First look: Cliff Curtis meets a zombie in Walking Dead spinoff

Cliff Curtis as Sean, Kim Dickens as Miranda and Frank Dillane as Nick in the Walking Dead spin-off. Photo/AMC

The first image of Cliff Curtis meeting a zombie in the new spin-off from The Walking Dead has been released.

Curtis is playing the lead in the show tipped to be called Fear the Walking Dead, which will begin airing in America later this year for six episodes.

A second season has already been ordered by AMC to air in 2016.

The full photo shows Curtis and his co-stars encountering a zombie body near a sewage tunnel.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Curtis will play the main role in the series, which is set in the world of The Walking Dead but follows a different group of survivors.

His character is a teacher called Sean Cabrera, and his description as "a good man trying to do right by everyone in his life" is eerily similar to that of The Walking Dead's lead Rick Grimes.

AMC president Charlie Collier told ComingSoon.net the show would be set in Los Angeles and is a companion piece to The Walking Dead.

"We take incredibly seriously the notion of building a satisfying companion series to the number one show on television," he said.

"From the beginning of The Walking Dead, we've been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse, and what it looked like as the world really did 'turn.'

"Through this new series, we're going to find out."

Curtis was last seen on the big screen in local drama hit The Dark Horse.

He has had a string of roles on American television series, none of which seem to have stuck. They include the drama Gang Related, Missing, Body of Proof and Trauma.

He also has an extensive movie history, including roles in Once Were Warriors, Live Free or Die Hard, The Fountain and 10,000 BC.

- nzherald.co.nz