Kim Dickens is primed to become a mainstay on our television screens next season. After signing on for a recurring role on House of Cards Season Three, Deadline has learned that the actress has now joined AMC’s The Walking Dead prequel series as the female lead.
This tidbit means the Gone Girl star will act opposite Cliff Curtis as a guidance counsellor, who soon finds herself caught amidst the flesh-munching action before long. It’s understood that Dickens’ character will be the mother of Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam, who joined the spinoff’s ever-growing casting list only a few short weeks ago.
According to the report, AMC took their time in casting the coveted role, rummaging through a list of candidates before settling on Dickens — and no wonder, given her performance in David Fincher’s psychological thriller. Besides, the actress is no stranger to the small screen, given her string of appearances on shows including Treme, Deadwood and, more recently, FX’s Sons Of Anarchy.
Last we reported of the companion series we learned that the network was set to take the zombie action to the West Coast, and here’s what AMC President Charlie Collier had to say about the new milieu:
“Almost from the beginning of The Walking Dead (which is set in Atlanta), fans have been curious about what is going on in the zombie apocalypse in other parts of the world.”
Situating the action in a different pocket of the States is certainly a welcome tonic to the Atlantic-set action in the core series. Plus, given that this prequel series will take place during the early days of the zombie apocalypse, it’ll be interesting to see how AMC and the writing staff — headed up by Dave Erickson and Adam Davidson — will handle the new location.
AMC’s The Walking Dead companion series — or Cobalt, to be specific — is still a ways away from release, with filming due to begin in September, 2015.
