The Walking Dead is finally introducing the woman behind Negan’s infamous baseball bat. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s real-life wife, actress Hilarie Burton, will portray Negan’s wife Lucille in a guest-starring role for the newly added bonus episodes of season 10.
“Been pretty hard to keep this a secret,” the actress tweeted. “But I love working with @JDMorgan. I love watching him become #Negan and take on that swagger. And I love the @TheWalkingDead family. They’ve been a part of our family for ages and I’m so grateful for their kindness.”
In the Walking Dead comics, Lucille suffered from cancer before the zombie viral outbreak. Negan had been having an affair, which Lucille knew about. He eventually broke it off to spend as much time with his wife in her final moments. Lucille died as the outbreak struck and, in the post-apocalyptic times, he named his baseball bat, wrapped in barbed wire, after her.
Burton will appear in one of the six new episodes AMC added to The Walking Dead season 10, set to continue in 2021. She’s best known for her role on One Tree Hill and has more recently appeared across Council of Dads, Lethal Weapon, and Extant.
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