By Carl's cowboy hat, YES.

Just a week after receiving a six-episode
order from AMC and casting one of its chief supporting characters, "The Walking
Dead" television series appears to have its lead actor.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, British actor Andrew Lincoln
has been cast as Rick Grimes, the small-town policeman caught up in the
aftermath of of a zombie apocalypse and charged with leading a small
group of human survivors. Lincoln is best known for roles in the 2003
film "Love Actually" and the celebrated British television series
"Teachers."

The actor will join previously
announced cast member Jon Bernthal, who will play Grimes' former
partner and best friend, Shane. The series starts
shooting in May or June, with "The Mist" and "Shawshank Redemption"
director Frank Darabont serving as writer, director and executive
producer on the project.

"The Walking Dead" is based on an ongoing Image Comics series created
by Robert Kirkman, who offered up some words of praise for Lincoln.

“What an amazing find this guy is," wrote Kirkman in an official
statement. "Writing Rick Grimes month after month in the comic series, I
had no idea he was an actual living breathing human being and yet here
he is. I couldn't be more thrilled with how this show is coming
together."

Previously, I spoke
to Kirkman at length about the project and why he believes Darabont
has the proper vision to bring the series' drama to television.

"When I heard that Darabont was interested in doing it a long, long
time ago, I was just ecstatic," Kirkman told MTV News. "For me, 'The
Walking Dead' is not necessarily a horror thing. It's not all about the
shocks. It's about characters and all of that dramatic nonsense. And
Darabont does that better than anybody."

8D