The Wire’s Lawrence Gilliard Jr. Officially Joins The Walking Dead

For a little while, there have been rumblings that Lawrence Gilliard Jr. would become a series regular and play “Roy Stark”, on The Walking Dead. Those rumblings have ostensibly proven true.

It has been confirmed that Gilliard, who is best known for playing D’Angelo Barksdale on HBO’s The Wire, will actually be playing Bob Stookey, a pivotal character from the comics. Stookey is a former army medic, a drunk, and an ally to The Governor. I won’t say anymore, but you can read more spoiler-like stuff about the character’s story here. I wouldn’t worry too much about spoilers, though; the show has already changed so much from the comics, particularly in relation to the Woodbury story line, that it’s getting more and more difficult to consider the comics spoilers (not that I’m complaining).

With the casting, Gilliard is reunited with his The Wire castmate Chad Coleman (Tyreese). Together, they will attempt to survive the series’ affinity for limiting its black male cast member total to ≦1.