And the ranks of 'The Walking Dead' just keep on growing.

AMC has announced that it has recruited Andrew Lincoln to fill the lead role in its new zombie drama series, adapted from the comic books by Robert Kirkman.

Lincoln -- a British actor perhaps best known Stateside for his role as the lovelorn Mark in 2003's 'Love Actually,' or on the UK television series 'Teachers' -- will play Rick Grimes, a small-town cop trying to lead a pack of human survivors to safety after zombies have taken over the world. Jon Bernthal ('The Pacific') has already been cast as Shane, Grimes' old police partner.

"Andrew Lincoln, wow -- what an amazing find this guy is," declared Kirkman in a press 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 he is. I couldn't be more thrilled with how this show is coming together."

As previously reported, the cable network's six-episode order of 'The Walking Dead,' which counts Academy Award nominee Frank Darabont as one of its executive producers, is set to begin production in Atlanta this June. The series is projected to bow sometime during AMC's Fearfest marathon in October.