'Walking Dead' Deceased Characters: Exclusive EW Portraits

The only thing more lethal than a horde of walkers is The Walking Dead’s bloodthirsty writing team. We caught up with former cast members to find out how they felt when they heard they were getting bitten out of the show.

HOW HE DIED: Bitten by Noah’s zombified brother at the Shirewilt Estates in season 5

Viewers weren’t the only ones surprised by Tyreese’s demise. “I was shocked,” says Coleman about finding out his fate. “They caught me off guard. I didn’t see it coming.” Coleman hopes that fans recall him as the gentle giant who refused to give in to the violence of the world around him: “Remember his humanity and kindness and generosity of spirit. I know it touched people, and hopefully we can be in touch with that part of ourselves — what I consider to be the better part of ourselves.” And yes, the actor (who currently stars on Syfy’s The Expanse) still keeps up with the show. “I’m curious about my sister and Abraham,” Coleman says. “What is that about? I guess that’s being a brother. I don’t see it.”

HOW SHE DIED: Went missing in the season 2 premiere, only to be found as a zombie walking out of Hershel’s barn in the midseason finale, where she was mercy-killed by Rick

Lintz was only 12 when she shot her harrowing death scene, but even though the now 16-year-old was at the center of one of The Walking Dead‘s most memorable moments ever, she no longer watches the show. “I think I stopped watching at around season 3,” she says. “Just because it’s a little bit gory for me. It’s so weird, because when I was younger, I was like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever! I love this. Look at all this blood! There’s blood everywhere.’ But then as I got older and it got more and more intense, I was kind of like, ‘Eh, I need to eat my dinner now.'”

HOW HE DIED: Had his throat slit at the Terminus trough in the season 5 premiere

Even though Taylor landed the coveted role of the Penguin on Gotham after his brief season 4 appearance, he made it a point to return for his big death cameo. “I was so happy to have my own closure and see everybody one last time,” says Taylor. “The Walking Dead family, it’s a real thing. I’m so honored to be a part of it.”

HOW SHE DIED: Accidentally shot by Officer Dawn Lerner in season 5 after Beth stabbed her with a pair of scissors at the hospital

The Walking Dead is notorious for building characters up only to tear them down, and Beth Greene is a prime example — which made her sudden death all the more disturbing. “It was shocking to both me and the audience, because we were both just getting to see more of Beth and understand her point of view,” says Kinney. “In some ways, we were just seeing the beginnings of the character, which made her death especially sad.” But Beth isn’t totally dead to the actress, who saved some mementos from her time on set. “I kept a few pieces of Beth’s jewelry and my scripts with all my notes.” Plus, she says, “people call me Beth all the time.”

HOW HE DIED: Eaten by zombies in the prison in season 3 while helping Carol escape

Rather than mourn his death, Singleton celebrates the fact that T-Dog lasted as long as he did. “I was told that I would only do two episodes, so I wasn’t shocked when I got the call,” he says. “T-Dog’s probably the only one who has died heroically. You can’t find a better way to die than that.”

HOW HE DIED: Devoured in a revolving door in season 5 after Nicholas left him and Glenn to die

Williams was of two minds when he first learned about Noah’s death — upset to leave the show, yet appreciative of the way his demise would propel Glenn’s story forward. “Having been him, I love him,” Williams told EW last year. “I really want the best for him. But as a fan of the show, I was like, ‘You’ve got to go.’ He’s an omen, essentially. He’s got to die. But one of the things that’s really interesting — having gone through the death and all that — is that it allows me to be a fan of the show again.” File that one under “Silver Linings.”

HOW HE DIED: Stabbed by Michonne and then shot by girlfriend Lilly in season 4 while attempting to take over the prison

“It takes a lot of people to kill the Governor,” jokes Morrissey about the one-two punch of Michonne and Lilly that took him down. The only regret about his character’s final chapter? “I was sad to have to kill Scott Wilson as Hershel, because he’s a great friend of mine.” In fact, the actors formed their own two-man support group after their double demise. “When it was my last day, Scott came back and watched me go, and then he and I went out for a drink and had a meal.” Call it the last supper.

HOW SHE DIED: Committed suicide by allowing herself to be blown up at the CDC in the season 1 finale

Prescott says Jacqui’s fate kept changing right up to the filming of the season 1 finale because original showrunner Frank Darabont “was going back and forth about whether or not he wanted Jacqui to die. There were three possibilities as I recall: that Jacqui would not die; that Jacqui would die, but she would die at the top of season 2; or that Jacqui would just die in the explosion at the end of season 1.” While Darabont ultimately went with option No. 3, Prescott notes that “it’s nice to be the only one to go in such a flame of glory. People always want to talk about it because they keep putting themselves in Jacqui’s position, wondering if they would reach their point of surrender.”

HOW SHE DIED: After killing sister Mika in season 4, Lizzie was told to “look at the flowers” while Carol put a bullet in her brain

There is one thing Sharbino will not miss about her time on The Walking Dead. “They would put a bunch of dirt on you,” she says. “Sometimes I would forget to take off the makeup when I left set, and everyone would just be staring at me like, ‘Is this girl okay?'” Due to her somewhat deranged character (who befriended zombies and thought she could kill people without harming them), Sharbino gets somewhat deranged requests. “People will come up and have me pretend to suffocate their baby for a picture,” she says. “And someone licked my hand. No one prepares you for what to do when someone licks your hand.”

HOW SHE DIED: Sister Lizzie stabbed her in season 4, mistakenly believing Mika would come back to life. Whoops!

“It was a very intense scene,” says Kenedy in perhaps the understatement of the century while referring to her final act. The end was an emotional one off screen as well. “It was so sad. I didn’t want to leave everyone on set because it was such a great environment.” But Kenedy has enjoyed being spotted ever since by fans of all ages. “I was in the mall and this little girl asked me about the show. And the girl was there with her grandma, who was wearing a Walking Dead shirt.”

HOW HE DIED: Was bitten by a zombie and then captured and partially eaten by the Terminus group in season 5

Gilliard had strong thoughts about characters being killed off even before he appeared on the show, thanks to his early expiration on The Wire. “I really don’t dig that part of TV nowadays,” he told EW after being cast as Bob in 2013. “Personally, I think this is unfair to the actors because we’ve got families and we should know if we’re going to have a job next week. I don’t watch a lot of TV today because I don’t like becoming attached to characters and watching them get killed off. They worked hard to create a character that engaged you and brought you in. That’s hard work, and now they’re gone. So that bothers me.”