The Walking Dead Star Describes Andrew Lincoln as “So Intense”

It’s no secret that The Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln is one of the most talented actors on television and the stories of the kindness he expresses towards his co-stars are also well known by now. However, the actors intensity on set is not often the topic of conversation when describing the man who portrayed Rick Grimes from 2010 through 2019. In a recent interview with Skybound’s official Talk Dead to Me podcast, Gareth actor Andrew J. West opened up about how “intense” it was to work opposite Andrew Lincoln in the show’s fifth season and it has left quite an impression on the actor.

“He is so method,” West said on the Talk Dead to Me podcast. “He is, look, he’s the nicest, warmest, most welcoming dude in the world. I love him to death. I had such a great time working with him. He takes his job so seriously and I loved it,” he continued before joking: “But, I will say I probably still have welts on the side of my body from when he was whacking away at me with a rubber machete during the church scene.”

The scene and episodes which surrounded it are revered as some of The Walking Dead‘s best episode. The AMC zombie series was holding nothing back at that point, launching with a sequence which saw cannibals bashing the heads of survivors to then drain them of their blood before an explosive escape thanks to Carol’s heroics lead to a hunt through the woods and, ultimately, a slaughter in a church.

“I think six years later I’m still healing from that,” West joked. “The guy, he’s so committed to what he’s doing and he’s so intense.”

As the story goes, West’s Gareth was on his knees when Lincoln’s Rick relentlessly swung his machete and chopped him to pieces. As intense as the sequence was on television, the set must have only amplified those feelings.

Do you miss Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead? Was the Terminus batch of episodes your favorite run of the series? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram and Twitter!