Woody Harrelson among participants in Zombie Easter festivities*

Actor Woody Harrelson has claimed his recent attack on a TMZ photographer was all a big misunderstanding: he simply thought the man was a zombie.

"I wrapped a movie called 'Zombieland,' in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character," Harrelson said in a statement issued Friday by his publicist.

"With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie," he said.

--snip--

In the movie "Zombieland," Harrelson plays "the most frightened person on Earth" looking for refuge from zombies, according to the Internet Movie Database.

No charges have been filed as of this moment. Give him credit for a creative, funny defense, although we do kind of wonder how well it would go over if everyone didn't already have a generally low opinion of the paparazzi.

The Phoenix will have some more zombie coverage later in the coming days and weeks.

* Okay, the attack was last Wednesday and therefore too soon for Zombie Easter, but still.