Who Was 'The Walking Dead's' First Rick Grimes?

The Walking Dead has already made household names of its actors across its six season run, with the likes of Norman Reedus starring in this year's film Triple 9 . But it is Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes who leads the intrepid group of survivors. With a (now) all star cast, could you imagine a world without Lincoln as leader Rick Grimes? Would he be as sweaty? Would his beard be as bushy? Sadly, we will never know, but here is how it could have played out.

The Walking Dead season 6 is still dominating the ratings chart, meanwhile the recent news that Watchmen's Jeffery Dean Morgan was joining their ranks set zombie mouths salivating. But he isn't the only Hollywood man who has circled a Walking Dead role before, nor will he probably be the last.

Original showrunner Frank Darabont revealed that it was Hollywood's Thomas Jane who was supposed to don Rick's cowboy hat before the show was put into production. Darabont had originally been developing The Walking Dead for HBO, the network behind TV giants like Game Of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, and True Detective. Known for its brutally gritty dramas, an HBO Walking Dead would certainly have looked a lot different. Thomas Jane had previously appeared in big movies like Deep Blue Sea and The Mist and was definitely better known than Andrew Lincoln.

When HBO passed on The Walking Dead, AMC was quick to pick it up and Jane was still interested. Unfortunately, he had prior commitments to HBO's Hung, playing a Detroit high school basketball and baseball coach who resorts to male prostitution. Darabont was forced to look elsewhere. Enter Andrew Lincoln.

Lincoln's previous roles included the British sitcom Teachers, where he played English teacher Simon Casey for the first three seasons. Ironically, the U.S. version of Teachers only lasted six episodes. Lincoln also had a bit part in the 2003 Brit rom-com Love Actually and several small stage roles. It came as a surprise to executive bigwigs when, in early 2010, he was cast as Grimes, and no one has looked back since.

The grizzly cop is now the de-facto leader of the Alexandria Safe Zone — not bad for a man who started the series as a Kill Bill coma victim. While love for Rick isn't as visible amongst fans as their love for Daryl or Michonne, it is certainly true that The Walking Dead wouldn't be the same without Rick.