Back in September, Xander Berkeley signed on to The Walking Dead with a potential long-term deal that may make him a series regular next season. At the time, AMC was very quick to mention that Berkeley was not playing Negan, a villainous role that ultimately went to Jeffrey Dean Morgan. However, we did make a prediction about the character that Berkeley would portray on the series… and we were absolutely right!

Berkeley’s role will be Gregory, the leader of the previously unseen Hilltop Colony. In The Walking Dead comic book series, the Hilltop was introduced as a farming community whose citizens lived nonviolently and carried few weapons. In the casting notes that accompanied AMC’s initial announcement about Berkeley’s role on the series, Gregory is defined by “his narcissism, huge ego and self-preservation.” It is also said that Gregory relishes in “the superiority that comes with being in control, but he plays it off with a car salesman-type charm.”

As you can see from the picture below, Berkeley greatly resembles Gregory’s portrayal in the Walking Dead comic book.

If The Walking Dead TV series closely follows the Negan storyline, then Berkeley could be on the series for quite a while. Later this season, Tom Payne will also join the cast as Paul “Jesus” Monroe, another member of Gregory’s Hilltop Colony.

Berkeley is coming off of stints on 12 Monkeys and Z00, and has quite reputation for playing villains on TV. He also portrayed Red John on The Mentalist and Percy Rose on the first two seasons of Nikita.

The Walking Dead Season 6 will resume on Sunday, February 14.

Are you looking forward to Berkeley’s role on The Walking Dead? Let us know below!

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HT: TVLine

Image Credit: The CW/Warner Bros. TV