Where Frank Darabont goes, Jon Bernthal may follow. Word is, the actor, who currently plays a pretty big role in AMC’s The Walking Dead may be looking to star in L.A. Noir, Darabont’s upcoming drama pilot for TNT. So, what does this mean for Shane on The Walking Dead?
From the sound of it, that may be looking a bit far ahead. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Bernthal, who plays Shane in The Walking Dead, is “circling the lead in Darabont’s TNT pilot, L.A. Noir.” Per THR’s report, it’s “unclear” whether or not this part, should he get it, means he’d be leaving The Walking Dead.
?As of right now, Bernthal’s character Shane plays a fairly big role in AMC’s zombie-drama The Walking Dead. So, assuming he gets this part and L.A. Noir goes to series, it’s very possible he’ll have to leave The Walking Dead. Given the dark nature of the AMC drama, which has people fairly regularly encountering flesh-eating zombie-types, killing off a major character isn’t an improbability, especially one who, from what I understand, has already outlived the comic book version of the character on which he’s based.
Bernthal migrating from the popular AMC drama to TNT would reunite him with Frank Darabont, who was the showrunner of The Walking Dead up until last summer. Darabont is not only set to write the pilot for L.A. Noir, which is described as a period mobster drama, but he’ll also direct. The role Bernthal is up for is Joe Teague, an LAPD cop “at the heart of the series that revolves around the police force's pursuit of mobster Mickey Cohen.”
At this point, the only thing confirmed is that he's up for the part, but it'll be very interesting to hear more news about this, especially if he's cast in the pilot and what it will mean for The Walking Dead, should the pilot be given a series order.
