Andrew Lincoln has been playing the role of Rick Grimes in "The Walking Dead" for six seasons now and fans of the series cannot imagine the show without him or anyone else playing the leader of the survivors of the zombie apocalypse. But according to a new report, Lincoln was not the first choice to play Rick.

According to Undead Walking, Frank Darabont had a different actor in mind to play the character. In a video on the L.A. Times Hero Complex website, Darabont said that he initially wanted Thomas Jane to get the role.

"I do know one thing: I wanted this [expletive] to be the star of 'The Walking Dead,'" Darabont said while pointing to Jane. "I thought Tom would be awesome for that."

"I'd still have a job too," quipped Jane.

Jane was the star of 2007's "The Mist," which was directed by Daramont.

In the video, the 46-year old actor said that he was working on the HBO series "Hung" at the time and wasn't available to play Rick Grimes because of a contract situation with the network. Though he wouldn't be starring in the show, Jane said that he asked HBO to bring the show to the network and allow him to play both roles, but eventually HBO declined to do so and the "The Walking Dead" went on to be a hit on AMC. Meanwhile, "Hung" ended its run in 2011 after just three seasons.

In other news, "The Walking Dead" is gearing up for its midseason premiere which will debut a pivotal character in the comic books: Negan. The character will be played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Expect Negan and his group of survivors to clash with Rick's group when the show returns next year.

"The Walking Dead" returns on Feb. 14, 2016 on AMC.