The Walking Dead Michael Cudlitz is Sgt. Abraham Ford

[Sawyer]

http://tvline.com/2013/10/11/the-wa...dlitz-sgt-abraham-ford/#!1/twd-eugene-porter/

The Walking Dead Exclusive: Southland Stalwart Michael Cudlitz Lands Pivotal Comic Book Role; Plus – Crazy-Cool First Photo!

Southland‘s Officer John Cooper has been promoted to Sergeant. That’s the good news. The bad news is he’s been reassigned to the zombie apocalypse!

The Walking Dead has tapped Michael Cudlitz to join the Season 4 cast in the pivotal comic book role of Sgt. Abraham Ford, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Introduced in Issue 53, Abraham — an Army man and sports coach before the outbreak — becomes Rick’s right-hand man and one of the group’s most essential defenders.

Cudlitz has been shooting on location in Georgia for weeks, but, remarkably, his casting has remained under wraps — part of an elaborate covert mission to preserve the announcement for today’s Walking Dead panel at New York Comic-Con.

“I was laying low because [Abraham has] a very iconic look,” explains Cudlitz, who was approached by the AMC smash last spring (shortly after he wrapped work on what would turn out to be Southland’s series finale). “It would be very easy for somebody to put the pieces together if they saw me strolling around [near the show's set.] So I was staying very close to the hotel. And I didn’t hang out with any of the other castmembers.”

There still isn’t much Cudlitz can reveal about the gig, except that he will turn up at some point in Season 4 (by our calculations, probably around midseason) and, much like his comic counterpart, “Abraham is someone who comes with a lot of emotional baggage. And he’s on a mission.”

And although he’s coming in as a series regular, Cudlitz knows the drill: There is little to no job security on The Walking Dead, unless your name is Andrew Lincoln.

“There’s no guarantee of how long or how short it will be, which is one of the things I actually find pretty exciting about the job after being locked into Southland for so many years,” he admits. “But [Abraham] is very important in the comic, so I imagine even if it IS short, it’ll be bright.”

Before you hit the comments with your reaction to this epic casting news, here are 10 more comic book-based Walking Dead characters whose arrival we anxiously await. (Additional reporting by Misha Solomon)

Thought I'd give him his own thread.

 

[ironman_rick]

Wow......

 

[The Joker]

I love Abraham

 

[Evelisse]

Great casting.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I hope he beefs up for the role.

 

[terry78]

Good work here.

 

[Sawyer]

I hope he beefs up for the role.

Oh you.

 

[terry78]

If they ever put Hammerhead onscreen for a Spidey film, there you go.

 

[yogamble]

What is Abraham famous for in the comics? Or better yet what's his claim to fame?

 

[Sawyer]

Having a handlebar mustache and being a badass, duh.

 

[tzarinna]

Perfect casting!

 

[Rowsdower!]

He looks like the lovechild of Sean Astin and Morgan Spurlock.

 

[Sawyer]

I wonder which members of the group Abraham's crew will cross paths with first. I'm guessing he'll show up before they're all reunited.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

And

Spoiler

getting an arrow through the eye very unexpectedly.

 

[Sawyer]

...... yes.

 

[Man in the Suit]

I wonder which members of the group Abraham's crew will cross paths with first. I'm guessing he'll show up before they're all reunited.

They supposedly show up in episode [BLACKOUT]10 where there are four different stories being shown.[/BLACKOUT]

 

[Sawyer]

Hmmm...

Spoiler

In one interview or on The Talking Dead, they made episode 10 out to be very different. If that's because there's four different stories, I wonder if the first one back is solely Rick and Carl.

 

[Elevator Man]

Felt sorry for Abe in this recent ep. The guy attempts suicide after he found his helpless family eaten and killed by walkers b/c they deserted him out of fear of what Abe could do to them. Even though he was doing anything a loving husband/father would do to keep his family alive. And yet Ellen (Abe's wife) thought she and their children had a better chance of surviving without him. Huh? But Abe blames himself for failing to keep his family alive. Then Eugene gives him another reason to live and a new mission, which was saving the fate of mankind. Only for that to be a lie. It's messed up b/c this was a second chance for Abe. He couldn't save his family but he could somewhat make up for it by saving the world. I'm curious to see how Abe will handle this situation now. Will he have any reason to live now that it's been taken from him again?

 

[Piper Maru]

He was so angry with everyone on the last Talking Dead, I thought he was gonna eat Chris Hardwick for dinner.

 

[MadVillainy]

I didnt watch Talking Dead, why was he mad?

 

[Elevator Man]

 

[TheVileOne]

He was so angry with everyone on the last Talking Dead, I thought he was gonna eat Chris Hardwick for dinner.

Why was he angry?

 

[Great Cthulhu]

Why was he angry?

Probarbly because his character development isn't going anywhere.

 

[Elevator Man]

Abraham was an interesting character who had a lot potential when he was introduced in season 4. The character has been taking a back seat since Eugene's lie and when Abe was promoted as the manager of the ASZ construction crew (after saving Francine and preventing the construction area from being overrun) last season. The price of trying to balance a huge cast. Abraham could definitely use a more compelling arc though. He's capable of more than drawing away thousands of walkers 20 miles away from the ASZ, having a screaming match with an incapacitated walker (though I thought that was a pretty good scene), discovering and wearing a military jacket, and flirting with Sasha, but at least he found an RPG that'll come in handy. I think Abe has some sort of a death wish this season.

 

[Elevator Man]

Abe could’ve handle his break up with Rosita a lot better. He decides to call a quits on their relationship just before their raid on Negan's compound. Abe still didn’t have the cojones to tell Rosita why. He should’ve broke it off with her the moment he started to show interest in Sasha, which was two months ago in the shows timeline (during that episode where Daryl separated from him and Sasha for a day). Instead he chose to continue being intimate with Rosita and lying about her being “perfection” while fantasizing about Sasha at the same time. He really came off like a jerk in that moment. However, it was hilarious and awkward that Eugene witnessed the break up and him trying to change the subject by offering Rosita a bite of Carol’s beet and acorn cookies before she slams the door in front of him.