In a case of both perfect casting and perfect timing, Hilarie Burton — the real-life wife of Jeffrey Dean Morgan — has reportedly been cast as Lucille on The Walking Dead. Lucille is the wife of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character, Negan, and since these two are married in real life, it works out perfectly for an episode shot during a quarantine.
According to Comicbook.com — the outlet that originally reported the news — work is already underway in Georgia, where Burton will appear as a guest star in one of the six bonus Season 10 episodes scheduled to air in the Spring. This obviously suggests that Angela Kang and The Walking Dead will finally tackle Negan’s origin story and the heartbreaking history behind Negan’s baseball bat, Lucille, depicted in Here’s Negan, a stand-alone volume of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic.
For those who may have forgotten spoilers from the comics, Lucille is Negan’s late wife, who Negan cheated on pre-apocalypse. He recommitted himself to her when she was diagnosed with cancer. Lucille was in the hospital when the zombie outbreak began. She died from cancer but reanimated as a zombie that Negan had to put down. He ultimately named his signature baseball bat after his late wife.
Hilarie Burton is a veteran actress herself, most famously for her role in One Tree Hill, where she worked alongside Daneel Harris, who would later marry Jensen Ackles, who would introduce Burton in real life to his Supernatural father, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Morgan and Burton have been romantically linked for several years (and have children together), but only got married last October. Burton was also a major presence in shows like White Collar and the television adaptation of Lethal Weapon.
The episode should air in the Spring when The Walking Dead returns for six new episodes.
(Via Comicbook.com)
