Imagine If AMC Had Cast Someone Else To Play These ‘Walking Dead’ Characters?

Could you imagine what The Walking Dead would be like if Andrew Lincoln hadn’t been cast as Rick Grimes? Or if someone else played Michonne? Well, imagine no further. Here is a list of some of the actors who could have played some of the main characters in The Walking Dead.

1. Rick Grimes. It seems that Rick Grimes is Andrew Lincoln and Andrew Lincoln is Rick Grimes, but the show’s original showrunner, Frank Darabont had someone else in mind as the perfect Rick Grimes when he was pitching The Walking Dead to HBO: Tom Jane. “I thought Tom would be awesome,” Frank reportedly stated at a Q&A after the Hero Complex Film Festival. However, as Uproxx reveals, when HBO rejected The Walking Dead and Tom Jane moved on to another role, Darabont had to broaden his horizon. At first, many actors auditioned for the role, including a couple of familiar Walking Dead names. Firstly, Ethan Embry. While it hasn’t been officially confirmed that Ethan Embry (who went on to play Carter in season 6 of The Walking Dead), Cleveland.com speculated that some of the things Embry mentioned during a recent Talking Dead interview indicate he could have auditioned for the role of Rick Grimes. Among their speculation was the fact Embry auditioned for the pilot episode of The Walking Dead in 2010 and that the current Walking Dead showrunner, Scott Gimple, suggested Embry is an example of what Rick could have been if he originated in the Alexandria safe zone.The second name also suggested as potentially playing Rick Grimes is Jon Bernthal. That name will be familiar because while he originally auditioned to play Rick, he ultimately won the role of Rick’s partner and friend, Shane. And it was the role he wanted over Rick Grimes anyway he told The Hollywood Reporter. Ultimately, Shane was cast to Jon Bernthal before Andrew Lincoln was cast to play Rick.

   

2. Lori Grimes. She is the character many Walking Dead fans love to hate and led to a multitude of Walking Dead memes about bad parenting. She is the wife who thought her husband was dead so got cozy with his friend and partner, Shane, before finding out Rick was still alive. While Sarah Wayne Callies eventually won the role of Lori, it was, once again, another Walking Dead cast member who also tried out for the role. Laurie Holden, who fans know as Andrea, originally donned a brunette wig when Frank Darabont asked her to audition for the part of Lori Grimes according to The Hollywood Reporter.
   

   

3. Michonne. Can anyone really imagine the role of Michonne as belonging to anyone other than Danai Gurira? Well, it seems before the role was cast, Sonequa Martin-Green tried out for the coveted role. According to Jezabel, Glenn Mazzera (who was the showrunner during the Michonne casting) saw Sonequa’s audition and while he didn’t think she was perfect as Michonne, knew he wanted her on the show at some stage. The role of Sasha was later written with this actress in mind.
   

   

4. Merle Dixon. It is common knowledge that Norman Reedus originally auditioned for the role of Merle. After thinking Michael Rooker (the actor who ended up playing Merle) had dropped out of The Walking Dead, it was later revealed to Reedus that a special role had been written for him based on his audition. And so the mythical Daryl Dixon was born.However, another Walking Dead actor also tried out for the role of Merle Dixon: Ted Huckabee. Ted now plays the role of Bruce in The Walking Dead, a character introduced in the Alexandria safe zone. But, as he told Fansided, he once also tried out for the role of “a redneck racist guy that gets handcuffed to an air-conditioning unit on the top of an old building in downtown Atlanta.”

   

5. Morgan. Jezabel also confirmed another Walking Dead cast member originally tried out for the role of Morgan. Chad L. Coleman, who went on to play Sasha’s brother, Tyreese, originally auditioned for the role of Morgan, the first non-zombie character Rick Grimes came across after he awoke from his coma in season 1 of The Walking Dead. Coleman was duly noted by casting director Sharon Bialy and then picked up when the role of Tyreese became available.

Do you think AMC got it right with their castings in The Walking Dead? Let us know by commenting below!

Season 6 of The Walking Dead returns to AMC on February 14, 2016.

[Image Credit: AMC]