‘Walking Dead’ Alum Chandler Riggs Joins ‘Million Little Things’ in First Role Since Exit

Another Walking Dead alum is finding their new home on ABC.

Nearly a year after getting killed off the zombie apocalypse drama, Chandler Riggs has booked his television return with a recurring role on ABC drama A Million Little Things.

According to TVLine, Riggs will play PJ, a young man who bonds with Rome (Romany Malco). Like the character, PJ has had some dark days in his past and their meeting helps both of them out of the hole they’ve found themselves in, though it will take them some time to realize it.

The young actor recently celebrated his new gig on Twitter, writing: “Four days ago i was almost unemployed for a full year. Right now i’m sitting on the set of season one of an incredible tv show for my first day of work. Life changes really drastically really quickly.”

News of Riggs’ casting comes as A Million Little Things enjoyed a ratings surge after debuting on its new timeslot last week.

The DJ Nash-created series returned from its winter hiatus in a new Thursday night timeslot, following Grey’s Anatomy. The show follows a close group of friends from Boston whose lives change after their friend Jon (Ron Livingston) dies by suicide.

The series also stars Stephanie Szostak, Grace Park, James Roday, David Giuntoli, Allison Miller, Christina Moses, Christina Ochoa, Tristan Byon and Lizzy Greene.

Riggs is not the only Walking Dead alum to join an ABC series following their exit from the AMC drama. Lauren Cohan is set to headline new series Whiskey Cavalier alongside Scott Foley. The new show will premiere after the Oscars on ABC before moving to its regular timeslot Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.

Riggs’ new gig comes more than a year after his character was killed off from the zombie drama, a shocking departure that left fans angry at the time.

Andrew Lincoln, who has since also exited the drama series, shared his initial shock about the exit with ComicBook.com.

“This was the hardest… Losing Steven was… the thought of the journey without Steven in the cast was unbearable but this is… I didn’t see it coming,” Lincoln said. “This is bigger than any other death that we’ve ever had…”

A Million Little Things airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.