12 actors who were publicly devastated because their characters were killed off

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SSome TV characters are sacred to the actors who play them. For people like Daniel Day-Lewis and Jeremy Strong, who are known for completely losing themselves in their roles, their characters can even become an integral part of their identity.

But in any good TV show or movie, characters are loved as much as they are lost. And those departures can seem unfair, untimely, or just plain pointless.

In addition to the tearful reactions from audiences on social media when a beloved character dies, we also see a lot of despair from the stars.

Most recently, Maggie Grace spoke in an interview with The Independent stated that “the killing in Lost is still the worst sorrow of my career.”

So, in solidarity with the Taken Star, here are 12 more actors who shared their shock over their characters’ deaths.

Laurie Holden in The Walking Dead

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Holden’s stubborn character Andrea was introduced in the third season of The Walking Dead, but in the comics, Andrea survives much longer. This was obviously a point of contention for Holden when he spoke on a panel at the fan convention Walker Stalker Con, She said: “I think the transition from the book version of Andrea to the screen was a mistake… I think all the stuff they wrote about Andrea and the Governor was complete nonsense.” About the death of her character, the silent Hill Star added: “So many beautiful stories were lost… they should have been there a long time ago.”

Chandler Riggs in The Walking Dead

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Holden was not the only actor who, after his character left The walking dead. Riggs, who played the troubled (and eventually one-eyed) Carl Grimes, told The Hollywood Reporter that “leave Walking dead was not my decision.” Riggs continued: “It was quite a shock… it was devastating for me and my family because the show had been such a big part of my life for so long. For a couple of days we didn’t know what to do.” But for Riggs, the departure was ultimately “a great thing” because he was able to “do all kinds of other things that I haven’t been able to do for the last eight years.”

Emma Caulfield in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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Caulfield stuck to the theme of monster-oriented shows and was not impressed by the death of Anya, the direct character she played in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At a reunion for Buffy At Weekly entertainment, The timer The star was visibly upset about the lack of response her death received from the audience on the show: “What struck me about the finale was how little everyone cared that I died… I just find that kind of lame. I just think Anya got a little more, well, sad face.” Caulfield wrote a eulogy for her character Anya for Weekly entertainment, It was clear that the actress still cherishes the character, writing: “Even though she died without much fanfare (like ‘Well, Anya’s dead, later!’), her courage, her legacy, her selflessness lives on. And that gives me something to sing about.”

Mark Sheppard in Supernatural

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When Sheppard’s narcissistic character Crowley was killed in the season 12 finale of Supernaturalthe tensions between Sheppard and the show would become public. Executive producer Jim Michaels alluded to the possibility of Sheppard returning to the show on X/Twitter, posting: “Thanks for everything, Mark! We never say never, Mark!” To which Sheppard replied: “With all due respect, your comment is inaccurate and misleading to fans. There are NO plans to have me return to the show. SPN (Supernatural) anytime.”

Richard Madden in Game of Thrones

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game of Thrones was notoriously ruthless when it came to killing off popular characters. Madden’s King of the North Robb Stark was killed in the infamous Red Wedding in season three of the series. In response Bodyguard Star simply left the set after filming was finished: “I just wanted to leave,” he said. “I just wanted to get out.” Madden told GQ he simply got on his flight home and “sobbed and sobbed…I was really hysterical. I was so exhausted. I cried the whole way home.” Unlike some other actors on this list, however, Madden actually felt “ready to leave the show” after five years.

Ian McElhinney in Game of Thrones

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McElhinney played bodyguard Barristan Selmy in game of Thronesand was killed off in season 5, much to the audience’s shock, as he was still alive and kicking in the books the series was based on. McElhinney explained, “I got the script first, and then it (Selmy’s death) was mentioned in the script, and then the guys (the writers) finally called me. If I’m honest, I was a little disappointed because I felt like I should have known, it wouldn’t have made a difference, but I felt like out of politeness I should have known beforehand… I was disappointed.” Unfortunately, this would not be the last time a game of Thrones The actor was disappointed with the way his role was portrayed in the series.

Conleth Hill in Game of Thrones

Hill played Lord Varys, also known as the Spider, in game of Thronesand his character was known for having a network of informants in the fantasy world. Unfortunately, his network of spies could not inform him of his character’s poorly written death, and this was shown in a clip of his reaction at the last reading. When talking to The times, Hill shared that he was “just frustrated with the last couple of seasons because Varys wasn’t the omniscient character he once was. I think the writers wanted it to end one way and the studio, HBO, wanted it to end another way. I felt like the last season was a little bit rushed. I was heartbroken.” Hill has come to terms with his departure, however, and told the newspaper that he has now come to terms with the series.: “Now I’m happy with it.”

Joe Pantoliano in The Sopranos

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The HBO writers seem to have a talent for annoying actors. Pantoliano, who The Sopranos, stormed off during a reading when he learned his character was going to be killed off. According to Dane Curley, who played Cifaretto’s son on the show, “As soon as he (Pantoliano) realized he was getting beat up (perhaps because he had read a few pages ahead of us), he yelled angrily (to no one in particular, but presumably to the writers) and left the session. He quickly put his phone to his ear to call his agent and stormed off. As he did so, Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) yelled some kind words back at him: something like, ‘Be careful the door doesn’t hit your ass on the way out!'”

Samira Wiley in “Orange is the New Black”

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Wiley’s Poussey Washington, one of the main prisoners in a prison drama Orange is the new black, was killed off in season four of the Netflix series. Wiley later confessed that “nobody else in the cast knew (about her character’s death) until the script came out.” Wiley said, “I felt a lot of things. The first was shock and confusion. You’re on a show for so long and you feel like you’re a part of it and then all of a sudden you get news like that and it’s a real shock.” Fortunately, Wiley’s relationship with the show ended on a positive note, as all of the executive producers “made sure I was OK throughout the whole process.”

Mia Kirshner in The L Word

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Kirshner played the outsider Jenny in The L-word, and after the revelation of her cause of death in the sequel Generation QKirshner expressed her disappointment on X/Twitter about the way her character’s legacy was handled: “I only found out today what they did with the storyline and there’s no way I’m going to stay silent about it.” Jenny’s cause of death turned out to be suicide, which Kirshner and many fans were not happy about: “I heard about her ‘suicide’ today and I find it disgusting that they are dismissing the story of a survivor of sexual assault like that. So no. She’s not dead.”

Nicolette Sheridan in Desperate Housewives

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When Sheridan’s troublemaker Edie was killed in Desperate Housewives, Sheridan filed a lawsuit against ABC, Touchstone and series creator Marc Cherry. Sheridan said Weekly entertainment In 2018, she was hit on the head by Cherry and after complaining about the incident, she was written off the show. “I was hit on the set of Desperate Housewives by the creator of the show, my boss… I reported him and was fired for it. This is against the law,” she claimed. In response, Cherry’s representatives said in a statement to Weekly entertainment: “Nicolette Sheridan was not a victim of Marc Cherry – a court has already decided this after hearing several witness statements. We are disappointed that the court decision continues to be ignored.”

Elizabeth Mitchell in Lost

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Maggie Grace was not the only actress in Lost who was devastated by her exit from the show. Mitchell, who played Dr. Juliet Burke on the show, shared Weekly entertainment that she “cried for a couple of days” after her character was written out of the show. Mitchell further recalled: “Evangeline (Lilly) and my sister came over and we drank until we fell asleep on the couch, which was not good because neither of us are big drinkers. We woke up and said, ‘Let’s have ice cream next time, OK?'”