The most recent episode of "The Walking Dead" ended with Gareth (Andrew J. West) and his group of cannibal survivors feasting on Bob's (Larry Gilliard Jr.) leg. The shocking scene quickly became one of the most gruesome things that the hit AMC zombie show has ever done since it was launched in 2010. But where does the show actually draw the line when it comes to violence and brutality?
In a recent interview with Details, Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes on the series, remembered the time he reached out to showrunner Scott M. Gimple because he was too worried that the neck bite scene from the show's Season 4 finale might be too much for television.
"I called Scott up, and I said, 'We've always been incredibly responsible with violence in this show, but if there's a line in the sand, do you think we may be overstepping it with this?' And he said, 'I don't think so. I really don't.'" the 41-year-old British actor told the magazine. "But when I came to play the scene, I had no doubt in mind that it was the right thing to do."
The "Love Actually" star then revealed that he would no longer be interested in doing the show once it entered the area of pornographic violence. "The moment we move into pornographic violence-'torture porn'-I have absolutely no interest," he said. "In fact, it's abhorrent for me, that type of movie-that victim-torture porn, is the only way I can explain it. If we move into that area, that is a show I want nothing to do with."
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in March, he recalled filming the "brutal" neck bite scene from last season finale.
"It was 4:30 in the morning. We did 95 setups or so of that scene alone leading up to the bite. I remember [EP and VFX guru] Greg Nicotero looking at me earlier in the day and saying, 'We're doing the gag. Do you want chicken or beef?' I asked for the chicken, and Greg asked if I wanted it cooked or raw. I asked which was the closest to flesh. He said uncooked, and that is what we went with," he shared.
"It was a rite of passage. It was the gnarliest thing I've ever had to do," Lincoln added of the scene. "I didn't realize how my body would feel with raw chicken flesh in my mouth among all the other blood gags in the scene. It was beyond gruesome."
"I don't remember much after "Action," he recalled in an interview with AMC. "Norman [Reedus] (Daryl) kept looking at me and saying I looked crazy. It was quite a wild night."