With Andrew Lincoln's exit, Norman Reedus said goodbye to not just a cast member, but a friend.
"Andy's been my BFF for almost a decade," Reedus told E! News on set of The Walking Dead. "And when I first came onto this show, he was the guy—he's first to work, he's the last one to leave, he's the person that when new people come on he's the first person to shake their hands and welcome them to the show…We've been really good friends forever. He knows my family, I know his family, I've been to his house in England, we've been to Costa Rica, he taught me to surf, he's one of my best friends and always well be. As a leading man, as a leader of a team, he's top-notch, for sure."
Lincoln is off the mothership The Walking Dead, but the story of his character, Rick Grimes, is set to continue in three feature-length movies set to air on AMC. Meanwhile, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Reedus and Melissa McBride have signed new deals with AMC to continue on with The Walking Dead and potential new projects based in that universe.
"The deals that we made for Norman and Melissa are franchise deals. Our deals with Norman and Melissa allow us the flexibility to either move them or use them in more than one place, depending on what seems creatively right to Scott and to his partners," David Madden, AMC programming president, told The Hollywood Reporter.
"We do look at this as a universe where we're trying to expand into as many different places as the show fits. We think this is a franchise that could live across formats. So, we want to do it carefully; we want to be strategic; we want to try to do it right. But there is a multi-year plan that could include additional series, digital content and specials," Madden said.
Currently, AMC has The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead and the three Rick Grimes TV movies.
Click play on the video above to hear more from The Walking Dead stars Reedus, McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Danai Gurira about Lincoln's exit.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays, 9 p.m. on AMC.