Today, AMC Networks announced the first Tales of the Walking Dead cast members. Tales of the Walking Dead is the new series in the expanding universe and franchise around The Walking Dead.
The Tales of the Walking Dead cast includes Anthony Edwards (Inventing Anna, WeCrashed), Parker Posey (Lost in Space), Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Poppy Liu (Dead Ringers), and Jillian Bell (Rough Night).
The AMC Studios-produced episodic anthology of six original, standalone stories is focused on both new and established characters within the walker apocalypse.
Haifaa al-Mansour (Good Lord Bird, Motherland), Deborah Kampmeier (Star Trek: Picard), and Tara Nicole Weyr (The Wilds, Bosch) will each direct one episode with series producer Michael Satrazemis (The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead) set to direct three episodes.
Executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, chief content officer of the Walking Dead Universe and showrunner Channing Powell, who has been a writer and producer on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, “Tales” debuts this summer on AMC and AMC+.
“Anthony, Jillian, Terry, Parker, and Poppy are the first wave of singular talents who will further expand the Walking Dead Universe into harrowing, hilarious, heartfelt, and horrifying new realms, and we couldn’t be happier to welcome them to the family, along with these terrific directors. More announcements, more wonderful folks to come,” said Gimple.
“We’ve worked hard to create unique, interesting, and unexpected characters for both old and new TWD fans, and I’m thrilled that these are the actors who will bring them to life. I can’t wait for you to see the depth, drama, terror, and, yes, humor they bring to the screen,” said Powell.
The Walking Dead and other series in the Walking Dead Universe continue to be top titles on the AMC+ streaming service, both in terms of usage and new subscriber acquisitions. The Walking Dead Season 11 Part 2 premieres Sunday, February 20 at 9:00 p.m. ET/8c with new episodes available one week early on AMC+, beginning with the premiere episode on Sunday, February 13.
Edwards will next appear in the Netflix series Inventing Anna, created by Shonda Rhimes and starring Julia Garner, and Apple TV+’s WeCrashed, starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway.
Parker will next appear in the limited series The Staircase for HBO Max and in the feature Disappointment Blvd for A24. She currently stars in the hit Netflix series Lost in Space.
Crews is the author of Tough: My Journey to True Power and has appeared in numerous series, including Brooklyn Nine-Nine, among others.
Liu will join Rachel Weisz as a series regular in the Amazon series Dead Ringers, a modern update of David Cronenberg’s cult classic 1980s film. A first-generation Chinese American, Liu can also be seen in the pivotal role of Kiki in the Emmy and SAG Award-nominated HBO Max series Hacks, opposite Jean Smart.
Liu recently recurred on AMC’s Emmy-nominated Better Call Saul and starred opposite Kal Penn in the NBC comedy series Sunnyside.
Bell’s credits include Brittany Runs a Marathon, Rough Night, Idiotsitter, and Workaholics, among others.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills to provide the latest news on streaming, movies, and TV shows. He previously created the websites ComingSoon, SuperHeroHype, and ShockTillYouDrop.