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‘The Walking Dead’ Promotes Two Actors to Series Regulars

Season 9 preparations are in full-swing for the cast of The Walking Dead. Just last week, it was announced that filming was officially underway as the cast returned to Georgia to begin the next chapter in the AMC hit series.

More great news for Walking Dead fans was released on Monday. Revealed exclusively by The Hollywood Reporter, two fan-favorite recurring actors have joined the ranks as series regular for the upcoming season. Avi Nash and Callan McAuliffe, who play Siddiq and Alden respectively, have officially been promoted!

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Both characters were first introduced during the series’ eighth season. Siddiq first appeared in the season 8 premiere when he ran into Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) at a gas station. Hesitant of the newcomer, Rick chased him off but that wouldn’t be the last we saw of Siddiq. Later in the season, he and Carl cross paths once more fending off a herd of walkers together – an encounter that would ultimately lead to Carl’s death. Siddiq appears to be a remixed version of a character by the same name in Robert Kirkman’s comics material.

Alden is a former savior who, after being taken prisoner by Maggie (Lauren Cohan) at Hilltop, has since been working hard to prove he never really was loyal to Negan. There is no Alden in The Walking Dead comics, however, it’s been theorized that the character may be a reworked version of a potential love interest for Maggie.  We can certainly see how that might be the case given that the two already seem to have a subtle chemistry developing.

Season nine will be the first with new showrunner Angela Kang at the helm of the series replacing Scott M. Gimple. The Walking Dead will return to AMC for its ninth season this fall! Are you excited to see what lies ahead for the series in season 9? What do you think of the two new series regulars? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

 

Photos: Gene Page, Jackson Lee Davis/AMC