Some of the most heartbreaking moments in television history are when our favorite characters were killed off. Whether it’s (SPOILER!) McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) in Grey’s Anatomy or Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in Breaking Bad — these are moments that television lovers will never forget. While these moments are portrayed beautifully by their actors, not every actor agreed with their character being killed off.
There have been many instances where an actor publicly (or not-so-publicly) disagreed with their character’s demise. It’s not surprising, since these characters have often been playing these roles for years or feel there is much more to say about their story. Most of these actors were unsuccessful in convincing their showrunners to save their characters, but it’s great to see how so many actors passionately fought for our favorite characters.
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Jon Polito as Steve Crosetti
‘Homicide: Life on the Street’
Some actors disagreed with their showrunners but remained amicable with them. For Jon Polito, this was not the case. He starred in Homicide: Life on the Street back in 1993. In an interview with Groucho Reviews, Polito spoke candidly about what happened behind the scenes on the show. The show started with two male leads, but after ratings were poor, the showrunners wanted to introduce a new female character.
The show’s creator, Tom Fontana, told Polito that they would have to write his character off, but Fontana promised to bring him back. Polito didn’t believe him, went to the press, and publicly criticized them. As a result, Polito was fired. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. He returned as a ghost in the movie. In the same interview, he stated that he “realized how right they were in certain ways—and [he] was wrong to fight them.”
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Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano
‘The Sopranos’
When we speak about The Sopranos, most people talk about the titular Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) or Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt). But one person who played the incredibly complicated and one of the most annoying characters in The Sopranos is Nancy Marchand in her role as Livia Soprano. The matriarch was a complex character throughout the first two seasons.
The actress was cast when she was already diagnosed with cancer. The cast was aware, but the topic was not discussed. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Edie Falco, who played Tony’s wife, Carmela, spoke about it. Falco said, “Nancy said to David, ‘Please keep me working. That’s keeping me alive.’” When the actress passed away in 2000, it was written into the series, but in some ways, Marchand believed playing the role was able to give her something to distract her from her cancer diagnosis. Now, 25 years later, she is still remembered for her iconic portrayal of this matriarch.
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Conleth Hill as Varys
‘Game of Thrones’
Some actors took their characters’ deaths personally. Conleth Hill played the memorable Varys in Game of Thrones, but was shockingly killed in Season 8. Hill played a bald eunuch who was an advisor to high-ranking individuals. In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Hill mourned his character and the many years he had spent playing it. He “took it very personally… as a person, not as an actor or an artist.” He felt that he must have done something to be killed off.
Unlike past seasons when characters were informed beforehand of their characters’ deaths, Hill read it in the script. The producers were no longer telling people personally because there had been so many deaths in the eighth season. Although he lasted until the penultimate episode of the entire series, he was frustrated by how his character had become “peripheral” and said the “last couple seasons weren’t [his] favorite.”
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Laurie Holden as Andrea Harrison
‘The Walking Dead’
The Walking Dead is similar to Game of Thrones in that it would kill a central character seemingly without a second thought. This makes it difficult for fans and actors who have fallen in love with these characters. Laurie Holden’s Andrea Harrison was in The Walking Dead since season one. The character was killed off in season three to Holden’s shock.
According to her comments made at the Walker Stalker Convention in 2012, Holden had an eight-year contract. She expected to be on the series for many more years. Moreover, the character is still alive in the comic book series on which the show is based. Holden felt blindsided and completely disagreed with the decision. However, she is glad she was able to exit the show with dignity.
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Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Denny Duquette
‘Grey’s Anatomy’
For OG Grey’s Anatomy fans, there was no more brutal death in those early seasons than the death of Izzie’s (Katherine Heigl) patient-then-fiancé, Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Before the main cast left the show, fans fell in love with the love story developing between Denny and Izzie. At first, it may have been the forbidden love trope of a patient and their doctor, but eventually, fans fell in love with Morgan’s charming and heartfelt portrayal of Denny.
In an episode of the YouTube series Hot Ones, Morgan spoke about trying to convince showrunner Shonda Rhimes not to kill Denny off. He says, “That’s the one time I saw my death coming and was trying everything I could do to get out of that death.” It wasn’t successful, but Morgan could feel the way the fans had fallen in love with their relationship. He knew it would impact them just as it had him.
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Ricky Jay as Eddie Sawyer
‘Deadwood’
Ricky Jay played a supporting role in the first season of Deadwood and was written out of the series off-screen in the season two premiere. The explanation was that his character had run out of town, but this was not the original ending for Deadwood’s Eddie Sawyer. According to Matt Zoller Seitz’s The Deadwood Bible, Jay discovered that his character was being killed off, and he panicked, locking himself inside his trailer for two hours.
After much coaxing by the producers, Jay agreed to film the scene, but only if his ending was left ambiguous. They filmed a scene where his character was stabbed. However, in the end, the creators decided not to include the scene in the season one finale, and just wrote him off behind the scenes during the season two premiere. While some actors reacted publicly, Jay had a visceral reaction to his character’s death and impressively changed his character’s fate.
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Matt Lintz as Henry Sutton
‘The Walking Dead’
The Walking Dead is infamous for killing off characters and has dealt with numerous waves of backlash from fans. But the Walking Dead actors have also disagreed with their characters being killed off. After Carl was no longer on the show, fans believed Matt Lintz’s Henry Sutton was a replacement in a lot of ways.
Fans expected the character to continue Carl’s storyline and follow in those footsteps. Lintz himself expected the character to live on. However, in a mass killing of characters, Henry met his demise. In an interview with Metro.co.uk, Lintz spoke about “Henry definitely [having] a lot of story to tell.” He discussed how every character takes a different path and acknowledged that killing off Henry was a good shock factor for fans. However, fans are still disappointed that Lintz’s role in the series concluded after only 11 episodes, to this day.
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John Francis Daley as Lance Sweets
‘Bones’
After seven seasons of portraying Dr. Lance Sweets on Bones, John Francis Daley’s character, was killed off in a massive surprise to viewers. In an interview with TVLine, Daley speaks about how he had asked the showrunners for four months off to direct National Lampoon’s Vacation. The producers felt it wouldn’t make sense to write the character off for a brief amount of time. Instead, they believed it would be better to shock fans with a dramatic death that no one expected.
Daley expressed his disappointment in the decision and wanted to return to the franchise after the movie. In his words, he would’ve “one hundred percent” returned to Bones. He took the death closely to heart — “I really did feel like I was losing a part of me.” After seven years, it isn’t too surprising that he had grown so attached to this character.
