AMC's Walking Dead Spin-Off Casts Deadwood's Kim Dickens as Its Female Lead
Gone Girl and Deadwood actress Kim Dickens has been cast as the female lead in AMC's Walking Dead companion series, Deadline reports.
Dickens will play Nancy Tomkins, a guidance counselor who is dating a divorced teacher. The teacher—played by Gang Related and The Missing actor Cliff Curtis—is the spin-off's male lead, a.k.a. its Rick Grimes equivalent.
Though she might look like the girl next door, Dickens' character is described as having a troubled past that will come back to haunt her. She has two children from a previous marriage, played by Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam Carey.
Production on the Los Angeles-based project will begin in early 2015.
In addition to Gone Girl and Deadwood, Dickens' acting credits include Treme, Friday Night Lights, and Sons of Anarchy. She is also set to recur on the third season of House of Cards, which premieres in February.
Gone Girl standout Kim Dickens has been tapped as the female lead opposite Cliff Curtis in the pilot for The Walking Dead companion series at AMC. The project was created by Robert Kirkman, on whose graphic novel The Walking Dead was based, and Dave Erickson, with Adam Davidson set to direct. Dickens landed the female lead after a lengthy casting process, with AMC testing a number of actresses for the role.
The untitled Walking Dead spinoff, code name Cobalt, takes place during the same zombie apocalypse depicted in the blockbuster mothership series but in a different location. It revolves around a divorced teacher (Curtis) and a guidance counselor (Dickens), who are working together and are in a relationship. The counselor has two children from a previous marriage, played by Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam Carey. She looks like the girl next door but has a darkness to her, a troubled past that will come back to haunt her.