Last week it was revealed that The Walking Dead companion series will initially take place in Los Angeles, and early this month it was reported that Cliff Curtis will take on the show's male lead, leaving many to wonder who would be cast as the female lead. Fans don't have to mull that one over anymore, though, as it's been revealed that Gone Girl's Kim Dickens has been cast in the lead female role in the companion series.

Deadline reported the news of Kim Dickens' casting today. Dickens recently had a fantastic turn in David Fincher's Gone Girl as speculative Detective Rhonda Boney. Her acting credits also include recurring roles on Friday Night Lights, Lost, Deadwood, and Sons of Anarchy.

Dickens' role in the companion series is believed to be a guidance counselor with a troubled past who works at the same school as Cliff Curtis' divorced teacher character, with whom she also has a romantic relationship. The guidance counselor (referred to in previous reports as Nancy Tompkins, though that name is likely not official) is a single thirtysomething mother with two children that will be played by Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam Carey, the first two actors to join the cast. These character details are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate, however, so please consider taking them with a grain of salt.

On the other side of the camera, Robert Kirkman co-created and co-wrote the pilot with Dave Erickson (Sons of Anarchy, Low Winter Sun), who will also serve as showrunner and executive producer. The Walking Dead executive producers Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert will handle the same duties on the new show. We’ll keep Daily Dead readers updated on The Walking Dead companion series as more announcements are made.

For those that missed it, here’s the previously released press release from AMC, announcing that they moved forward with a pilot order:

“New York, NY – September 5, 2014 – AMC announced today that it has ordered a pilot episode of a companion series for “The Walking Dead.” “The Walking Dead,” which premiered on AMC in October, 2010, has been the #1 program on television among adults 18-49 for the last two years. Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert from “The Walking Dead” are also executive producers of the new project which, like the original, is being produced by AMC Studios. Dave Erickson (“Marco Polo,” “Sons of Anarchy”), who co-created and co-wrote the pilot with Kirkman, will serve as an executive producer and showrunner.

“Almost from the beginning of ‘The Walking Dead’ on AMC, fans have been curious about what is going on in the zombie apocalypse in other parts of the world. In fact, beyond requests for zombie cameos, it’s the question I get asked the most,” said AMC President Charlie Collier. “Obviously, we all take our stewardship of the original franchise incredibly seriously and we, along with Robert, Gale, David and now Dave, are all proceeding with extreme care in order to ensure that we are offering fans something truly compelling, engaging and distinct. We’re thrilled to be taking this next step with these remarkable partners.”

“There are many corners of ‘The Walking Dead’ universe that remain unseen in the shadows. Being given the opportunity to shine a light into those corners and see what lurks out there is an absolute thrill. I know the fans are anxious to hear what Dave and I have been cooking up for this new universe of ‘The Walking Dead,’ and I’m happy to be one step closer to sharing it with them,” said Kirkman.

“I’ve been fortunate to have collaborated with both Robert and AMC on past projects and I’m thrilled to join them again, along with Gale and David, to build upon ‘The Walking Dead’s’ already epic narrative,” said Erickson.

The pilot is scheduled for production in late 2014. No additional details are being provided about the location and/or casting for the pilot at this time.

The highly-anticipated fifth season of “The Walking Dead” returns to AMC on October 12. “The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series created and written by Robert Kirkman and published by Skybound, Kirkman’s imprint at Image Comics.”

Kim Dickens in Gone Girl:

Source: Deadline
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    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

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