Before they were fighting zombies (and each other) in a post-apocalyptic southern U.S., Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride and others were hard at work earning other noteworthy roles in Hollywood. See pictures of the AMC stars before they were famous!
Credit: United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection
Before they were fighting zombies (and each other) in a post-apocalyptic southern U.S., Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride and others were hard at work earning other noteworthy roles in Hollywood. See pictures of the AMC stars before they were famous!
Credit: United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection
Before they were fighting zombies (and each other) in a post-apocalyptic southern U.S., Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride and others were hard at work earning other noteworthy roles in Hollywood. See pictures of the AMC stars before they were famous!
Credit: United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection; FX; Oscilloscope Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Before they were fighting zombies (and each other) in a post-apocalyptic southern U.S., Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride and others were hard at work earning other noteworthy roles in Hollywood. See pictures of the AMC stars before they were famous!
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Fans of 2003's Love Actually remember Lincoln pining for Keira Knightley. In 2009's Wuthering Heights, the star pined more — in period garb!
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
The English actor had to perfect a southern American accent to take on the role of deputy sheriff Rick Grimes in the series. "I spend most of my days playing a cop who chops up human beings. My kids think it's cool," the father of two said in an interview via Daily Mail. "Before I headed out to the U.S. to film this series, I dropped my daughter off at school. As I was leaving one of the girls said, 'What does your daddy do for a living?' and she just said, 'He shoots zombies.'"
Credit: Touchstone Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
The British actress was pristine in her breakout role as Sister Beatrice in 2005's Casanova.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Cohan earned a spot in the second season of The Walking Dead, and was promoted to the main cast in season three. For her role as tomboy Maggie Greene, the actress is frequently covered in dirt, blood and "zombie gunk."
Credit: Oscilloscope Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Around the same time she sign on to The Walking Dead, the Zimbabwean-American actress was appearing on the big screen in the lead role as Nigerian immigrant Ike in 2013's Mother of George. She won the Jean-Claude Gahd Dam award at the 2013 Guys Choice Awards.
Credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC
Gurira joined the Walking Dead cast as Michonne in 2012. "The parallels of The Walking Dead world and a war zone — that idea was very resonant to me," the actress explained in an interview with Rolling Stone. "The zombies could be a metaphor, symbolic for so many different things."
Credit: United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection
Reedus headed a '50s gang in 2002's Deuces Wild with fellow hoodlums James Franco, Matt Dillon, Johnny Knoxville and Frankie Muniz.
Credit: Frank Ockenfels/AMC
The actor's role as ass-kicking Daryl Dixon was created specifically for him. In 2012, he earned a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for the character.
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On a 1998 episode of Dawson's Creek, James Van Der Beek hit on McBride in a bar! Her first TV gig, however, was Matlock in 1993.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Joining the series in 2010, McBride took on the role of Carol Peletier, a middle-aged mom to daughter, Sophia, who becomes a widow when her abusive husband is killed. She was promoted to series regular in Season 2.
Credit: Capital Pictures
Christian Serratos played Suzie Crabgrass, Ned’s crush, on Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide from 2004 to 2007. She also starred as Angela Weber in the Twilight films, a role that earned her the award for Young Supporting Actress in the Best Performance in a Feature Film category at the 30th Young Artist Awards.
Credit: Greg Nicotero/AMC
In 2013, Serratos joined the Walking Dead cast as Rosita Espinosa, a survivor whose mission is to head for Washington, D.C. to see what remains of the federal government.
Credit: ©Screen Gems/Courtesy Everett Collection
In 2000, Lennie James starred alongside Brad Pitt in the crime film Snatch.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
James received praise for his role as Morgan Jones on The Walking Dead. He made brief appearances in the earlier seasons before being promoted to a series regular for Season 6.
Credit: Trae Patton/NBC
Michael Cudlitz starred as police officer John Cooper on Southland, a TV crime drama about the LAPD, from 2009 to 2013 before the show was canceled.
Credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC
Like Serratos, Cudlitz joined The Walking Dead cast during the show’s fourth season. Rosita and Cudlitz’s character, Sgt. Abraham Ford, are in a relationship and are both traveling to Washington, D.C.
Credit: ©HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection
Seth Gilliam starred as a well-respected lieutenant named Ellis Carver on HBO's The Wire from 2002 to 2008. He has also been a recurring cast member on MTV’s Teen Wolf since 2011, starring as Dr. Alan Deaton.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Gilliam’s character, Father Gabriel Stokes, is the local priest who isolated himself from the other survivors following the outbreak.
Credit: FX
Alexandra Breckenridge made brief appearances on two seasons of FX’s American Horror Story. In 2011, she played the younger version of Moira on AHS: Murder House. Two years later, she returned to play Kaylee on AHS: Coven.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Breckenridge joined the Walking Dead family during the show’s fifth season, starring as Jessie Anderson. She is expected to return for Season 6.
Credit: FRED NORRIS /The CW
Austin Nichols joined Chad Michael Murray on The CW’s One Tree Hill during its sixth season to play a film producer named Julian Baker. He was a series regular until the show ended in 2012.
Credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC
On The Walking Dead, Nichols plays Spencer, Aiden’s older brother and the son of Deanna and Reg. Spencer is one of the snipers in the bell tower.
Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection
The veteran actor starred in the classic 1967 true-crime flick In Cold Blood, portraying real-life Kansas killer Richard Hickock.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Wilson was cast as Dr. Hershel Greene in the second season. The actor said in an interview with Access Atlanta that he got the opportunity for the role while he was visiting his mom in Georgia for her 97th birthday. "My mother's a fan of the show," he said.
Credit: VERTIGO FILMS
Morrissey, a Rolling Stones fan, played their driver in the 2005 Brian Jones biopic Stoned. He also played the critically acclaimed role of Stephen Collins in 2003's State of Play.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
The English actor signed on for the role of The Governor in the third season. "I lost a bit of weight and I grew a beard," Morrissey said of preparing for the role in an interview with Vulture. "But it would take me five years to grow my hair like he had, so that is a wig."
Credit: THE KOBAL COLLECTION/ORION
The Alabama-born actor played ball in the 1988 American sports drama Eight Men Out. His film debut, however, was in 1986 playing the title role in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Playing the role of Daryl Dixon's (Reedus) brother, Rooker joined the cast as Merle Dixon on the first season. His character was killed off in the third season, and Rooker was relieved. "My honest to God true reaction was THANK F---ING GOD I DON'T HAVE TO WEAR THAT STUPID F---ING ARM ANY MORE! THERE! PRINT THAT S---!" he confessed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly about a prosthetic arm he had to wear for his character. "Oh my God, I was so tired of wearing that thing."
Credit: Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library
The actress went to high school in Hawaii! After graduating, she studied at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Denver's National Theater Conservatory in 2002. Spoiler Alert! If you don't want to know what happened to Lori in season three, don't click through to the next slide!
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Callies portrayed Lori Grimes, the wife of Rick Grimes (Lincoln) on The Walking Dead until season three when her character died in childbirth. "I argued that it was necessary to kill Lori and I feel very strongly that for all of the other deviations we may have from the comic book, killing Lori does something to Rick that is vital for the story and can't be done any other way," the actress said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Credit: Warner Bros/courtesy Everett Collection
The Washington, D.C. native did comedy in TV's The Class from 2006 to 2007.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Bernthal was a regular on the series until 2012 when his character, Shane Walsh, was killed off. "There's nothing like getting your dream job and sitting down with source material and by the time you finish your sandwich, your character's dead," the actor shared about learning Shane's fate in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "It was quite a shock."
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