The Wire‘s Chad Coleman has been cast as comic-book fan-favourite Tyreese in The Walking Dead, and makes his first appearance in Season 3 Episode 8, ‘Made To Suffer’.
Unlike in the comics, where Tyreese was a loner, he has a sister (Sasha) as well as being accompanied by two other guys: Allen (light hair) and Ben (dark hair). Coleman thinks this will affect his moral compass:
“There’s a certain selflessness when it’s just not about self-preservation and when you really have to extend yourself to protect and take care of and think about others,” he tells SciFiNow. “For me personally there is much more of a weight to it than being a lone rider if you will.”
In the comics, he was once a pro NFL football player and quickly became Rick’s right-hand man. Will he filling that role in the TV show?
“I, Chad Coleman the actor, would love that just for the opportunity to mix it up and go toe to toe and be in scenes with Andrew Lincoln, so that’s the selfish aspect of it,” Coleman admits. “From the story, I think it would be compelling. I think it would give the audience a lot of meaty exchanges. I can’t say that that is going to occur but I would put my vote in for it, for sure.”
It sounds like we’ll be getting to know his backstory a lot better when the series returns in February, as Coleman continues, “There’s a back history between myself and Daniel [Thomas May]’s character, Allen, that we didn’t know about initially, that we found out about as we went along and boy, was that an amazing day! I love that kind of stuff, because it just sweetens the pot. It just makes it that much juicier and heightens the stakes that much more.”
Fans of the graphic novel the series is based on will know that Tyreese develops a relationship with Carol and then falls for Michonne, sparking a dramatic love triangle, so we couldn’t help but ask…
“I couldn’t give you one iota about that! Cliffhanger to the third power,” he says. “There is much that will surprise me as much as it does you. You know the pedigree of the show at this point, so it’s going to be juicy and awesome for all parties involved.”
The mid-season finale, ‘Made To Suffer’, airs Friday 7th December 2012 on FX. The Walking Dead episodes 9-16 will return to FX early 2013.
