charity event. Lincoln (known well for his charitable contributions such as lending ticket sales from his Walker Stalker panels to charity) was missing one important detail of his Walking Dead character in the sightings: the beard.

Rick Grimes’ beard hasn’t been as bulky as its glory days of The Walking Dead Season Five recently but it is currently non-existent as the zombie drama’s star enjoys an off-season from production of about five months.

Check out the photo as it appeared on Twitter below.

The actor posed for quite a few photos at the charity event on January 12, 2018. There’s no word, however, on his bowling skills.

The photos of Lincoln without his signature Rick Grimes beard will certainly spawn speculation regarding his future with the series. While series creator Robert Kirkman promises to kill Rick at some point and Lincoln has begun expressing an interest in the show’s “end game,” the safe bet is his contract re-negotiation will land him on the show for its recently announced ninth season.

Perhaps Season Nine will spawn a new look for Lincoln’s Rick Grimes in the aftermath of losing his son Carl. “He’s lost the things that he’s fighting this war for,” Lincoln told ComicBook.com. “That has a huge effect on him and it changes him irrevocably.” If not, the beard (or the make-up added beard seen in Episode 8×01) can probably grow back in time for Season Nine’s production start in April or May.

The Walking Dead returns for the second half of its eighth season on February 25, 2018. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.