SCOOP: Walking Dead Casting
Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 2:58 am Category: Image, Rumors, Television, TopA lot of people have been buzzing about, talking about Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s zombie masterpiece The Walking Dead.
What not a lot of people have been talking about is casting of the lead, Rick Grimes.
Big Shiny Robot! has talked to a few different sources about names that are in the ring for the series and we’re pretty happy. There are a couple of sources we talked to with varying reliability, but these names all made a lot of sense, so we want to throw these out there and get the conversation going. If you don’t know about Walking Dead and have never read it, it’s perhaps one of the best comics being published today. Grab the first trade from Amazon right here and you won’t regret it.
The most reliable sources point us to Jamie Bamber as in the running for Rick. You might remember him from Battlestar Galactica playing Lee Adama.
I’m in the midst of watching BSG for the first time now and I have to say, this would be a great choice. He’s a strong actor, has the right look and handles televised drama really well.
Next on the list is Mark Pellegrino, who is on Dexter and plays Jacob on Lost.
He has a little bit less of the look, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t work. He’s an incredibly talented actor and any show would do well with him at the helm. And really, doesn’t he look like a guy that would make the hard choices in a zombie apocolypse?
And then the last name on the list. Stuart Townsend. The “would-be” King of Middle Earth. The “would-be” Asgardian….
I’m assuming he could work, but I haven’t seen him in much of anything as he seems to always get replaced at the last minute. If he does get cast, I’d expect that to happen again. But who knows.
As far as all three of these possibilities, I’d actually be really happy with any of them.
What do you guys think?
Responses to “SCOOP: Walking Dead Casting”
Awesome scoop. I would love to see Jamie Barber get that role. I cannot wait for this series to hit the tube.
Personally, I’m excited to get more details.
Stuart would be great hope he gets it he’s not had much luck lately and its about time his career was back on track he is a brilliant actor I have all his films.
Seriously, how reliable is that “most reliable” source? Because if they cast Jamie Bamber in this then my squee gland will disintegrate. (And I know Darabont is a BSG fan… ooooooh…)
The source on that one is extremely reliable and has some inside know-how…
Extremely reliable.
What ever the Director thinks..but if Stuart wants it I hope he gets it. He is a devine actor.. has such a georgeous voice too~! oh and body and smile and personality~!
It’s none of them, Scoops wrong
Good guess’s though.
These weren’t guesses. They’re guys up for the part.
I understand the doubt for sure,I could be wrong in the end but from what I have heard its none of these fellows.
The only person who should play Rick is an unknown named Brian Bedell. Check out how much attention his reel is getting…google walking dead on youtube
It is very exciting for this young classically trained up and coming actor… ohh and he’s super hot!
Well done.
[...] Casting rumors for AMC’s TV adaptation of Walking Dead alert! Three names emerge, including the dude who plays Jacob on Lost. I vote for him. (Big Shiny Robot) [...]
Way to cite your sources, guys. This scoop sounds like total fan fabrication to me. Bamber is a major character on the UK version of Law & Order and as far as I can tell, that status isn’t changing any time soon.
Did you guys even bother to check up on what these actors are up to before you made this shit up?
We double-checked our sources. And all they said was these guys were up for the part. You don’t like that? then don’t believe it. Sorry.
You know? I think my main gripe with this is that you call it a scoop. A scoop usually implies some kind of news and all you have here is a rumor and nothing to back it up with except this vague notion that the world should take your word for it because your “sources” are “extremely reliable”.
Check this out: I’m told by my extremely reliable sources that the role of Carl is going to Chef Boyardee. That right there is one hell of a scoop and it’s fucking bulletproof! If it turns out not to be true, I can simply fall back on my sources being wrong. The worst part of all this is that other websites are starting to pick this story up and run with it.
Well done. Maybe I should start posting “news” like this at my own site. My analytics will be through the roof and I’ll never be held accountable.
So your gripe is with the word “Scoop”? It is a scoop that they’re in the running. That’s not going to turn out to be wrong.
They might not get the part, but they are up for it. After 2 years of operation, I think we deserve to have an anonymous source now and again. And this isn’t just one source, either. And there were reasons for their anonymity.
I don’t see anything wrong with anonymous sources as long as the guys here know who they are.
I trust you guys.
Agreed, there’s a difference between saying an actor about to be cast and saying they’re in the running. I don’t mind an anonymous casting tip if it’s early in the process; if they’re saying someone’s about to sign a contract, then I’m going to want to know who’s vouching.
FYI, Bamber told Galactica.TV recently that his L&O commitment is up after the series they’re filming now:
http://www.galactica.tv/battlestar-galactica-2003-interviews/jamie-bamber-galactica.tv-interview-3.html
I always thought Kevin Bacon would make a good Rick…
u should cast me as the lead! or maybe supporting actor with jensen ackles as lead!
[...] it’s officer Rick Grimes who is the latest subject of the rumour mill, with Big Shiny Robot! alleging that they have some insider info as to which three actors are currently being consider for [...]
[...] Big Shiny Robot Komentarze [0]Podziel [...]
Personally, I’m excited for more details.
[...] this week, Bigshinyrobot.com brings us some casting rumors that they seem to be fairly confident about. According to the site [...]
Bryan White:
OK, take a very deep breath. It’s not implausible bullshit that Bamber is credibly on the shortlist for TWD, for the following reason:
1) The 13 episode second series of Law & Order: UK is almost finished, and apparently will be split in half to screen later this year and early next.
2) There is no guarantee that L&O:UK will be renewed for a third (fifth & sixth?), despite the pretty respectable reviews and ratings for the show so far, given the serious financial crap ITV is in.
3) He’s not committed to return to L&O:UK even if it was. British shows tend to hire their actors from season to season. Not for any particularly sinister reason, but just because British television operates differently from the American nets.
[...] Big Shiny Robot have word on three [...]
[...] With some new Walking Dead news, it’s high time we record another episode of The Talking Dead. Jason and I discuss the filming date for the pilot (as reported by Bloody Disgusting) and the actors rumoured to be up for the role of Rick Grimes (as reported by BigShinyRobot). [...]
Yay for Jacob. Nay for Apolo. He’s too recognizable as Lee Adama, and not nearly the right fit for tough and gritty Rick. Jacob guy on the other hand isn’t nearly as stuck in one role to viewers. And could really become Rick for people. Rick is a bad ass. Not some short pansy little British guy who whines all the time. Sorry. But Apolo was a puss.
What’s the point of Bamber bashing, so called King of the interweb? What’s Jamie ever done to you? Having never read the comic, I don’t know how good he would be for the role but Apollo was a character that Jamie played well, not the full extent of his acting talent. Have you ever seen L&O UK?!?!
Aaron Eckhart, Kevin Sorbo or Josh Holloway would be better choices for Rick Grimmes.
Lots of interesting speculation. I love this “in the running” stuff. As for Bamber, he isn’t committed to Law & Order UK after this year but it is known that the British networks are keen to keep him in the UK. ITV has a funding crisis but that means the will protect their heavy hitters, of which Law and Order UK is one. There is also the issue that Law & Order UK has a large audience on a major British network. Walking Dead will be a pilot of a fledgling Cable network. Depends where Bamber thinks he will get the greatest exposure. He has stated that he would like to make it onto a major network or station again.
Have your “reliable” sources commented on the script? The rumors I hear is that the script produced is dreadful and boring and is being re-worked. As for Bamber, after doing BSG and the fiasco of Pulse 2 (has anyone watched it?!), I really wonder if it would advance his career as a serious British actor to do Walking Dead on AMC. Sort of a let down after Law & Order but if he is hungry and needs work I guess he may bite. It would be a pity however when other British actors are making it big in major shows and movies. I’d hate to see him go the Casper Van Dien route of awful movies…
Jamie Bamber for Rick is a good choice however I always imagined rick to be taller….
[...] We reported earlier that Jamie Bamber, Mark Pellegrino, and Stuart Townsend were up for the role. We have since learned that Bamber and Townsend are definitely out. Bamber was approached, but word has it that he was too short for the part. We were iffy on the information about Townsend in the firstplace and it has since been denied. Pellegrino, however, as far as we can tell is still somewhere in the running and is definitely (or was at press time) in the running for the part. [...]
I love the item that Bamber was approached but then nixed because he was “too short”. Didn’t they know how tall he was before they approached him? Heck, his height is on a zillion websites. Another b.s. source. Bamber may have been nixed but I doubt his height had much to do with it.
Look for him on Night Stalker on hulu.com cause he’s great in that show. But it was canceled by ABC so there are only like ten episodes. I love that show and I love Stuart Townsend. If he were in this movie you can bet that my ass would in the theater opening weekend if not opening day.
[...] Article: Big Shiny Robot – SCOOP: Walking Dead Casting This entry was posted in Articles. Bookmark the permalink. Press Release: THE WALKING DEAD [...]
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