The Walking Dead Cast Explain How The Show Changed Their Lives

If you want peace, prepare for war.

That is, in essence, the underlying theme coursing through the veins of The Walking Dead in anticipation of season 8, which will see Rick Grimes mount a full-blown assault on Negan and his demented Saviors. By calling upon the communities of Alexandria, the Hilltop and the Kingdom, Andrew Lincoln’s leader is about to find himself in the midst of all out war. But before that begins, it’s time to do a bit of reflection.

With the season premiere quickly approaching, AMC has now released a great new promo that features the cast of the hit series speaking about how their time working on the show has changed their lives. It may not give us any juicy new footage from the upcoming episodes, but it’s definitely worth a watch if you count yourself a fan.

Reflecting on his role as lead character Rick Grimes, Andrew Lincoln says that The Walking Dead taught him a lot about who he was. Norman Reedus, meanwhile, states that the show has certainly changed his life. “It’s made me a better person, a harder worker. It’s been awesome,” he says in the video above.

Those are sentiments echoed by most of the cast here, and given what a pop culture juggernaut the zombie drama has become over the years, it’s not hard to see why everyone’s so honored and thankful to have been a part of the phenomenon.

The Walking Dead season 8 begins its 16-episode run on October 22nd – just don’t expect much of an explanation for the “Old Man Rick” scene right off the bat. Ditto for a potential crossover with AMC’s sibling series, Fear The Walking Dead, after Daniel Sharman (Troy Otto) labeled any major narrative conjunction to be a “bad idea.”