The Walking Dead Season 2 Casts Its First New Survivor

With The Walking Dead gearing up for a fall return, it's about time that we started getting some casting news. TV Guide is reporting that actor Pruitt Taylor Vince is the first new person to be cast for season two. Vince, who had a recurring role as agent J.J. LaRoche on The Mentalist, is reportedly playing a new surviv0r that Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his family will meet when they journey to Hershel's farm after leaving Atlanta in the season one finale.

Vince's character, named Otis, is described by TV Guide as "easygoing but racist." The character has a girlfriend, Patricia. They both stayed at Wiltshire Estates, a suburb that was eventually overrun by zombies; afterward, the couple fled to Hershel's farm. He'll meet Rick and co. under "less than optimal circumstances."

Otis is a character from the comics, and without any plot spoilers, I can tell you that he and Rick really will not get along due to the circumstances of their first meeting.

The character won't be as openly racist as survivor Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker), the whereabouts of whom are still unknown. Comics creator Robert Kirkman describes Otis's comics incarnation as a less extreme racist. "I think [Otis's racism] came about after he was introduced because I started to notice that all the characters were pretty nice except for an evil character... I wanted to throw in some people that aren't evil but aren't so nice either."

The Walking Dead will return in the fall.