Don’t You Recognize Me? will be a sporadically posted theme wherein I briefly highlight an early role of a now well-known actor. Typically, it will be one where I didn’t immediately make the connection, hence the title.
This one wasn’t a realization I came upon unassisted, thanks to a tweet by Richard Roeper for that assist, but first a little back story.
As of this writing, I have now read, through trades, the equivalent of the first 102 issues of The Walking Dead in comic book form. When I do read it, it’s been in binge mode. So I held off on starting the TV series until this year. I started watching the series in early January and am now current.
With such a heavy watching schedule, I didn’t look everyone up on the IMDb, but Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick, did seem to have a familiar face.
Then late the other night Richard Roeper tweeted a reference to where I knew him from. He was the guy desperately in love with Keira Knightley in Love Actually. Funny thing is now that I did check his IMDb, I see why I missed the connection.
It was literally the last thing I saw him in. Since then there were a few movies I knew of, but didn’t see, and many TV series that are unfamiliar to me. Love Actually was one of my favorite films in 2003 and one I viewed repeatedly, but it’s one film I had to reacquire as it seems to have vanished from my collection. I’ve not revisited it in some time so, in the haze of memory and all the other faces in that film I already knew, he got lost in the shuffle.
So the next time I pop in Love Actually, probably around Christmas, the “Where are they now?” game will be quite the interesting sidebar: Knightley, Nighy, Firth and Rickman have since won BAMs for other works; Thomas Sangster, believe it or not is the voice of Ferb on Phineas and Ferb, Liam Neeson has since developed his badass persona, and of course, Lincoln is on The Walking Dead just to name a few.
It was quite the sudden realization because as soon as I read the tweet I knew the scene in Love Actually referenced and I could see his face, and it crystallized. In the end, the interpretation of Rick on the show is a different one both physically and in some other small aspects. They’re not identical by any means, but they’re both Rick Grimes, which is a testament to both series staying true to their form.
The Movie Rat 
Before Walking Dead, Lincoln was in a Brit production of Wuthering Heights which aired on PBS”s Masterpiece Theatre. He played Cathy’s husband, Edgar Linton. It was so weird to hear him speaking with his native British accent and I think he gives a credible southern twang on WD.
Didn’t notice that on the IMDb when I checked. It is hard to get used to when you know someone for one particular part. I remember it was presenting at an Award show that I learned Gillian Anderson is British. I won’t forget the fact any longer since I just saw her in the quite good Shadow Dancer.