Is THE WALKING DEAD Pushing the Limits for Child Actors?

SFX Magazine features AMC's upcoming comic adapted series, The Walking Dead on next month's cover. In it's online preview, star Andrew Lincoln addresses the stressful situations dealing with children from the comic to small screen.

Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead, was asked point blank on how the show is dealing with his character's parental skills, specifically since the comic has Rick teaching his young son how to fire a gun.

“We haven’t as yet reached that point. Our parental instincts are still very much intact. The protective nurturing instinct is still in effect. So we haven’t reached any strange compromises that I know the graphic novel reaches very quickly. We’ll have to deal with that," said Lincoln.

The show is for mature audiences and some of the scenes being shot could be considered traumatizing for younger viewers, but what about the little children who are physically on set? Lincoln spoke with SFX on that issue as well, assuring fans that the kids are being cared for.

"There was an attack the other night. At one point I looked at all the children that were on set and said, ‘Are you guys cool? Are you comfortable with all these things?’ They’ve got guardians there, and they all seem okay. There is always that responsibility, absolutely. But No-one has been compromised. Obviously we want it to be as real and as true to the tone of the books as we possibly can make it,” said Lincoln.

During this year's Comic-Con, a mother questioned the The Walking Dead panel on how far director Frank Darabont would push certain scenes adapted from the comic when dealing with the child actors' well-being. Actress Sarah Wayne Callies, who also stars on the show spoke on that issue as well.

“I thought that it was absolutely ludicrous. As an actor, it’s exciting to try something that’s such a risk,” said Callies.

Callies, who plays Rick's wife, Lori Grimes on the show, also commented on how the first season is so varied that it can't be labelled in just the horror category.

“They’re almost in different genres from week to week. Some of them are very silent and quiet. Some of them are covered in zombies and some of them have almost none. It’s so exciting to be a part of something like that," she said.