The Walking Dead draws millions of viewers for AMC during the season, but actor Andrew Lincoln is not one of them. In an interview today, the British actor explained why he doesn’t like watching his own show and performances as Rick, the leader of the zombie apocalypse survivors.
“The original reason is the fact that I don’t actually enjoy looking at myself,” he told Entertainment Weekly, which asked him to explain a little further. When asked if he’s too critical of his own work, he agreed.
Lincoln explained that he usually will point out things in his performances that he likes and things that he doesn’t. “And that defeats the object of what I want to do as an actor, which is to try and be in the role and not be self-conscious,” he said. “I watch great actors, great actors that I admire beyond all things and I see them replicate, and it’s very hard not to. I don’t want to do that. I just want to leave myself alone as much as I can. It breaks the spell, it breaks the magic somewhat.”
He also said that he refused to even watch an episode from last season that he wasn’t in.
“...For me, my job here is just to be as truthful as I can in this role,” Lincoln told EW. “I don’t think it’s that unusual if you ask a lot of actors, because it’s the same thing as not reading press or reviews.
“You can’t do both. You can’t get good stuff and not get the bad as well. That’s not the exchange. So if I step back from it and don’t even engage on any level, all I’m left with is the good stuff, the fun stuff, that hopefully I’ve enjoyed day-to-day.”
Walking Dead’s fourth season premiere airs on Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. The show has a new showrunner with Scott Gimble taking over the reins from Glen Mazzara.
