The Walking Dead: Andrew Lincoln on his 'favorite season for a long time'

Ask Andrew Lincoln about the upcoming season of The Walking Dead and you’ll see a smile cross his face. That’s important, because what you hear him say next could be construed as mere publicity hype. But when you see the expression on the actor’s face, you can tell he believes profoundly in what he is saying.

“Season 8 is my favorite season for a long time,” says Lincoln. It feels likes we are back to the show — and certainly the leader that I loved playing — in earlier seasons. And you see him sort of regaining his identity and his strength and becoming a new type of leader and sort of forming a new bond with other people that, up until this point, they haven’t existed. “

That landmark 100th episode will be the Oct. 22 season premiere and it will feature the first of many skirmishes between the two opposing sides in the all-out war. “It’s bigger and more ambitious than any other season we’ve ever attempted,” promises Lincoln. “Pretty much every day is a fun, fun day.”