The Walking Dead Cast Pulled Hijinks to Mess With Rick Grimes Star Andrew Lincoln

The Walking Dead‘s original leading man Andrew Lincoln often walked into on-set hijinks pulled by his castmates, who messed with the Rick Grimes star “quite a bit.” According to Lincoln’s former co-star Lew Temple, who played prison inmate Axel in the show’s third season, Daryl Dixon star Norman Reedus was the “ringleader” behind antics that have since grown into an ongoing prank war between Lincoln and Reedus. The ribbing would often lighten the mood for Lincoln at a time when Rick suffered a mental break following the loss of estranged wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), who died delivering Carl’s (Chandler Riggs) baby sister Judith.

“When I was on the show, all roads led to the sheriff. There weren’t other storylines per se, and it was that season that Andy was doing his King Lear,” Temple said while attending the Scares That Care 2020 Virtual Convention. “It was a lot of work, so we would mess with him quite a bit.”

Cast members would stroll into the prison wearing sombreros or masks, and one prank saw Walking Dead stars don ex-president masks like those worn by the bank robbers from Point Break.

“We would pull some hijinks. Sometimes Andy would laugh, but a lot of times he wouldn’t,” Temple recalled, laughing. “But we liked it. It was fun for us. Of course, none of us lasted on the show, by the way. Except for the ringleader, Norman Reedus.”

Reflecting on his Walking Dead stint in a recent interview, Temple said Lincoln was a leader both on and off the screen. As “number one” on the series, Lincoln tried to prevent Temple’s exit when he learned Axel was going to be shot and killed by the Governor (David Morrissey).

“[The show] was such a success, I think, because everybody was so invested in it being a success. We worked our tails off,” Temple said. “‘We really did something today, and we gotta do better tomorrow.’ That’s how we always approached it, and Andrew Lincoln was the leader of that. He was the head cheerleader.”

Lincoln next returns to the Rick Grimes role in a trilogy of Walking Dead feature films taking place after Rick disappeared alongside Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh) aboard a Civic Republic Military helicopter.

The Walking Dead Season 10 finale, “A Certain Doom,” premieres Sunday, October 4 on AMC. For all things Walking Dead Universe, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.