Chandler Riggs of ‘The Walking Dead’ looks to life beyond zombie series

TORONTO – Chandler Riggs has been fighting zombies as Carl on “The Walking Dead” since he was 10.

Now 16, the TV star says he’s eager to sink his teeth into other projects, but finds it difficult to break away from his character on the AMC smash.

“I’ve only gotten horror roles ever since I got on ‘Walking Dead’ so I’m really hoping to try and branch out from that genre and hope that I won’t get stuck there forever,” Riggs says in a recent interview.

“I do want to get other roles. I’ve been auditioning for other things, ever since I started on the show. I’m still auditioning, it’s not like I’m getting handed roles or anything.”

Riggs opened up about those struggles on Twitter and Facebook earlier this year, when he revealed he had auditioned for (and lost) the role of Spider-Man.

Reached at his home in Georgia, the actor admitted he’s musing on a “back-up plan” to acting, especially with college looming in a couple of years.

The Grade 11 student, who attends a regular public high school in Georgia, says he’s keen to get a post-secondary education, even though he’d like to continue acting.

“Both my parents were teachers so it’d be cool to be a teacher,” he says of possible alternate careers.

Riggs discussed his future in advance of an appearance at Fan Expo Canada, a four-day comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming event kicking off Thursday in Toronto.

The teen will be joined by “The Walking Dead” co-stars Norman Reedus (who plays fan favourite Daryl) and Lennie James (who plays Morgan).

Other celebrity guests include “The X-Files” star Gillian Anderson, former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, “Scream” star Neve Campbell and actor Billy Dee Williams, best known for playing Lando Calrissian in “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back” and “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi.”

Williams will be following up his Fan Expo appearance with an exhibit of his paintings at a Toronto gallery. The exhibit runs Sept. 6 to 9 at Toronto’s Liss Gallery.

“I’ve been painting all my life,” says Williams, adding he’s inspired “by just about everything.”

Other events at Fan Expo Canada include a Hogwarts reunion with “Harry Potter” stars Rupert Grint (who played Ron Weasley), James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) on Saturday.

Riggs says he first caught the acting bug at age four, when he got started with small community theatre projects. Professional gigs were harder to snag and he was actually on the verge of quitting before he landed “The Walking Dead.”

“I had to keep on missing school just because of auditions and my dad had to keep on missing work — and he’s a teacher and it’s kind of hard to miss work there,” he says.

“It was just getting tough and we didn’t have the money for me to even think about doing it for much longer.”

Once on the show, he found a friendly face in co-star Melissa McBride, who was a casting director before she took on the role of battle-hardened Carol.

“I had actually gone to audition for her lots of times so when we came to the set we had already known each other for like two or three years,” says Riggs, adding that his onscreen dad Andrew Lincoln also proved to be a valuable mentor.

“We’re all pretty close. Andy’s such a cool guy and helps me through a lot of things acting-wise. He’s given me a lot of tips on new ways to view things or do things.”

Fan Expo Canada runs through Sunday.

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