Andrew Lincoln Returning to ‘The Walking Dead’, As A Director

While season nine is going to see the departure of Rick Grimes, it may not be the last time actor Andrew Lincoln is involved with the show, The Walking Dead. The actor himself revealed that he will be returning for an episode, but not as Rick, but as a director.

“I’m going back. I’m going back to shadow a director, and my intention is to direct next year.”

Lincoln won’t be the only one to leave the show then return, as season nine will see the return of Jon Bernthal’s Shane, which will be interesting to see how this is brought int the show, considering Shane was killed off in season two. Although, it’s not the first time they brought Bernthal back, as he appeared as a hallucination that Rick saw in season three. Michael Cudlitz, whose character Abraham was killed in the seventh season’s premiere, will also return to direct an episode in season nine.

Lincoln had revealed that the primary reason he had chosen to leave the show was that he was too far away from his family, in England. Despite this fact, Lincoln reveals that it isn’t fun thinking about being away from the show he had been the main part of for nine seasons:

“I can’t be that far away because I can’t bear it. [laughs] That’s how much I am invested in the show and the continuation of the story.”

The Walking Dead returns October 7^th!