So, some background. Saturday morning, we did a podcasting panel with Jason and Karen of The Walking Dead ‘Cast, Chris and Jason of The Talking Dead, and of course, Eric and James from The Walker Stalkers cast, who were our hosts. Immediately after the panel, James gets this gleam in his eye and said, “Hey, want to meet Andrew?” Turns out he was just down the hall, getting setup for what turned out to be a long day of signing autographs and meeting the fans.
Now, I don’t really go in for the celebrity thing. What do I care if I have somebody’s signature? I know some people love it, but I’ve never had that wiring. But I do enjoy meeting ones I particularly like, especially if I can have a meaningful interaction with them.
I had long since promised myself that if I ever got in the same room as Andrew Lincoln, I’d subject him to my terrible impression of his Rick Grimes character. Now, here I was. I was having him sign some photos for Jason and Karen, because they’d been so cool to us, when I casually let slip that I do this crappy impression, and that people seem to like it. “Let’s hear it!” Oh, shit. I totally forgot that I can never do any kind of impression on demand, let alone to The Man Himself. I started to think, “you know, what if he thinks you’re making fun of him?” Then I thought, “Well, you kinda are.” Followed by, “What the fuck, you’ve been standing here thinking for like a million years, DO IT!”
My mouth opened, and I kinda socially “blacked out.” Words came out, reactions were had, but it was such an intense blur I had no clear idea of what they were. Thankfully, we got some video of it, which you see here. Mr. Lincoln was very nice and obliging; he was especially sweet to James’ kids who lined up to meet him. It’s always nice when a person you admire from afar turns out to be a decent human, and Andrew pretty much slayed whatever room he was in, he is a real class act.
Walker Stalker Con was super cool, I hope everyone gets a chance to go next year, when I’m sure it will be even bigger and better.