British actor Andrew Lincoln went to extreme lengths to master an American accent for his role in THE WALKING DEAD - he ditched his English dialect for four months.
Lincoln, a popular TV actor in his native U.K., spent 16 weeks filming the new zombie-themed show, which launched on U.S. network AMC last month (Oct10).
He was so determined to sound authentic, he insisted on speaking in an American accent both on and off camera for the duration of the shoot - and only reverted to his real accent once, when he was recognised by British tourists in New York.
Lincoln tells ShortList magazine, "(Executive producer) Frank Darabont asked me to be in dialect all the way through the job, even when I was off camera. It was a good idea because it meant that I didn't have to think about the accent when it came to filming. I had more important things to worry about frankly, like the zombie apocalypse.
"(But) I went to New York at one point and this tourist recognised me. I had to snap back into my English accent and go, 'I'm really sorry, nice to meet you.'... That was cool because when I hear accents that I don't think are right, I'm a bit of a fascist."