Andrew Lincoln Says The Walking Dead Will Be Better Without Rick Grimes

Rick Grimes doesn’t have much longer as a character on The Walking Dead, but if you ask Andrew Lincoln, that’s a good thing. The actor spoke with Entertainment Weekly and explained why he thinks the show will be better off without him. Here are highlights:

On his departure: “There’s something beautiful in the original DNA of the show in that it is all about change. The show will live on and it will continue to be great. We knew it was happening when Lennie left for the other show and it was brilliant.”

On the change in showrunners: “It’s exciting because there is a sense that there is a new vision for the show. I think Angela and everybody involved in it are performing out of their socks. To the best of their ability they’re putting it all out there. It’s a really exciting landscape that all of the characters are inhabiting. It’s the show I always thought we’d get to when I did the pilot — a pared down, much more dangerous and compromising and spare landscape.”

On why the show will be better with his absence: “What I don’t want to do is stay too long when I think the show will actually benefit from other people taking the reins and forging a new path. And that’s what I think is happening now. It’s beautiful watching and seeing my dear friends who are incredible actors doing extraordinary things and turning it into a new show. And that is enormously gratifying. When they send me the scripts. I do get a little upset because it sounds really cool.”